Das Stakehaus is a counter-service restaurant in Universal Orlando’s Epic Universe. The restaurant sits in Dark Universe, home to some of the most iconic monsters of all time. With a menu full of vampire filled puns, Das Stakehaus serves American food including steak, burgers, wings and more. In this post, we’ll review the restaurant’s atmosphere, cuisine and value.

It’s not everyday you get to eat on the ruins of ancient catacombs while vampire servants wait on your table. In fact, I’m 99% sure I’ve never done it before. You can never be totally sure. That’s the setting of Das Stakehaus within the brilliantly themed Dark Universe. The restaurant is themed as an old inn and dining hall that is full of vampire artwork and artifacts. Like most of the land, the balance between fun and spooky is perfectly struck.

The backstory of the restaurant is easy enough to decipher while dining there, although the restaurant’s description on the Universal website helps. On one end of Das Stakehaus are some tombstones on the wall, mixed in with artwork depicting a great and apparent vampiric battle. This doesn’t seem to be Edward versus Jacob stuff, the vampires were battling a large non-blood sucking army. Judging by the tombs and lack of living vampires, Dracula & Co. lost the war. There are several vampires hovering around both inside and out but they all have stakes through the hearts, hence the name of the restaurant.

How the vampire servants, or ‘familiars’ to be more proper, started working here is a mystery. Maybe they’re trying to raise their masters from the dead. But my vast knowledge of vampires (I’ve watched Sinners a few times and the most recent Nosferatu and that’s about it. Even the Twilight joke above was a reach for me) leads me to believe that these suckers are dead now that they have a stake through their hearts. Whatever the case is, the wait staff understanding the assignment makes the atmosphere at Das Stakehaus even better.

There is an ordering bay at the restaurant if you prefer that method. Universal Orlando does have a great system where you scan the table QR code on your phone, then place a mobile order before inputting your table number. Then the food will be delivered straight to there. We recommend that.

I mentioned the side of the restaurant with the dead vampires above but the whole space is wonderfully themed. The blood red floor is a nice touch and the gothic architecture really shines through here. Everywhere you look, there’s a different prop, painting or light fixture. The seating is spacious enough to feel quiet and there’s not a forgotten corner within the large space.

Even the outdoor space looks great, with more slain vampires and a nice blend of textures. We do prefer the inside area but this space is still a win.

I was blown away by the story, theme and atmosphere of Das Stakehaus. While the idea might feel a little grotesque, the restaurant has a good grasp on how tongue in cheek it needs to be. From the name of the food to some of the visuals, there’s plenty to look at. In terms of counter-service atmospheres across all theme parks, this is one of the best we’ve ever been in.

Speaking of that menu, here’s a link to it. The dishes are cleverly named and I hope they stick to that. It’s fairly easy to tell what each of them are so I wouldn’t think guests will have issues with them. The entrees range from $15-$25, with most in the high teens. In hindsight, I wish I’d tried one of the stakes with the rest of the meal but instead I opted for just the steak. If that sentence confused you then blame the vampire lore above.

This is the Carved Staked Steak (already confused again?) consisting of carved strip steak served medium with a hint of blood, charred green onion mashed potatoes, roasted baby carrots, acorn squash and crispy maitake mushrooms with a bloody jus. It’s fair to be skeptical of a counter-service restaurant steak, especially when the menu description mentions blood so many times. I’m happy to say that this was pretty good! Sorry to go back to this but stick with me – the ‘blood’ descriptions might actually help here as they don’t want to overcook the meat. Instead it came out tender with decent flavor. It’s not the best cut of meat but it’s not bad for a $25 steak served in a theme park.

The sides were also pretty good, with creamy mashed potatoes, delicious mushrooms and a tasty (warm) acorn squash. I’d happily get this again, as the quality of the whole plate impressed me. As long as expectations are in tow, I think this is a strong option. It also seems like a fitting thing to order at Das Stakehaus. For those curious, the stakes in the steak read, “nostro arbitrio solous” which is Latin for “at our discretion alone.” So, maybe the vampires aren’t all dead?

We also tried the Forager Salad which consists of crispy maitake mushrooms, acorn squash, red beets, blue cheese, arugula and bibb lettuce tossed in a blueberry pomegranate dressing. This usually comes with a grilled chicken stake but we went with salmon instead. The blueberry pomegranate dressing was a star here, adding a nice zip to the salad. We also thought the fish was cooked very well. On the downside, the acorn squash was served cold with this and was not enjoyable. Even with that complaint, we liked the salad and thought it was a more thoughtful combination of ingredients than most counter-service salads.

For dessert, we ordered the Red Velvet Death. That name doesn’t beat around the bush. This is red velvet heart “beet” coffin cake with chocolate crumbs and puffed rice maggots. This was a good piece of cake! The side ingredients were fun and helped the presentation (I believe they’re just Oreo crumbs and Rice Krispies) while the cake was moist and a good red velvet. I’m not sure that it’s worth the $7 with so many other good options at Epic Universe but it didn’t disappoint.

After factoring the atmosphere and food at Das Stakehaus, we thought this was one of the better counter-service restaurants that we’ve been to in any theme park. No, the food doesn’t quite measure up to the best of the best but it was still good and in line with most prices. The theme and decor are what set the restaurant apart and what will keep us coming back. That is, we’ll keep coming back until the vampires return to life and feast on us.

Overall Rating – 9/10

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