Rumors started circulating from employees of Nascar Sports Grille at CityWalk that the restaurant would be closing after October 31st after operating for the past 15 years and the news has finally been confirmed. The last full day of operation will be this Halloween and afterwards the Nascar-themed restaurant will be shutting its doors for good. At this point in time nothing has been set to replace it.
The closing of Nascar Sports Grille was inevitable considering the renovations that started with Red Oven Pizza Bakery back in 2013. Since then, Antojitos Authentic Mexican Restaurant, VIVO Italian Kitchen, Hot Dog Hall of Fame, Bread Box Handcrafted Sandwiches, Menchies, Cold Stone Creamery and a larger Starbucks on the ground floor have opened. The only restaurant not to open up yet is Cowfish Orlando – a burger-sushi bar. There is no word yet if any other restaurants will be closing, but there are definitely some that should be on the chopping block (NBA City).
Universal Orlando, of course, has been rapidly renovating and expanding ever since the opening of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Hogsmeade back in 2010. Loews Cabana Bay Beach Resort opened in 2014 as the fourth on-site hotel and the first value resort and this past July The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Diagon Alley opened in Universal Studios Florida. Just recently, the fifth on-site hotel, Loews Sapphire Falls Resort, was announced to open in 2016. Needless to say, Universal Orlando isn’t finished making big changes anytime soon and Nascar Sports Grille Closing may be the official start to the next big changes at CityWalk. Comment below with what you think should take over Nascar Sports Grill!
A T-Rex or Rainforest Café type restaurant would be very popular there. Or maybe something along the lines of a bowling type place like at DTD.