Photos: Grand Opening Of The Simpsons' Springfield At Universal Studios Hollywood

Last night we were invited to "A Taste of Springfield" neighborhood block party celebrating the grand opening of the iconic world of Springfield, the hometown of America's favorite family, The Simpsons, at Universal Studios Hollywood. The all-new themed environment surrounds The Simpsons Ride, placing park guests inside of the fictional town/city from the long-running animated series. And with 26 seasons of content to build out this world, Universal designers had a lot to pick and choose from.

After the jump you can see some photos from the grand opening event, as well as a look at the food from all the new resturants, including Duff Brewery, Moe's Tavern, Lard Lad Donuts, Krusty Burger, Cletus' Chicken Shack and Phineas Q. Butterfat's Ice Cream Parlour.

Here is a video of the grand opening ceremony which started with a bang in the form of a nuclear meltdown at Mr. Burns' Nuclear Power Plant.

The replica of Springfield features many iconic landmarks made famous throughout the series, including the Springfield Hills, Springfield Elementary School, Comic Book Guy's Android's Dungeon, the cooling towers of Mr. Burns' Nuclear Power Plant, Springfield Police Station, Aztec Theater and Kwik-E-Mart. Some of these landmarks like the Android's Dungeon or Police Station are just facades to hide the many inside eatery areas, while others like the Kwik-E-Mart allow guests to explore inside and buy some merchandise or Mr. Burns' Nuclear Power Plant which is a facade but provides an interactive element (how about a nuclear melt down?).

Lets first take a look at some of the facades and then on the next page we'll explore the food of Springfield. All photos in this post were taken by /Film photographer Kitra Remick.

After the jump we'll have photos of the many food offerings in Springfield, which includes Duff beer, Buzz Cola and many other favorites from the 26 year history of the Fox animated series.

When Universal Studios launched The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, fans went insane over the Butterbeer. The Simpsons' Springfield brings a couple beverages from the animated series to life including a bunch of variations of Duff Beef, The Flaming Moe (a soda drink that smokes) and Buzz Cola (a cherry tasting cola drink). Its somewhat disappointing that the Duff Beer are presented in plastic cups that don't say Duff Beer, a missed tourist photo op for guests. Also its cool that everyone can try the Flaming Moe as the soda drink is non alcoholic, but I kind of wish they offered an adult only alcoholic version. Here are some photos:

And now lets take a look at some of the unique food offerings from Duff Brewery, Moe's Tavern, Lard Lad Donuts, Krusty Burger, Cletus' Chicken Shack and Phineas Q. Butterfat's Ice Cream Parlour. The highlights include the Ribwich and huge Clogger Burger at Krusty Burger, the Chicken & Waffle sandwich at Cletus' Chicken Shack, the many flavored donuts and signature HUGE pink donut, the Marge head bag of cotton candy, the huge cube of rice crispy treats at Fat Tony's, or the Brain Freezin' D'oh-Nut Sundae at Butterfat's Favorites.