Busch Gardens Tampa Bay is leveling up its festival food game, and this year's spring festival is no joke!
Since we got to try a lot of items on the first day, we're sharing our top 5 favorite bites from Busch Gardens' Food, Wine & Garden Festival!
<div id="c3be0912bb716eee4ca644c1dfc4ecde4"></div>If you don't already know, this festival is held on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays from March 6 to May 10, 2026.
During this time, you'll get to view the gardens and try some amazing food and beverages! You can find the full rundown on the festival, including music headliners and ticket details here.
You'll want to try more than a couple of items this year (trust us), so a festival Sampler Lanyard will be your best friend! Sampler lanyards start at $65 for 8 items, or you can get the 12-item sampler for $75.
If you buy 4 of the 8-item sampler lanyards, they have a special deal, making each lanyard $60 instead of $65!
Now that we've covered the basics, let's get into the tasty details!
Favorite Items from Busch Gardens' Food, Wine & Garden Festival
Herb-Crusted Lamb Steak from Cabin 5
I'm not a lamb girlie, but my boyfriend absolutely loves lamb. It's a bit too gamey for my taste, but he noted that the texture and cook of the lamb was great, and we were able to cut the meat with the plastic cutlery, so it was very tender
I don't think we had the minted pea mash as described on the sign, but whatever was paired with the lamb was a good balance with the hefty flavor of the meat and the red wine reduction.
This is a dish my boyfriend would get again, but if gamey flavors aren't for you, this is one I would avoid.
Crab Corn Cakes from Cabin 6
Another of our favorites was the Crab Corn Cakes. It was so full of crab that we could taste it in every bite, which is rare sometimes in theme parks, especially with the more expensive ingredients.
The pickled radish slaw helped give a bit of extra crunch to the already crunchy outside of the corn cake. The sweetness helped round out the pickled flavor of the slaw so it wasn't overpowering.
Lobster Roll Cabin 7
This was another bite that we heavily enjoyed because of the sheer amount of lobster in the roll.
The bread was plenty thick, and I actually think that because of the thickness and slight sweetness of the bread, it helped every bite. There wasn't any fishy taste in this Lobster Roll, which was great!
Mixed Berry Tart and Strawberry Shortcake Kabobs from Cabin 10: The Brazen Berry
My personal favorite bite of all was the Mixed Berry Tart. I like tarts on average, but my issue is always the lack of shell-to-filling ratio. Personally, I would put this tart at the top of my “Best Tarts I've Ever Had” list.
The filling was perfectly proportionate to the shell, and the lemon-vanilla custard was light, refreshing, and too sweet. When they say “bright, balanced, not overly sweet,” they mean it!
This tart was actually so good that I used another one of my sample lanyard punches to order a second one.
The jaw dropper of the night was the Strawberry Shortcake Kabobs. This twist on a classic was great, and we had no idea the size when we ordered it, but it was massive! This is the ultimate bang for your buck.
The vanilla cake bites were deliciously light and airy, and the brownie was perfectly dense, while the strawberries added a bit of freshness that the kabob needed.
I will say that this dessert is a sweet one, so I'd recommend sharing it with your sweetheart!
Whatever you decide to indulge in at this year's Food, Wine & Garden Festival, we hope our hits and misses help you and your sweetheart narrow down all of the different menu selections!
Feature image courtesy of Busch Gardens Tampa Bay.