Along with the four parks making up the wider Disney World resort, the area is also home to the Disney Springs dining, retail and entertainment complex.
It was built as Lake Buena Vista Shopping Village in 1975 and has since gone through many renamings and expansions to what today is home to 95 stores and, depending on how you count and classify them, nearly 70 eating establishments ranging from fast food to fine dining.
Built like a park around artificial body of water called Village Lake and home to frequent events and installations, Disney Springs is a popular place to walk around for those who want a touch of Disney without paying for tickets and spending a full day at a park.
Wolfgang Puck Bar & Grill to close permanently in September
Rising to fame by pioneering a new style of “new California” cuisine of fine dining in a more relaxed atmosphere, Austrian-born chef Wolfgang Puck has been a major celebrity name used to bring visitors to the complex since 1997. The Wolfgang Puck Grand Cafe operated from 1997 to 2017 alongside the grab-and-go Wolfgang Puck Express in a different part of the area that was eventually lost to the covid-19 pandemic.
The 250-seat Wolfgang Puck Bar & Grill opened in 2018 as the main Puck-branded dining establishment at Disney Springs. But as first reported by local watchdogs, it will now be serving the final meals to guests on September 13 as it shutters permanently without explanation.
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“There has also been no news on a potential replacement, whether that be another dining location or a retail vendor,” Taylor Veneto of the Mickey Visit blog writes. “With this closing date approaching quickly, it is possible that Disney will announce a replacement for the space soon, but nothing has been confirmed quite yet.”
Some of the signature dishes served at the restaurant include Viennese Chicken Schnitzel and the Puck Burger.
Why is Disney Springs losing its last Wolfgang Puck restaurant
This will leave Disney Springs without a Puck restaurant for the first time in almost 30 years. While Puck’s main flagship Spago restaurant in Beverly Hills is still a staple of the city’s fine dining cuisine, the Puck brand has lost some of its popularity and cachet in recent years as new decades brought with them new trends and celebrity chefs.
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While Disney Springs frequently sees some establishments close and others open, the sudden rupture and lack of explanation suggests an unexpected change in the resort’s longstanding partnership with the celebrity chef.
Other celebrity restaurants in the Disney Springs complex include Jaleo by José Andrés, eet by Maneet Chauhan, Morimoto Asia and Chef Art Smith’s Homecomin’ (the chef specializing in Southern cuisine was the personal chef for several Florida governors and, later, Oprah Winfrey).
Earlier in the summer, Disney Springs announced the closure of three food trucks in the West Side neighborhood that were brought in more than 10 years ago as part of an initiative to have trucks serving foods from different countries circulating around the space throughout the day.
Related: Popular Disney World ride shut down with no explanation