Yesterday we headed out to Universal Studios Hollywood to cover the Jurassic World 5k (we promise, one of these times we'll actually run the race) and of course stayed after a bit to do a park update. 

Lots of activity at the park as they prepare for the Holidays and Grinchmas, as well as Secret Life of Pets and Super Nintendo World. 

Let's head in!! 

Something truly magical about heading into a theme park before it even opens. 

It was in the low 50's and perfect at the start of the race. It got up to the 90's later in the day. Winter in SoCal!! 

They used the digital boards to help the runners which was awesome. 

And of course, no theme park race would be complete without characters!! 

Lots of runners heading down to the lower lot. Be sure to check out our highlight video too. 

Some were going for a fast time, others were just enjoying the park and course. 

I'm sure people were flying down this hill!! 

We moved over to the finish

The kids race medals

Congrats runners!! We didn't hear that the T-Rex caught any of you, so that's good. 

Let's head into the park and check out what's going on. 

Now that HHN is over, the park has quickly switched to Holiday mode. ​

Lots of awesome Holiday merch

A collection of shirts, hoodies, characters and more. 

It snowed at the park apparently. 

Always love the Minion tree 

They're getting ready for Grinchmas 

Taken before the park opened as we were headed to the finish of the 5k, but totally loved this pic. 

Even the Wizarding World is celebrating the holidays 

Secret Life of Pets is coming along quite nicely 

The amount of detail on the building is impressive 

Super Nintendo Land is growing each and every time we visit the park 

Impressive, most impressive. 

The decorations are also all around CityWalk 

Tony Roma's is closed, NBC Sports Grill/Brew is coming. 

Cool new (to us at least) mugs at Voodoo Doughnuts 

And even some Universal Running doughnuts 

King Kong wishes you a GrrrGrrr Grrrrrrmas. 

We'll be back in a few weeks for Grinchmas!! Hope you enjoyed the update!! 

The other night we were invited out to Universal CityWalk at Universal Studios Hollywood to try some yummy food from two of their newest restaurants, Vivo and Antojitos. And while we aren't a "food blog" we definitely like food. Having more options available either before or after visiting the park (or even before heading down to Hollywood to see a show at Pantages) is always a good thing. 

As such, we're going to approach this as a "theme park blog who likes to eat food" vs just as a "food blog". We'll let them do their thing. =) 

After checking in, our first stop was Vivo Italian Kitchen

As soon as we headed in we were greeted with wine, pasta and some nice looking dessert displays. We quickly made the decision to have "dinner" samples at each restaurant and then come back to Vivo to end our night with dessert. 

All of this was amazing, and shout out to the diners photo-bombing us. Didn't even notice this at the time. 

Ricotta Cheesecake. Wow!!! 

Mini Chocolate Vasi. I don't know what a Vasi is, but I know what chocolate is. And I know good chocolate something when I taste it. 

The restaurants mixologist was on-site to make some yummy drinks. We had the Old Fashioned and a Strawberry Rye (not pictured). Both were amazing. 

Some of the amazing food on the menu. 

We got to try the Sausage Ragu, it was to die for. 

Oh yeah, some of what the restaurant actually looks like. =) 

Our dessert sample with coffee of course. It was all fantastic. 

After stuffing our faces at Vivo, it was time to head over to Antojitos. This has always been a favorite of our readers in Florida so we were excited to see one coming here. And it didn't disappoint. 

Lots of amazing drinks. Seeing that it was a Tuesday night, and the Old Fashioned at Vivo was super good, didn't take more than a few sips here. But we WILL be back. 

Made a mental note that I NEED the Mexican Mule on our return visit. 

Let's get to the food

I LOVE spicy food. Like, love, love it. This had a tremendous kick. And I loved it. I think I had 3 or 4 of these mini tacos. But be warned. You'll need something to wash it down with. =) 

I'm probably the farthest thing from a Vegan that there is, well, maybe not the farthest. But this Vegan Chorizo was all kinds of amazing. Definitely am going to add some of this "Impossible" stuff to our shopping list to try it out. 

Had no idea that they could make Chicharrones out of chicken. Says the Guero. 

I'm getting hungry again

As somebody who is not a fan of tomatoes (but can eat non-chunky salsa) I love that they have guacamole with additives other than tomatoes. The Pomegranate seed one was amazing. 

Being born and raised in Southern California and having some of the best Mexican food within miles of our house for most of our lives we are VERY particular when it comes to Salsa. 

We are very happy to report the Salsa at Antojitos is amazing. 

The salsa roja (on the left side of the plate) was our favorite. 

So what's the final verdict? 

We really loved the food at both places, and for very different reasons. For us, Antojitos is definitely the more "casual" of the two places, as such, we will be more likely to eat there more in the future. 

On the other hand, for a special occasion (birthday, anniversary, etc) I could definitely see us choosing Vivo. 

And on the third hand, we totally talked about having dinner at Antojitos and then dessert at Vivo. =) 

Thanks again to Universal Studios Hollywood for inviting us out. We had an amazing time. 

Now about getting Antojitos to open for Breakfast after the Running Universal Events. I bet they'd make some amazing Chilaquiles. 

Last week was the Inaugural Minions 5k at Universal Studios Hollywood. Originally only supposed to take place on Saturday, the event was so popular that they had to actually do two 5k's, one on Saturday and one on Sunday. 

​We were invited out to cover the event early Saturday morning (good thing I was still on Orlando time). As somebody who's run over 40 half-marathons and 6 marathons, it was odd for me to be on this side of the race, but equally as fun!! 

Welcome to Universal Studios Hollywood!! 

Never have seen the sun rising on the sign, it was kind of cool. 

The racers getting ready, there were probably about 6-7 "waves" of runners. They did an amazing job making sure the course wouldn't be overcrowded. 

Run that way!! 

Even the Minions were excited to race

And of course, they were out at the start 

Check out some highlights of the race start and finish. We definitely did more video than pics. 

Pika, Pika 

The atmosphere at the finish was amazing

A look at the medal, very nice. And it's animated, you can spin it (totally should have done a .gif). 

​This was just the first race, Universal will be holding a Jurassic themed race in November, we'll definitely be running/covering that one as well. As soon as details are released we will for sure be sharing them.