Staying at one of the new Universal Orlando on-site hotels near EPIC Universe? We’ve got your gluten free options covered with this ultimate gluten free guide to EPIC Universe hotels.
Along with its brand new theme park, in 2025 Universal Orlando has opened three (3) new hotels on its south campus.
RELATED: Click here to read my review of every gluten free option inside the EPIC Universe theme park. Don’t miss it!
Universal Orlando’s new EPIC Universe hotels—Helios Grand Hotel, Terra Luna Resort, and Stella Nova Resort—are bringing fresh energy, sleek designs, and exciting new dining experiences to the resort.
But if you’re gluten free, and especially if you’re managing celiac disease, you’re probably asking the same question I always do when booking a hotel: will I be able to eat safely here? I recently explored all three (3) hotels and their dining offerings to uncover what’s available for gluten free guests. In this post, I’m sharing everything I found—what looks safe, what to ask about, and where I’d personally feel comfortable eating again.
Click here to read about my gluten free journey and credentials.
IMPORTANT: I took a celiac panel blood test when I got home and my numbers were completely normal. These are safe places to eat! 🎉🎉
The bottom line: Like basically all of Universal Orlando, these hotels do an excellent job of accommodating dietary needs, including celiac disease or non-celiac gluten intolerance. I had a sleezy cheesy burger at Terra Luna Resort that I’m still dreaming about. Read on to find out more! Let’s get into it.
Use the table of contents below to jump around and find your favorite options. Or, if you have time, read the whole thing!
RELATED: Click here to explore our review of 10 great gluten free dining options at Universal Studios Florida, Islands of Adventure, and CityWalk Orlando.
New EPIC Universe Hotel Restaurants Overview
There are four (4) restaurants at the Helios Grand Hotel, and three (3) at each of Terra Luna Resort and Stella Nova Resort. As with all of Universal Orlando’s on-site hotels, these include a grab and go venue, a poolside venue, and an all day venue.
Signature Collection on-site hotels, like the Helios Grand, have other restaurants as well. In Helios Grand’s case, it’s a rooftop bar with insanely amazing views of EPIC Universe.
The Budget Sister Hotels: Terra Luna Resort and Stella Nova Resort
Terra Luna Resort and Stella Nova Resort are two (2) budget hotels that opened near EPIC Universe in early 2025.
The dining options at the sister hotels, Stella Nova and Terra Luna, are nearly identical. They each have a lobby bar, an all day grab and go market and counter service cafe, and a poolside bar with a counter service restaurant.
The food menus are largely the same, but they do have very slight differences. The bars each have their own specialty cocktails that go along with their respective moon and star themes, but the overall offerings are quite similar, and you will have a quite similar experience at both. The names are even roughly the same.
But I checked them both out, just for you. Because that’s just the kind of travel guide Universal Unlocked is! 😁😁
The Signature Collection Hotel: Universal Helios Grand Hotel
The Helios Grand is the luxury hotel offering on the EPIC Universe campus, and it boasts a rooftop restaurant with 360 degree views. It’s part of the Signature Collection (i.e., luxury … but I have questions) and offers quite a few lovely on-site hotel benefits. There are four (4) on-site restaurants at the hotel. And all of them have gluten free options. Check them out below.
RELATED: Click here to read about why you should stay at a Universal on-site hotel, and all the benefits and perks that come with it, in our 2025 Ultimate Universal Orlando Planning Guide. If you’re planning your first (or 100th) trip to Orlando, it’s just what you need.
Gluten Free at EPIC Universe Hotel Restaurants
DISCLAIMER: I don’t eat seafood, but given that the hotel is Greek themed, there are many gluten free seafood dishes at these restaurants.
UNLOCKED TIP: While we always list the hours of restaurants we review, the restaurant hours at the new south campus hotels have changed multiple times since their openings. Make sure to check the website links below to confirm the hours before you go.
Universal Helios Grand Hotel
The Helios Grand is the new luxury (or Signature Collection) hotel on Universal Orlando’s south campus. It opened on April 16, 2025, and it sits inside the new EPIC Universe theme park and has its own dedicated park entrance. If you’re going to stay here, I hope you like Greek food. (I mean they do have some American fare, too. If you don’t like Greek food don’t get discouraged. The prices will do that! I said what I said!)
Flora Taverna
- What: Table service all day restaurant
- Where: Off the main lobby
- Breakfast: 7AM to 11AM
- Lunch: 12PM to 2PM
- Dinner: 5PM to 10PM
The Flora Taverna restaurant is the morning to night, three meals a day offering at the Helios Grand. Every Universal Orlando Resort on-site hotel has one. Curiously though, for now, this one is closed between lunch and dinner. Which is not usually the case for this type of restaurant. They do actually serve “light fare” between 2PM and 5PM, but it’s not advertised. The full bar is open all day (think mimosas for breakfast … you’re on vacation), and you can order bites from the restaurant at the bar.
I ate multiple meals at this venue. Each one was fantastic, and the staff are already attentive, confident, and very knowledgeable about food allergy protocol. The chef came out every time to talk to me about what they could make safely.
Don’t worry about what’s marked on these menus. The chef will create something just for you if nothing on the menu appeals. I experienced this multiple times.
Breakfast at Flora Taverna
I ate breakfast at this restaurant on my first morning at EPIC before the park opened. It was completely lovely. The restaurant itself is gorgeous and comfortable. When I checked in at the hostess stand (with no reservation) they knew my allergies. I’m not sure how that happened, and it has never happened to me before. (Unless there’s a specific team member who remembers me, which was obviously not the case on my first visit to this hotel.)
The main breakfast option here is the buffet, but any knowledgeable staff member will tell you to order off the menu for safety.
UNLOCKED TIP: This goes for any buffet in any restaurant. Always order off the menu if you have a gluten issue. The more you know! 🌠🌠
They have a standard breakfast menu. Everything but the pastry options are gluten free.
Aside from having a great atmosphere and great dietary accommodations, this food was really good. I had eggs, bacon, breakfast potatoes, and gluten free toast. I’m pretty picky about scrambled eggs, and these were excellent.
Speaking of mimosas, I definitely ordered one at 8AM. The table next to me did it so who am I to judge actually??
A big downside to this restaurant and the Helios Grand in general is that everything is extremely pricey. The hotel is going viral on social media right now for its ridiculous prices, from the rooms to the restaurants, so just be aware of that.
Lunch, Dinner & Bar Eats at Flora Taverna
As I quickly learned, every single venue at EPIC Universe, both the park and the hotels, offers gluten free buns. The chef made a burger for me that was not on the menu. They are good at pacing and filling like this. The bar operates the same way. And Flora Taverna has great barstools … and you know I check. Look for our “Universal Orlando: A Barstool Ranking” post, coming soon! 😂😂
A big way that I gauge someone’s attention to allergy protocol is if they put garnish on a bar drink (avoid it everywhere in all circumstances). No one during my trip put a single garnish on my drinks. 🎉🎉
Click here to explore the Flora Taverna menu.
Bar Helios
- What: Bar and small eats table service
- Where: On the top floor of the hotel, access via elevator
- Hours: 4PM to 12AM (1AM on Saturday and Sunday), daily
UNLOCKED TIP: At this time you need a reservation to get into this restaurant. Even if that changes, I highly recommend it. This place is in serious demand because of its views.
Bar Helios is getting all the love attention during the new EPIC Universe press push because it’s located at the top of the Helios Grand, and it has 360 views. Who doesn’t love that? All the bar offerings at the new EPIC Universe campus have an impressive list of original themed cocktails. And a lot of them can be made gluten free.
I checked this place out during the day and at night. I recommend doing that because the views at both times are spectacular. Just go up for one drink if the prices are turning you off (they will).
UNLOCKED TIP: If you’re only going to go to Bar Helios once, do it at night. EPIC Universe was built for the night views. And they are incredible.
Food at Bar Helios
This menu is limited to bar eats, so there aren’t a ton of options. But there are multiple seafood gluten free options. And a couple non seafood options, including a beef skewer and a farmer’s cheese board. The farmer’s cheese board is not marked gluten free because it’s served with bread. But ask them to modify and they will.
The safety protocols are excellent at Bar Helios. Even at night at a busy bar, a manager came out to speak with me about safe options.
I had both non seafood items, and both were delicious. (The prices are high but at least it’s for good food?) The beef skewer came with a truffle garlic sauce that I wanted to bathe in.
UNLOCKED TIP: A lot of menu items across Universal Orlando Resort are not marked gluten free simply because they come with a side of some type of bread. These sides can easily be taken off, so always ask.
The inside of this bar is gorgeous, but the draw is obviously the views. So try to get a table on the patio. The seating options across the board are great. Outside there are big comfortable cushioned chairs that we sat in.
This place was BOPPING when we came off the elevator around 10:30PM, but it wasn’t that boisterous once we sat down in our own little corner.
We went during the day right at the 4PM opening (I guess you could call it rope dropping?). It was considerably less crowded than at night, but there was a line already formed in the elevator bank waiting for the doors to open.
Drinks at Bar Helios
The house cocktails at every EPIC Universe hotel restaurant are very creatively themed. But they offer a full bar of gluten free distilled liquors, so you can also feel free to concoct your own libation, as you please.
We stuck with Tito’s and cranberry because the house drinks were overtly complex. But you can ask about each ingredient if you want to spend the time. They’re great about it.
Click here to explore the Bar Helios menu.
Aurora Market
- What: Grab and go
- Where: Off the main lobby
- Hours: 6AM to 11PM, daily
Aurora Market is the grab and go option at the Helios Grand, and like the all day venue, every Universal on-site hotel has one.
Food at Aurora Market
This market is quite small by Universal Orlando on-site hotel standards and mostly taken up by the coffee bar. The grab and go options are hot sandwiches throughout the day (breakfast and non breakfast), and dry goods like cereal and chips. They also have gelato.
Drinks at Aurora Market
For drinks, they have standard canned and bottled drinks, including water, energy drinks, milk, juice, and soda, plus canned/bottled alcoholic beverages and tiny liquor bottles. The canned and bottle options include beer, wine, Cutwater Cocktails (all gluten free), various hard seltzers (mostly all gluten free), and Aperol Spritz. They are heavy on the Aperol at Helios Grand. It’s everywhere. And gluten free. There is also a Coke Freestyle machine. This means you can buy your Coke Freestyle mug (if you want one) at the hotel and avoid having to search one out in the parks.
UNLOCKED TIP: If you have purchased a Coke Freestyle mug, you can definitely use it here, but don’t forget that you can also just use the machine for free to fill up water bottles instead of purchasing expensive bottled water over and over. Buy one or two bottles and fill them up here.
RELATED: Click here to get more Unlocked Tips about Coke Freestyle and other Universal Orlando travel hacks in our Unlocked Tips and FAQ post.
UNLOCKED TIP: It hasn’t always been the case with older hotels, but in recent years Universal Orlando has added at least one (1) Coke Freestyle machine to every on-site hotel.
Though the venue itself is small, it does have a patio with EPIC Universe park views. I used this place for the Coke Freestyle machine and canned alcoholic beverages and not much else. I was disappointed overall. It really should be bigger and have more options given the price of this Signature Collection hotel.
Lotus Lagoon
- What: Bar and small eats table service
- Where: Poolside
- Food: 11AM to 10PM, daily
- Bar: 11AM to 11PM, daily
Lotus Lagoon is the poolside bar and restaurant at the Helios Grand. I went here on my last day while I waited until it was time to go to the airport, and it blew me away, frankly. If melting Florida heat didn’t bother me, it would probably me my favorite venue at this hotel.
The bar is huge. Bigger than any other on-site hotel by a pretty big chunk. I also love the theming in this hotel. It’s all stars and gold, which is just luxurious feeling and very pretty. The pool isn’t huge and doesn’t have water slides or other gimmicks, but it does feel very high end and there is a ton of seating among the lounge chairs, tables, and cabanas.
Food at Lotus Lagoon
The gluten free items on the menu include chicken wings, salads, sandwiches with gluten free buns, beef and chicken skewers, grilled chicken, and popsicles, I had the chicken skewer, which was similar to the beef skewer I had at Bar Helios.
Staff uses the same careful protocols at Lotus Lagoon as everywhere else in the hotel. Everyone is anxious to get your order right and prepared safely.
Drinks at Lotus Lagoon
This goes for the bartenders as well. They were checking all ingredients for me. It was hot outside, so I had all the frozen drinks on this visit. They have several premade, and all are gluten free. It’s a full bar, so you can craft anything gluten free you want. But they also have a long list of specialty cocktails that can be made gluten free.
Click here to explore the Lotus Lagoon menu.
Universal Terra Luna Resort & Universal Stella Nova Resort
Stella Nova Resort opened January 21, 2025, as the first of the new south campus hotels. Terra Luna Resort opened on March 25, 2025, as the second of the EPIC Universe (or south campus) new hotels.
They are budget hotels in the “prime value” category, a tier above the “value” category (which frankly I disagree with). These hotels are “sisters” and have identical amenities and only slight differences in their architecture and décor.
Given that the offerings are so similar, I’m going to go through their respective twin restaurants together.
Nova Bar (Stella Nova Resort) & Luna Bar (Terra Luna Resort)
- What: Lobby bars
- Where: Main lobby
- Hours: 5PM to 12AM
We visited both the Stella Nova Resort and the Terra Luna Resort during the day. So neither of the lobby bars, which both open at 5PM, were open to us. They do not serve food, only beverages. They are full bars (so making gluten free libations will be very simple), and each offers an impressive list of specialty cocktails and mocktails.
UPDATE: I recently stayed at both Terra Luna and Stella Nova. I drank at both of these bars, and they were both wonderful. The bartenders are every bit as knowledgable as the chefs at the restaurants. I had the Pulsar at Stella Nova, which was wonderful. And I had the Luna at Terra Luna, which is an espresso martini (a drink that I recently realized I love despite not being a coffee drinker!) that was to die for.
Click here to explore the Nova Bar menu.
Click here to explore the Luna Bar menu.
Cosmos Cafe & Market (Stella Nova Resort) & Omega Cafe & Market (Terra Luna Resort)
- What: Grab and go and counter service
- Where: Off the main lobby
- Breakfast: 7AM to 11AM
- Lunch: 11:30AM to 5PM
- Dinner: 5PM to 10PM
- Market: 6AM to 11PM
Cosmos and Omega Markets
Both these all day restaurants are off the main lobby of each hotel. They are set up slightly differently, but they each offer identical service and very similar menus.
On the market side, you can get grab and go food and drinks. Terra Luna has a dedicated gluten free section, but Stella Nova does not. I was actually shocked at how many more options and variety these budget hotel grab and go markets had than the EPIC Universe Signature Collection hotel’s grab and go market.
Both these markets have standard canned and bottled drinks, including water, energy drinks, milk, juice, and soda. They also each have multiple Coke Freestyle machines.
For libations, both of these all day venues have canned wine, beer, Cutwater Cocktails, and hard seltzers. Most of which are gluten free (obviously excepting the beer).
Cosmos and Omega Cafes
Adjacent to the markets are the counter service cafes where you can order off the menu. They can make so many things gluten free, including burgers and pizza. For breakfast they can make eggs, breakfast meats, breakfast potatoes, and breakfast sandwiches gluten free. Ask about anything you might want. Both menus are quite large.
Cosmos Cafe (Stella Nova Resort)
We were at Stella Nova for lunch and I got a pepperoni pizza. It was hot and delicious. Unlike the twin restaurant at Terra Luna (see below 👇), everyone on staff was excellent here. They went through gluten free safety protocols with me, and I felt very safe. They have most of the same items available at dinner.
UPDATE: I recently stayed at Stella Nova and had breakfast at the cafe also. The breakfast sandwich was orders of magnitude better than the breakfast sandwich at Terra Luna. However, while the bacon was decent, the pancakes and eggs were some of the worst I’ve ever tasted. The eggs were hard squares, and the pancakes were rock hard and almost inedible. I highly recommend you skip this breakfast. The staff was still excellent. The chef brought out the pancake mix for me to see.
Click here to explore the Cosmos Cafe menu.
Omega Cafe (Terra Luna Resort)
We were at Terra Luna during breakfast, and I had a bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich with a gluten free bun at the Omega Cafe. It was not good! On top of that, I got a distinctly bad vibe from the staff there.
UPDATE: I recently stayed at Terra Luna Resort for a second time, and the experience at Omega was totally different. Like I usually say, the staff you get on a particular day is everything. It was an amazing experience. I finally had the Elote (see above, such a random item on this menu). It was good, but a little too onion-heavy for me.
They weren’t ignorant per se, but they gave me just sort of the rude reactions I get at home. Like “obviously we know how to do this stop being annoying.” No elaboration. Read my feelings on this behavior here. Of course it just could have been an off day. Also I ordered ham and they gave me bacon!
I did eventually get them to spell out their safety protocols, and the sandwich they made me was safe. So if you need to eat, you can do that here. And the other menu items are possibly better.
Counter service is generally so iffy for me. The only place I feel truly comfortable and seen is at the Green Eggs and Ham Cafe at Islands of Adventure.
RELATED: Click here to read our recommendations for amazing gluten free eating at Universal Studios Florida, Islands of Adventure, and CityWalk Orlando!
This was the only place at the south campus hotels that I walked away from with a negative impression. So basically a 90% success rate. I’ll take it.
Click here to explore the Omega Cafe menu.
Galaxy Bar and Galaxy Grill (Stella Nova Resort) & Moonrise Bar and Moonrise Grill (Terra Luna Resort)
- What: Full bar and counter service eats
- Where: Poolside
- Galaxy Grill: 11AM to 9PM
- Galaxy Bar: 11AM to 11PM
- Moonrise Grill: 11AM to 9PM (UNLOCKED TIP: Moonrise Grill is currently closed during the week and only open Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.)
- Moonrise Bar: 11AM to 11PM
That title is a whole mouthful, but I felt it necessary to be specific because the poolside venues are actually separate. I didn’t expect it! The food is a counter service walk up off to the side of the hotel. If you’re eating and drinking at the pool, go order your food at the counter and then walk over to sit at the bar (they give you a coaster pager that will buzz when it’s time to pick up your order).
The full bars are huge with plenty of comfortable seating. The poolside venues at these budget hotels are the only places I’m not going to knock, basically.
Galaxy Grill
The food here is similar to the indoor cafe, but it is slightly more limited. I did not have anything to eat at this venue, but I did speak with the manager and can confirm that the protocols are just as safe as its counterpart, the Moonrise Grill (see below 👇).
UPDATE: I spoke with the chef here on my recent visit in July 2025, and he was adamant this time that they can’t make anything safe at the outside venue. He told me I would have to go inside to get a gluten free meal. Again, eating gluten free is so much about which member of staff you get that day! Be careful here.
Click here to explore the Galaxy Grill menu.
Moonrise Grill
I got a standard cheeseburger (and fries) at this counter service spot, but it was the juiciest, sleeziest, most delicious gluten free cheeseburger I’ve ever had. Before this, my favorite gluten free burger at Universal Orlando was at Finnegan’s Bar and Grill at Universal Studios Florida. And it was uncontested. That burger has been dethroned by a mile. I cannot recommend it enough.
The staff was also excellent. Counter service is tough to trust for me (as you will read in most gluten free parts of this travel guide), but the chef came out to speak with me and made me feel totally comfortable with his knowledge and ability.
UPDATE: After my experience at Galaxy Grill, I specifically went back to Moonrise Grill to check about safety, in case my previous visit was a fever dream. But there is actually a lot of drama going on at these hotels right now! Long story short: Moonrise Grill is now closed during the week and only open on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. So I couldn’t check. I recommend being careful at both these places.
Click here to explore the Moonrise Grill menu.
Galaxy Bar
This is a full bar with a big specialty cocktail and mocktail list. I just got a mimosa here, but the bartender was confident and knowledgeable.
Click here to explore the Galaxy Bar menu.
Moonrise Bar
The Moonrise is a full bar with my favorite specialty cocktail menu in the whole south campus. So much of it can be made gluten free. I had a couple drinks here, and I honestly can’t remember which ones because I’m looking at the menu now and they all look like something I would order. But they were all safe and delicious. The bartender was confident and knowledgeable.
Couple that with my favorite gluten free burger? Loved it. No notes.
Click here to explore the Moonrise Bar menu.
Pizza Delivery
- What: Pizza delivery service
- Where: Your hotel room
- Hours: 5PM to 12AM, daily
Every budget hotel offers a pizza delivery service (in lieu of the in room dining offered at the Signature Collection hotels). They have a gluten free cauliflower crust, but I’ve never checked on safety protocols. For what it’s worth, I had pizza at the Cosmos Cafe and the safety was perfect.
UPDATE: After my most recent trip, I have now eaten the pizza delivery at both Terra Luna Resort and Stella Nova Resort (as well as Surfside Inn and Suites, but that’s another story! Coming soon, etc etc.) and can report that the pizza is made in the same kitchen as the cafes, and that it can be made safely. It’s also pretty tasty. And they have other pizza joint related things like salad, breadsticks, sandwiches, and desserts.
Click here to explore the Pizza Delivery menu.
Final Thoughts: Universal Helios Grand Hotel (Signature Collection)
Be very prepared to pay through the nose for everything at this hotel. I was very disappointed by the grab and go Aurora Market, but the food and the service at the other three (3) restaurants at the Helios Grand were very good. The gluten free safety protocols are just as stellar as at any other Universal Orlando on-site hotel.
The décor at the Helios Grand is breathtaking, but I would not call it luxury. The standard rooms are only marginally larger than the rooms at the south campus budget hotels. I noted in our hotel planning guide before the Helios Grand opened that it seemed to be a strange mix of premium and budget.
RELATED: Click here to read our exhaustive Universal Orlando planning guide. It has literally everything you need to know before your first (or 50th) Universal Orlando trip!
And I was correct. The biggest indicator of this is that the Helios Grand does not offer the free unlimited express pass as a benefit (which all premier on-site hotels offer). And the prices do not match that. Be very clear about what you’re paying for at this hotel. It’s the park views (that you have to pay even more for) and the dedicated park entrance. If that’s not enough for you, pick another on-site hotel.
RELATED: Click here to read our reviews of other Universal Orlando on site hotels.
Final Thoughts: Terra Luna Resort & Stella Nova Resort (Prime Value)
As I mention above, I wasn’t overly impressed with these budget hotels (except the poolside burger!). But they are good for what they are, especially if you want to be close to EPIC Universe and not break the bank with a Helios Grand stay. And the gluten free options are solid.
But the Endless Summer resorts, which are on a lower tier, are cheaper, bigger, and nicer (and they have suites—these only have standard rooms). These are just very stripped down hotels. I was surprised by it.
Conclusion
Thanks for reading! Make sure to bookmark this page so you always have your gluten free options with you when traveling through EPIC Universe and its hotels.
While the EPIC Universe hotels are still new to the scene, they’re already showing excellence when it comes to gluten free dining. From elevated hotel restaurants to more casual quick service spots, I found many gluten free options worth checking out—and a few things to be cautious about.
As always, I recommend asking to speak with a chef or trained team member when placing your order, especially if you have celiac disease or a serious gluten intolerance. I’ll be keeping an eye on how these menus evolve and will update this guide regularly—so be sure to check back before your stay at one of Universal’s newest hotels.
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