This is better than we expected. The breading is perfectly fried and crispy. There’s some peppery seasoning. It’s not soggy at all. The cheese is perfect and it’s served hot. The marinara sauce has a bit of a kick. Our only complaint is that the price is high for a cheese stick.

Rating out of 7: 6

The Cheese Stick magnet is a separate purchase. There are also magnets inspired by the Twisted Tater and Pizza Fries.

If this hot dog is actually Nathan’s, it should taste better. It’s not horrible but it’s not good. The Tostitos cheese sauce is gross and overwhelms everything else. We could only taste a bit of sweetness from the ube bun. We couldn’t taste the Flamin’ Hot Cheetos at all. The spice level is good but that’s it.

Rating out of 7: 2

This is better than the hot dog but not great. There’s a lot of shrimp but it tastes like grocery store frozen shrimp. The rice is mushy. It’s salty. The sauces are doing their job, and it was served hot and fresh.

Rating out of 7: 3

On paper, this should be good, and the flavor is fantastic. But it was soggy and oily. Unlike everything else we got at the first two booths, it wasn’t hot and crispy. And the price is too high for half a piece of bread.

Rating out of 7: 2

We heard beforehand that this tastes like a Big Mac and it does! The shell is really greasy though. And it’s a bit of a small serving for the price.

Rating out of 7: 4

An artificial peanut taste hits on the back end. It’s sweet, chemical, and not boozy. The peanut on top was too hard to eat. This is bad.

Rating out of 7: 2

There’s no blinky cup this year. The souvenir cup features Jack and Oddfellow on a playing card design.

This essentially replaces the vegan lentil coffin. This is like a hot pocket. The cheese was really hot and comprises most of the dish. What little sausage there is helps. We prefer it to the vegan pizza fries. That said, vegans probably won’t like it.

Rating out of 7: 3

This just feels like red velvet-flavored cream cheese icing. We couldn’t find the cake. So it feels like a boat of dough. The raspberry on top is necessary, making it taste a little less artificial. The presentation with the shovel is cute, bumping up our rating.

Rating out of 7: 5

Our Philly reporters reviewed this and found it to be pretty good. It’s not exactly like a Philly cheesesteak — sausage being on it is weird — and it would be better with marinara sauce, but it’s a decent cheesesteak stromboli.

Rating out of 7: 5

The peanut butter is inside and the strawberry jam is on the side. It’s not terrible but it’s greasy and sticky. It doesn’t feel like a dessert. The peanut butter is warm and savory. It’s like carnival food (which works with this year’s event) and some people will like it.

Rating out of 7: 4

This is a fairly substantial sandwich and good to boot. At $12.99, it’s a better value than a lot of the other items at HHN. The sweet sauce covers up the smokiness of the meat but that’s probably a good thing at a theme park. The jalapeños are fresh. The pretzel roll is good.

Rating out of 7: 5

Four rib bones for $12.99 is also a pretty good deal. It’s the same meat and sauce. The ribs are nice and tender. The sauce is super strong.

Rating out of 7: 5

Our reporters don’t love gin but really liked this. It has a slight medicinal taste and a bit of sweetness, but it’s smooth on the backend. It really tastes like a limeade.

Rating out of 7: 5

This was awful. The waffle, which is more like shredded hash browns, was super salty. Many of the chicken bites were just breading without chicken.

Rating out of 7: 1

The presentation of the can is great and maybe that’s why Universal thought they could charge $17 for this garbage. The jerky isn’t bad but it’s not good enough to redeem the clumpy, disgusting mac and cheese.

As for the garlic bread, it’s buried under everything else and tasted more like a crouton.

Rating out of 7: 2

This is essentially peanut butter cream covered in chocolate chips and peanut chips. It’s pretty basic but tastes good and you get three for $10, which is a better value than anything else at this booth.

Rating out of 7: 4

This is better than we expected, especially compared to the food at this booth. It’s really good for a pre-mixed event cocktail. There’s a lot of vodka but the energy drink comes through. The yuzu gives it a bit of tartness without being too much.

Rating out of 7: 6

The catfish is a little fishy but tender with a flaky, crunchy breading. It’s seasoned well. The Tabasco elevates it to delicious. The grits are dense, cheesy, and very garlicky.

Rating out of 7: 6

This is dense, making it feel more like cake than bread pudding. It’s hot and fresh with a good mix of sweet and salty flavors. We’re not blown away by it but it’s solid.

Rating out of 7: 5

Fanta Orange and vodka don’t really go together. You can taste the cheapness of the vodka. It tastes like a bad creamsicle. We stirred it up and the cream got weirdly chunky.

Rating out of 7: 2

This is refreshing. For a Halloween Horror Nights fruit cocktail, it’s decently balanced. Tart but not too sweet. The lime and cranberry are more prevalent than the orange.

Rating out of 7: 5

The Phantom Punch is available at most booths and bars.

We expected this to be bad but it’s actually pretty decent. The pasta is a little undercooked or dry. The a la vodka is a bit spicy. The crust tastes like garlic bread. The cheese is bringing it down. It’s bitter, not what you expect on pizza. Without the cheese, this would be good.

Rating out of 7: 4

Last year, there was an excellent birria ramen. They’ve turned it into a “pizza” fries dish this year (nothing makes it pizza except the cheese). The birria is a little dry because of the cooking process so it could use a sauce. But it’s not bad. There’s a good amount of beef and it’s very flavorful. The crinkle-cut fries are crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. It’s a nice savory dish.

Rating out of 7: 5