Joey Fatone Brings Fat Ones Home to Universal CityWalk with Loaded Dogs, Italian Ice and Plenty of Orlando Flavor

Fat Ones is officially bringing some serious flavor to Universal CityWalk, and we recently had the chance to get an early taste during a special preview with founders Joey Fatone and Joe Mulvihill. Before digging into the menu, we enjoyed a brief intervie with Joey and Joe to hear how a hot dog concept that started nearly a decade ago found its way back to a place that means quite a bit to both of them.

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Long before *NSYNC, Fat Ones, and everything that came between, Joey and Joe worked at Universal Orlando, with Joey performing in the former Beetlejuice’s Graveyard Revue. Both still call Orlando home, and they told us bringing Fat Ones to CityWalk feels a bit like coming full circle. Joey said his love for hot dogs and Italian ice goes back to growing up in Brooklyn, and while Fat Ones does not try to reinvent the hot dog, the goal has always been to elevate it with combinations guests might not normally think to try.

That philosophy became pretty clear once the food started arriving. The menu is packed with wildly different combinations, including The Fat One loaded with roasted pork, pepperoni, chili, beans, cheddar cheese sauce, red onion sauce and fries; The Brazilian with grilled linguiça sausage, jalapeño vegan mayo, Cotija cheese, Calabrian honey and potato sticks; the Korean-inspired Dirty K-Pop Dog; El Fonsi; The Cubano; Johnny’s Pizza; and a vegan option that can also be customized with many of the available toppings.

There is even a gluten-free bun option. Joey openly admitted he is normally a pretty simple hot dog guy himself, but encouraged everyone at the preview to get outside their comfort zone and actually try some of the more unusual combinations. After tasting them, we completely understand what he meant.

Our surprise favorite was The Angelo, topped with tzatziki, tomatoes, red onion, olive tapenade, feta and fresh dill. Reading that description, it probably would not have been our first order, but everything works together incredibly well and made it one of the standouts of the entire preview. Johnny’s Pizza was another immediate favorite, combining Neapolitan tomato sauce, melted mozzarella, pepperoni and Parmesan-parsley butter for a dog that delivers exactly the kind of pizza-meets-hot-dog chaos we hoped it would.

The Loaded Pop Fries were also fantastic, and anyone who already has a soft spot for Universal’s famous Pizza Fries is going to want to put these on the list. We also sampled the Fat Ones house IPA, which had plenty of flavor and made for a really solid beer alongside all those loaded dogs.

Then came the Italian ice, and this may quietly be one of Fat Ones’ secret weapons. Lemon, cherry, mango, tropical, cotton candy and blue raspberry are among the flavors offered, with Tropical and Mango coming out on top for us. Guests 21 and older can also turn their Italian ice into a boozy version, and Joey was more than happy to demonstrate why that little upgrade might be a game changer.

Between the food, drinks and the story behind the restaurant, Joey and Joe could not have been more gracious with their time, and it was clear this location is much more than simply attaching a celebrity name to a menu. Fat Ones feels right at home at Universal CityWalk, and based on what we tasted, it is a worthy successor to the former Hot Dog Hall of Fame and an easy addition to our must-stop list for the next Universal Orlando visit.

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As always, we want to thank Universal and Fat One’s for hosting us today, we had a great time and will definitely be back! If you are planning your own trip to Universal Orlando and want to work a Fat Ones stop into the itinerary, our partners at Get Away Today can help put together the perfect Orlando vacation.