Disney World’s Monstropolis Starts With the Menu: First Look at Harryhausen’s, Archie’s and the 2027 Dark Avenue Debut

Disney World has started to answer a very specific Monsters, Inc. question: what would food in Monstropolis actually look like for human guests? Alongside a first look at dishes being developed for Harryhausen’s Restaurant and Archie’s Scare Pig Pizza, Disney also says the front half of the new land, called Dark Avenue, will open in 2027.

Walt Disney Imagineering shared a short clip of a mock-up for Harryhausen’s coming to Disney’s Hollywood Studios!

Imagineers are using classic techniques, including audio and visual media, to bring the sushi chef Audio-Animatronics figure to life. pic.twitter.com/zdmBLomiDa

The 2027 opening matters for the portion of Monstropolis that replaces the former Muppets Courtyard area at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Disney describes Dark Avenue as the main street-like section of the land, with existing venues being repurposed into Harryhausen’s Restaurant, Archie’s Scare Pig Pizza, Monsters University Alumni Club, the Scareporium and more.

The larger back section, anchored by the Monsters, Inc. Doors Coaster being built backstage in former cast member parking and an access road, still does not have an opening timeline from Disney.

Inside Harryhausen’s first big draw

Harryhausen’s Restaurant is being designed as the Monstropolis version of a night-out spot that still works for guests of different ages. The restaurant recreates the location of Mike and Celia’s date from Monsters, Inc. and takes over the space previously occupied by Mama Melrose. It will be a table service location.

Its centerpiece is a new sushi chef Audio-Animatronics figure placed in the middle of the dining room. Disney says the character will use eight tentacles to prepare food, and the in-progress figure shown in the clip below is being brought to life with a mix of classic techniques, plus audio and visual media.

Disney’s culinary and beverage teams say the broader goal is to take familiar dishes and push them into something brighter, bolder and more playful for Monstropolis. The internal shorthand for that approach is “grossly fun” food, meaning recognizably human flavors with monster-inspired twists.

What Disney has teased for the menu

Some items have already been named through the in-universe Monstropolis Horn newspaper shown at D23. Among the dishes teased for Harryhausen’s are the Caterpillar Roll, Terrible Teriyucki and Not-So-Slimi Sashimi, with a tongue-in-cheek note that they may not be ideal for human diners.

Disney also says the land’s story includes a Department of Human Relations that has assigned Culinary Ambassadors to adapt monster flavors for human tastes.

At Harryhausen’s, the food being explored includes ramen bowls inspired by traditional Japanese flavors. Disney says those bowls use classic elements such as rich tonkotsu broth and alkaline ramen noodles, then add Monstropolis details like fish cake cut into eyeball shapes and green eggs.

For Disney fans planning future Hollywood Studios trips, that means the first visible slice of Monstropolis is shaping up to be less about the coaster, for now, and more about where guests will eat when Dark Avenue opens in 2027.