Review: Celtic Chicken Club Salad at Finnegan’s

One weakness Universal Orlando continues to show compared with big brother Walt Disney World involves table service dining within their theme parks. In fairness, Universal Orlando offers some excellent value in terms of table-service dining in CityWalk. Since CityWalk resides very near the exits of their theme parks, the need for great table service (Universal Orlando calls it full-service dining for the record) dining within the parks seems less important. Yet, some visitors to Universal Orlando refuse to dine inside CityWalk. They only want to stay in the theme parks. Each of Universal Orlando’s land-based parks offers two table-service dining options. The far more popular one in Universal Studios Florida is Finnegan’s Bar & Grill. I recently dined for lunch at Finnegan’s during the Halloween Horror Nights season. I ordered the Celtic Chicken Club Salad at Finnegan’s.

The Celtic Chicken Club Salad at Finnegan’s costs $15.95. This comes with grilled chicken breast, bacon, aged cheddar cheese, and diced tomatoes. Being a salad, the lettuce provides stability in this dish. The salad then is garnished with Finnegan’s Potato & Onion Webb. The “Webb” appetizer continues to be very popular at Finnegan’s. For the salad, you receive a smaller amount than the appetizer portion This “Webb “also appears on the burger with its name. Some of my theme park friends order this burger every time they visit Universal Orlando.

This Celtic Chicken Club Salad displays many reasons to order it. The portion size in the large bowl deserves praise. Also, the uniqueness of the potato and webb appetizer on top brings a more distinctive flavor. The price point rates as reasonable. A solid portion size exists within this entrée salad. Some decent-tasting chicken can be found within this. You also obtain many different ingredients with this salad enhancing the experience. I can see why some of my theme park friends love this salad.

On the negative side, the salad comes in a very compartmentalized form. Each main ingredient sits in a certain section. This makes it hard to get all the flavors in one bite. In addition, when I enjoyed this, the combination of tomatoes, dressing, and lettuce created too much liquid in the bottom of the bowl.

Finnegan’s reigns as a Universal Orlando passholder favorite. Remember to ask for soda bread with your meal. Beware of the below-average paper straws provided here. Also, this place can be loud. Later in the day, this place offers live music also. As I have written before, the food quality here lowers as the night goes on. If possible, consider this place for lunch for the best meal. This salad might enrich your theme park day with some healthy ingredients. This salad will not overcome all Universal Orlando’s weaknesses with full-service dining. Still, it helps. As always, eat like you mean it!