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January 16, 2014

CityWalk's Best Food Value

Change happens fast at Universal. Case in point, the resort is serious about its CityWalk remake -- as it expands to reap in greater profits, amid the mounds of muggles who will turn out for Wizarding World: The Sequel.

How fast are they working? Last month -- about this same time, I took 2 photos of the yet-to-be-announced new Mexican restaurant.

I don't have an updated photo for you -- but having seen plenty of others -- I promise Antijitos now looks almost identical to its concept art and could open any time.

The food? Universal calls it "craveable, made from scratch Mexican street fare" and several social media mavens  raved about samples passed out from the test kitchen a week or so ago.

This is CityWalk's largest expansion. One change that will be welcome is this construction site:

That USED to be a nebulous shop called Endangered Species. Well, that concept was long-endangered. Nothing ever did very well in that prime spot near Bubba Gump's.
 Well, Universal finally has a winner. It'll look like this:

Yep. Starbucks is moving downstairs. And work is moving fast. Concrete is already poured -- and steel work is moving fast.
 
Here's a secret that won't be for long. One of the new CityWalk venues is, perhaps, the best deal I've had  in the attractions in a long time.

Red Oven Pizza Bakery took over half of the now-defunct Pastamore restaurant.  For 12-18 bucks, you can order up a large-sized (by Papa John's standards) pizza that is truly made to order.  The word "artisan" gets thrown around a lot these days. But this food really is quite tasty. The only better pizza I've had locally is at Epcot's Via Napoli, and it was more than twice the price
there are 10 choices including both red and white pies. .  Each one is made just for you, in front of you. So are the entree salads.

 
It's almost good enough for a trip to CityWalk just to get Red Oven, and if you live nearby -- they DO have to-go boxes.  

Here is a slideshow my ClickO colleagues put together  of the concept art for all of the new restaurants. 


And here is a link to the story posted when the announcement was first made.


I'll have more from CityWalk soon, and I promise I'll also keep you up to date on Downtown Disney's extreme makeover. One thing I CAN tell you there: nearly all of the old Pleasure Island is now closed to guests for demolition and rebuilding into Disney Springs. A temporary bridge around the area is in place.

Also Disney's decades-old Cap'n Jack's restaurant and the marina next door have been demolished.

That's it for today!

A lot of you have shared feedback on yesterday's blog post on Universal's Mardi Gras and how one act is kind of a slap in the face at SeaWorld.  So there, I just linked you to it in case you missed it.

Keep your emails, questions, tips and comments coming! I always appreciate the feedback.

You can always find all of my blog entries at www.clickorlando.com/themeparks