Circus McGurkus Cafe Stoo-Pendous

Great theming and unique place to eat. Perfect for The Cat in the Hat lovers!

It was underwhelming and just weird and I’m pretty sure that they just heat up the food because mine came really fast but it was cold also if you can have to many things going on at once this IS NOT THE PLACE FOR YOU

Don’t ask for syrup. They will not bring you syrup.

The honor honey and syrup is Chemical tasting and the chicken was fake looking and plastic like. Made our burger wrong and then took forever to fix it after repeatedly asking. Lots of noisy kids running around. a baby had its feet on the table walking on it. The fries were the only good part and the decoration.

What an absolutely appalling experience we had in here today.

Our ‘quick serve’ food took 30 minutes to arrive and our two glasses for the self serve drinks still hadn’t arrived when the food did. These are empty glasses might I add that you fill yourself.

When I questioned two members of staff to get them for us they both just stared at me blankly, then told me to ask someone else.

At this point I spoke with the manager Andrew who was extremely incompetent and unprofessional in his manner. As I was explaining the situation to him he cut me short to say ‘can I just stop you there. Just tell me how many glasses you need’. When he returned with the glasses I explained that as the manager he should be apologising for the poor customer service customers experience when they do, not cut customers up to shut them up.

To which he replied ‘ha ok, I’m calling security and getting you excluded, have a nice day’.

When security turned up we explained the situation and how rude he’d been and she kept apologising on his behalf and asking if there was anything she could do. We told her not to apologise, she’d done nothing wrong. To be frank, it seemed to not be the first time the poor girl had been called to that restaurant. She seemed to be aware he was a difficult and rude member of staff to its customers judging from her immediate reaction to the entire situation.
Universal, you need managers who are trained to defuse a situation, not try and cause one that really isn’t there. You need to speak with the manager who was on duty today (25/05/25 at around 13:15) in this restaurant and give him some serious training on his management skills, it was utterly ridiculous. He was extremely rude and unprofessional and his staff all looked unmanaged and miserable.

Extremely disappointed in the experience today I have to say. I’ve been coming to universal for 25 years now and we are all annual pass holders. It shouldn’t take a security guard having to apologise to us for a restaurant managers behaviour.

Judging by the other reviews on here about the manager Andrew too, I was just today’s ‘victim’. Universal, you need to just sack him off and get rid. Too many customers are experiencing the same. He has absolutely no clue how to manage a team or prioritise customers experiences, he’s just the rudest manager I’ve ever had the displeasure of meeting.

To Andrew, the manager of this restaurant, do better. Your staff are not being managed whatsoever and as a manager for the UK government myself, you are currently extremely incompetent in your role. I strongly suggest you find a new one.

Oh and the food was cold and unfortunately defrosted rubbish. For the price, it was not good. We had the burgers. Maybe it’s because we’re from the UK so don’t eat artificial coloured items and expect some level of quality for the money but to us, it was extremely unappetising to try and eat a bright red cold and stale burger. It didn’t look appetising whatsoever.

My friend didn’t get lettuce, pickles or any toppings on her hamburger and she asked the manager andrew if he could bring them out for her and he said no and laughed in her face and walked away so when he came back over here to bring our other friend food, we confronted him and he ran away from us and tried to deny it. I have never seen customer service like this in my life especially out of a manager.

Absolutely horrible. Andrew (the manger) was the rudest.

I'm not sure i have words.
The food wasn't terrible, except the popcorn shrimp.
If the ride that goes through there is down, you have to sit and listen to the announcement over and over.
It's a cute idea and a great place to cool down

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 3

Service: 3

Fantastic atmosphere! The food is original. Food is good ?! Mobile ordering so it goes quickly!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 4

Service: 5

Horrible experience today. Universal’s own food gift cards don’t work with mobile ordering and there was a 15 minute wait to order in-person. Had to get out of line to get a table number to order and then get back at the end of the line. No warning about the need to do this. Asked cashier how my table would be guaranteed empty by the time I was finished ordering and she got an attitude “you’re supposed to order through the app”. Explained how Universal makes those using their gift cards to order in person. They had no “reserved” signs like some other restaurants have. Easy solution. Cashier then pointed to a non-wheelchair-accessible table and asked if that worked. Obviously not. When my food eventually arrived the employee left too quickly for me to ask why I hadn’t been given cutlery. It’s cheesecake. Had to wheel around the entire restaurant and only employee to be found was a busser…who did get me a set of cutlery. Doubt there is even management on site to report this to. Employees don’t act like there is anyone overseeing quality control and professionalism. Food was delicious and it’s my favorite place for ambiance but I wouldn’t mind the place shutting down due to extremely poor service.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 4

Service: 1

The only good thing is the place that is very nice but then the service is very bad, they talk to you as if they were fed up, a horrible attitude, where they serve you the food they have everything messy and dirty, very very high prices. The drink machines with a lot of dirt. Very good place to decompose.
The only thing worth it is the setting, which is very nice, but then it leaves a lot to be desired...

The food was average, but the atmosphere was great. We had fun.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 4

Service: 4

They get a 5 star for recovery.
We got there about a half an hour before it closed. We ran in there frantic like hoping it wasnt closed. We were told that it was order from your table with the app (how annoying!). Poor host lady. We didnt mean to give her a hard time about it, we apologized and understood is was her job to tell ppl this. Paid by card and not at the table.

When we got our food one of the beast things has something missing, so i asked for some fried to replace it. They obliged!!
The food was delightfully themed and pretty good! They give you a decent amount of tuna on the poke, my daughter enjoyed the meatball cone thing, and the chocolate cheese cake (green eggs n ham) was rich. The burger was quite tasty too. I highly recommend coming here for a 1st time. Very sweet place. The service was great!!
I wish i remembered her name. The cashier from one of the boroughs in NYC. Had a name no one said correctly but me! LOVED HER. SHE'S AWESOME!! She was an absolute STAR with her recommendations.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 4

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Spaghetti with Meatballs, Green Eggs and Ham Cheesecake, Roast Beast Sandwich

Food was okay, service a bit slow. Servers were friendly, but seemed too few and overwhelmed by large crowd of patrons at lunch time. Dining area was relatively clean and had fun atmosphere.

Kid-friendliness: Kids like the environment, servers friendly and patient.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 5

Service: 3

Recommended dishes: Roast Beast Sandwich

It's not often you get food that looks exactly like the photo. I wish they sell this at other places other than just here.

Kid-friendliness: There's a ride that goes through here inside the building but above the people eating.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Roast Beast Sandwich