Imagineer Michael Hundgen says the Monstropolis restaurant is getting sushi rolls and tempura satays with names pulled from the film. It replaces Mama Melrose’s at Hollywood Studios.
The sushi restaurant from Monsters, Inc. is becoming a real sushi restaurant, and Disney has started describing the menu.
Harryhausen’s will anchor dining in Monstropolis, the Monsters, Inc. land opening in phases at Disney’s Hollywood Studios starting in 2027.
Imagineer Michael Hundgen told Variety the menu will be “wildly fun.”
What will be on the menu at Harryhausen’s
Hundgen gave the clearest description yet of what Disney is building.
“Imagine sushi dishes inspired by the monster world: sushi rolls, tempura satays, all with iconic names that feel straight out of the film,” he said.
Sushi rolls and tempura satays are the two items named. Everything else remains unannounced, including pricing and whether it operates as table service or quick service.
The restaurant will also feature a sushi chef animatronic, which does more for a land’s believability than most ride systems do.
What Harryhausen’s is in the movie
For anyone whose memory of the film has faded, it is the upscale restaurant where Mike takes Celia for her birthday.
The dinner goes badly. Boo escapes, monsters panic at the presence of a human child, and the Child Detection Agency descends on the place in hazmat suits and reduces it to rubble.
Naming a Disney World restaurant after a location that gets destroyed on screen is a choice, and it is exactly the kind of choice this land seems to be making.
The name honors Ray Harryhausen, the stop-motion animation pioneer whose creature work influenced generations of filmmakers, including the people at Pixar.
Mama Melrose’s is being replaced
Harryhausen’s replaces Mama Melrose’s Ristorante Italiano, which has anchored the Grand Avenue corner of Hollywood Studios for decades.
The Muppets courtyard next door is already becoming part of the Monsters footprint, so the Italian restaurant’s conversion completes the theme on that side of the park.
What else is coming to Monstropolis
Phase one opening in 2027, covers the streets of the monster world, dining, shops, and entertainment, including the Glob Theater and a new Randy Newman song written for the land called “Welcome to Monstropolis.”
The door-vault suspended coaster, which sends riders hanging beneath the track through the door factory, arrives later. Disney showed a rendered look at its load area and launch at D23 and attached no date.
Billy Crystal announced the land at the 2024 D23, which means the gap from announcement to full opening will span at least three expos.
When Monstropolis opens
2027 for the first phase, with no month announced and no date for the coaster.
Phased openings mean construction walls stay up for years. Hollywood Studios has done this before, and the last time the reward at the end was Galaxy’s Edge.
A new Randy Newman song written for a theme park land is the sort of thing Disney used to do routinely and now reads as an event. That detail alone suggests the company is treating this as a flagship rather than a filler expansion.
Article compiled with the help of the Pirates & Princesses newsroom.
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Hat Tips:
Variety (August 2026), Michael Hundgen’s comments on the Harryhausen’s menu
WDW News Today (August 2026), the report that Harryhausen’s replaces Mama Melrose’s and the Glob Theater details
Laughing Place (August 16, 2026), the phased 2027 opening, the Randy Newman song, and the sushi chef animatronic
Time Out (August 2024), Billy Crystal’s original announcement and the suspended coaster