It has been a day. We have been taking you all around Disney Springs on its re-opening day.
Now we’re heading to Wolfgang Puck Bar and Grill to see how they modified their restaurant with new health and safety protocols. Care to join us (virtually) for lunch?
Reservations
Wolfgang Puck Bar and Grill re-opened to guests today at noon. We snagged a reservation from OpenTable, but you can also make a reservation on the Wolfgang Puck website. While they were accepting walk-in guests, the wait was between 45 minutes and an hour for parties of two (with an even longer wait for larger groups) without reservations when we arrived at 12:30PM.
The wait seemed to be partially due to demand, and partially due to the reduced seating, with the table spaced farther apart to allow customers to distance.
Seating
Speaking of seating, the tables were spaced noticeably farther apart than before the closure. For reference, here’s an idea of the seating the last time we visited the restaurant.
In contrast, the tables in the center of the restaurant are now spaced farther apart, and some tables were purposely left empty in order to allow guests to distance.
Here’s a closer look at one of the empty tables with a sign indicating that it was to remain vacant.
The seating was noticeably reduced, and we had no trouble maintaining our distance from other guests with the restaurant layout.
Menu
We were given disposable paper menus, and there are a limited number of items available. Despite the reduced selection, there were still several appetizers, salads, pizzas, burgers, entrees, sides, and desserts for guests to choose from.
Instead of offering both a lunch and dinner menu, there are currently offering one all-day menu. Here’s a look at the drinks that were available on the menu as well.
Our server informed us that since many of the menu items are similar to their typical dinner offerings, they have started serving more lunch options at the Grab and Go window outside, which has also reopened (more on that later!).
Service
There were a number of health measures followed by all of the restaurant staff, including heightened cleaning, sanitizer available at all bussing stations, the sanitization of pens between uses, handwashing required anytime a team member enters the kitchen, and the use of gloves.
Our server also informed us that the staff came in on Monday for safety training and arrived early today to rearrange the tables. All of the food runners were wearing gloves, and any servers who deliver food must change gloves and wash their hands before and after dropping off the plates.
Food
Our server said the Bruschetta is the best-selling appetizer on the menu, so we decided to give it a try. And wow, we’re glad we did — it was SO GOOD!
The bread was perfectly crispy, and the veggies on top were super fresh. It reminded us of a Caprese salad on top of fresh bread, and we would definitely order this delicious appetizer again!
To-Go Options
As mentioned earlier, the to-go window also reopened with grab-and-go options. In addition to lunch and snack items, guests can also order drinks at the to-go window, prepared by a bartender from the restaurant.
We grabbed the Kakamora’s Dart Cocktail, themed for Moana. It was a blend of Plantation Pineapple Rum, Malibu Coconut Rum, and Lime. We really enjoyed this drink — it was refreshing, and not overly sweet like some tropical cocktails can be.
We also tried a few desserts! The Salted Caramel Banana Pudding was soooo good! The banana pudding was super creamy with big chunks of banana and vanilla wafers, topped with a scoop of salted caramel gelato. We’ll definitely grab this again the next time we’re in Disney Springs!
And the Reese’s Cookie was also a winner! It might sound a little basic, but this huge, soft peanut butter and chocolate chunk cookie was stuffed with Reese’s Pieces making it the ultimate blend of dessert flavors.
One thing to note if you’re grabbing something from the to-go window — the seating options are super limited. The seating here was always sparse, and now that the tables are extra spread out and reduced, it can be tough to find a spot!
But they do have signs indicating the seating is reserved for Wolfgang Puck guests at least! So if you see a table you’d like, ask a host if you can sit there.
Overall Experience
While things were definitely a little different than our last visit, we had a positive experience on our visit today. The food both inside the restaurant and at the to-go window was incredible, the staff was super friendly and helpful, and we had plenty of room to enjoy our eats.
Just keep in mind that there was a pretty long wait for walk-in guests, so try to grab a reservation if you’re looking to eat inside the restaurant anytime soon! For an even more detailed comparison, you can check out our full review of Wolfgang Puck Bar and Grill from before the closures here!
What do you think of Wolfgang Puck’s new dining experience? Let us know in the comments!
From our friends at www.disneyfoodblog.com
Filed Under: Disney News, Disney Springs, Featured, Special Stuff, Table-Service, Walt Disney World, advance dining reservation, banana pudding and salted caramel gelato, bruschetta, dining, Disney, disney dining, disney reservations, disney restaurant, disney springs, disney springs dining, disney springs restaurant, Disney World, disney world resort, kakamora’s dart, reeses cookie, table service dining, walt disney world resort, Wolfgang Puck, Wolfgang Puck Bar and Grill