Major Universal Orlando CityWalk overhaul announced with 8 new venues, expansion, new themes

Today Universal Orlando has announced a major project to overhaul CityWalk bringing in eight new venues including many restaurants. It’s not quite as extensive as the ongoing Disney Springs project that’s transforming Downtown Disney at nearby competitor Walt Disney World, but CityWalk will certainly draw bigger crowds to enjoy the new offerings next year.

It’s a mix of original creations just for CityWalk and a few notable chains. Some areas will also be re-themed to be comfortable and more interesting.

Video: Universal CityWalk restaurants announced

Universal Creative president Mark Woodbury was on hand along with the vice president of CityWalk to discuss the details further.

Video: Universal CityWalk interview

The new locations with official descriptions and renderings are:

The Cowfish sushi / burger bar

Innovative sushi joins forces with creative burgers for an untraditional dining experience at this reincarnation of the popular North Carolina hotspot. The result: “Burgushi”. A cutting-edge fusion of burger and sushi, burgushi items include sushi rolls created using burger components and sandwiches created using sushi elements.

Hot Dog Hall of Fame

Strike out your hunger at Hot Dog Hall of Fame with some of the most iconic hot dog creations from our nation’s most famous ballparks. Take a seat in the bleachers and enjoy a loaded Chicago dog with all the toppings, a perfectly charred Boston brat, a monster LA dog and more.

Antojitos Mexican restaurant

Take a journey through the cantinas, street carts, and markets of Mexico for unique tapas-style dining at Antojitos Authentic Mexican Food. Only the freshest ingredients are used to create craveable, made from scratch Mexican street fare in an environment of unmatched authenticity.

Pranzo

Immerse yourself in the essence of modern Italian cuisine at this new restaurant created by Universal Orlando. Watch as the culinary team handcrafts your pasta from scratch to create fresh takes on classic dishes in a clean, contemporary dining atmosphere.

Bread Box

With a Bread Box sandwich, you’ll be transported back to your childhood kitchen or your favorite street corner deli. Here you’ll find that the combination of quality meats and vegetables, fresh bread, and simple preparation can transform a sandwich into something more.

Coldstone Creamery

For more than 25 years, Cold Stone Creamery has served up the finest, freshest ice cream, cakes, smoothies and shakes using only the highest quality ingredients and their signature process of preparing your custom ice cream creation on a frozen granite stone.

Menchies

One of the world’s most popular frozen yogurt shops is coming to Universal CityWalk. The dream was to create a place where people from all walks of life and ages could enjoy themselves—not only with great tasting, quality frozen yogurt and an expansive self-serve toppings bar, but with a unique experience in a fun and happy environment that makes you smile.

Red Oven Pizza Bakery also recently opened, already serving crispy pizza with fresh ingredients prepared to order.

And Starbucks is being expanded to twice the size, moving downstairs next to Coldstone Creamery.

The whole complex will be shifting around quite a bit. Among the list of venues being removed / replaced at CityWalk are Latin Quarter and the now-extinct Endangered Species store.

Universal Creative president Mark Woodbury said these new restaurants not only bring to CityWalk a broader range of dining to appeal to all guests, but also a few chances for nighttime hot spots, including casual hangouts at Antojitos and The Cowfish.

This list of restaurants is just the first phase of changes and updates to Universal CityWalk, with more on the way down the line. Along with the restaurants themselves, a change of scenery will be included in the update project, most notably the centerpiece of the area becoming more prominent with an updated main Universal Studios Store.