While celebrity Austrian-American chef Wolfgang Puck is not new to Disney property, we personally had yet to dine at any of his locations. The newest Wolfgang Puck Bar & Grill location opened at Disney Springs in 2018 and has been on our list of restaurants we had wanted to try for awhile now. When making some plans with friends we decided the comfort food menu and variety of drinks sounded like a crowd pleaser so we finally decided to make a reservation. And lucky us, our dinner date also happened to fall during Visit Orlando’s Magical Dining promotion. With a special three-course prix-fixe dinner for only $35 this dinner was an even more perfect excuse for a night out. Read on to hear more about this modern dining option with fresh classic dishes.
The Atmosphere
The newest Wolfgang Puck location is in the Town Center area of Disney Springs and located near Planet Hollywood and Chicken Guy. The style is farmhouse with a mix modern elegance and a casual California vibe. Soft light radiates from unique light fixtures tucked among exposed beams. There is a balance of rustic features such as warm wood and iron balanced with pops of sleek elements like red leather seating. The overall restaurant feels very open, even to include the kitchens. As many other Disney Springs restaurant locations do, Wolfgang Puck offers a celebrity chef menu while still being able to enjoy the casual comfort of vacation. While Wolfgang Puck doesn’t stand out as super themed, this can also make it a more popular location for adult diners. It works just as well for a date night as a get together with a group for craft cocktails.
We loved all of the light fixtures.
A peek into the open kitchen.
The restaurant has a very open feel with exposed ceilings.
Photos of Chef Puck and fresh ingredients.
The Menu
Described as innovative comfort food, the dinner menu reflects many of the classic dishes that made celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck a pioneer in California cuisine. It is good to note that we have posted a picture of the standard dinner menu for reference, but on this particular visit we ordered off a promotional menu which may feature some items not normally available. (Click to enlarge any of the menus below).
Wine Night Special Menu (Click to enlarge)
Regular Dinner Menu (Click to enlarge)
Magical Dining Menu (Click to enlarge)
The Drinks
Wolf Gang Puck offers a rather large menu of drinks and craft cocktails. Beer choices ranged from $8 for a Kona Big Wave Golden Draft Ale up to $14 for a Belgian Bosteels Tripel Kameliet. There are also several choices of wine as well. Our reservation was on a Tuesday, which also happened to be half price wine night. We were able to order a bottle of $69 Malbec for only $35.
Enjoying a craft beer.
Half price wine? Yes please.
The Food
The Magical Dining promotion featured a special three-course menu for $35 (not including tax or tip). This included a choice from three different appetizers, a choice from four entrees (with the short ribs entree being an extra $10 upcharge) , and two dessert options. Since we were with a group of friends we were able to try almost everything on the menu…
Starter: Caesar Salad (Normally $14.00)
gem lettuce, creamy garlic dressing, herb croutons, shaved parmesan
A Caesar Salad can be a pretty standard item on a menu, but always a go-to choice for us. We enjoyed the fresh lettuce, homemade dressing, and freshly grated cheese on this one. While the red pepper flakes looked pretty, we weren’t sure if they made sense on this salad.
Starter: Tortilla Soup (Normally $11.00)
sour cream, cilantro, lime
Julie loves a good soup and this from scratch Tortilla Soup was excellent with a great balance of flavor and spice. The portion seemed a good value too.
Starter: Prince Edward Island Mussels (Not listed on regular menu)
white wine, calabrian peppers, oregano garlic toast
We didn’t see this option on the normal menu, but seafood seemed like a great value for Magical Dining. It was a good portion of Mussels and the sauce was delicious to soak up with the bread.
Main: Pan-roasted Half Chicken (Normally $24)
potato purée, roasted root vegetables
This meal certainly screams comfort food. The chicken was flavorful and the potatoes creamy. (We could take or leave the root vegetables.) It’s good to note the portion seemed a little small on this one (is this really half a chicken?).
Main: Faroe Island Salmon (Normally $31)
shaved squash, prosciutto, parmesan broth
This salmon was another good option being a balance of light and healthy but full of flavor. The fish was cooked just right and the squash was a nice and colorful alternative to a carb.
Main: Rigatoni (Normally $26)
bolognese meat sauce, pecorino cheese
This pasta dish was good and the cheese gooey. The sauce was good but honestly seemed really skimpy on meat. (At the end of the day it was a simple pasta dish we personally wouldn’t have ordered, as we can easily make at home or find elsewhere for a much cheaper price point.)
Dessert: Mango Tart (Not listed on regular menu)
toasted almond crumble, coconut tapioca
This dessert was really good. The mango flavor was fresh and tropical and the toasted almonds added the perfect crunch.
Dessert: Chocolate Cheesecake (Not listed on regular menu)
toasted meringue, caramel popcorn, caramel sauce
Andrew loves chocolate and cheesecake so this was a perfect combo for him. The addition of the caramel and popcorn was the perfect unexpected element you expect from a top chef.
The Service
Our server Madison was very friendly and knowledgeable about the menu and drinks. Not only was she great, so was everyone else who we interacted with that evening. At one point the manager came over to ask how our meal was going so they seem to be very attentive to the guests. Our server was also kind enough to split our bill between three parties, which given the bill, was not an easy task.
Enjoying our dinner at Wolfgang Puck Bar & Grill.
Final Thoughts: A Bit Torn
We were really glad to be able to finally give Wolfgang Puck Bar & Grill a try and had a great visit with friends. And was the Magical Dining pricing worth it? Absolutely! (For the $35 price tag some in our group were able to order $50+ meals!) But while the service was great and the food fresh we have to unfortunately say this restaurant (at regular prices) would not be at the top of our favorites list. Now don’t get us wrong, we think Wolfgang Puck is high quality, and we don’t feel it is necessarily overpriced. It's just that if we are paying $60 for a steak, there are other options on property that we would personally prefer much more (whether for ambiance, location, etc.). Overall we were more impressed with some of the starters and desserts than the mains. Unfortunately the rigatoni and chicken just wasn’t enough to wow us. We do however understand we were ordering off a limited menu and perhaps would need to try the full menu another time.
Wolfgang Puck is known for “innovative comfort food” but to be honest most of our dishes just didn’t seem that innovative (with the exception of the dessert with the popcorn being a perfect example of a special touch). If we are dining at resort location we hope to justify the higher price tag by either (A) experiencing something special/unique, (B) getting a large enough portion to have leftovers, or (C) enjoying something that we can’t easily cook at home. With that being said we still think many would thoroughly enjoy dining here and we would recommend it if comfort food is your thing. And we aren’t saying we will never be back, we still think Wolfgang Puck is a solid choice, it’s just that there are many great choices on Disney property that make for some tough competition. We would absolutely be open to another Magical Dining deal, or perhaps we may explore a happy hour menu sometime soon.
