You Missed 3 Big EPCOT Restaurant Changes

EPCOT is the place to be right now!

EPCOT

The International Food and Wine Festival has kicked off and visitors are eating their way around the World Showcase as we speak. But, with all of the news surrounding this popular festival, you might have missed some major restaurant changes that have been happening around this park.

Shiki Sai: Sushi Izakaya

Update: Shiki-Sai has OPENED for walk-up reservations and official reservations can be made for dates starting August 28th. See our FULL REVIEW here!

The Japan Pavilion has a new restaurant. Shiki Sai: Sushi Izakaya, features “Japanese delights like sushi and teppan items,” plus an open sushi bar and grill.

In addition, guests are able to enjoy Japanese Izakaya, a type of casual pub-style restaurant that puts an emphasis on drinks and conversations with friends.

This new restaurant has taken over the former Tokyo Dining space. It is up on the second floor of the Mitsukoshi building and has excellent views of the EPCOT fireworks.

Check out the view from the second floor!

See our full review here!

Travelers Cafe

Traveler’s Cafe was once the Starbucks location in EPCOT, but it has since closed to make way for Connections Cafe. Now, guests can grab their morning cup of joe at the new spot, attached to Connections Eatery in the front of the park. But what became of Traveler’s Cafe?

Traveler’s Cafe in 2022

It has been undergoing a bit of a transformation recently. For the past few weeks, we’ve noticed a bit of construction and some new coats of paint! It used to be a sleek black that fit the Starbucks aesthetic, but now it’s brighter with pops of green and yellow.

Traveler’s Cafe

In the front of the newly painted window, Disney has installed queue stanchions. We noticed that the new Food and Wine Festival booth, Swirled Showcase, was listed on the map very close to this building, so we talked to a Cast Member about this change. They confirmed that Swirled Showcase would be taking over this spot when the booth opens on September 22nd, 2023.

A new EPCOT Food and Wine Festival booth!

Once it arrives, this booth will celebrate the Walt Disney Company’s 100th anniversary. While it is a new booth this year, we have seen similar menu items in previous years, like the Liquid Nitro Cake Pop, which will be Mickey-shaped this year. Stay tuned for our update on this location once it opens in September!

Biergarten Restaurant

Lastly, did you know that Biergarten Restaurant was previously in the middle of a refurbishment? Fortunately, the restaurant remained open during this time, but the dance floor had been closed for a refresh.

©Disney

From July 17th through July 28th, this part of the restaurant was closed. In late July, however, the refurbishment was completed. So get ready to dance away!