This week we had the pleasure of attending the grand opening of City Works Eatery and Pour House at Disney Springs. It is located on the West end right next to the recent addition, The NBA Experience. Thursday was the ribbon-cutting ceremony, that was full of excitement for this new restaurant that brings an upscale sports pub-type atmosphere to Disney Springs. This addition will make the tenth City Works location across the United States.
They call themselves “Beer Geeks”, and boast a selection of upward of 90 beers. They have an outstanding craft beer selection from local to global drafts. City Works doesn’t just have an amazing beer and wine selection, but they also are a scratch kitchen with outstanding American cuisine, with a twist. They make pretty much everything in-house even down to the sauces. City Works has its own smoker. They smoke their own meats! Even their salmon burger, and Ahi Tuna burger they hand prepare.
So now the question is how are the drinks and food. Let me start by saying amazing! There was nothing that we didn’t thoroughly enjoy. For Drinks, we tried a beer flight. City Works does a create your own beer flight which was our favorite option. We tried the Brown Sugar Brown Cow, by D9 Brewing. It was sweet had notes of caramel, chocolate and a touch of coffee. Next, we tried the Big Wave by Kona Brewing this one is pretty popular we were told. This ale was a bit tropical hence the name but a bit more hoppy. While good we preferred the others due to their flavor components. The third beer we tried was a wheat ale called You’re My Boy Blue, crafted by Blue Bus Brewing. Out of the beers, this was my favorite it was creamy and had a blueberry flavor to it. We also added in a cider to get a variety we tried the Strawberry Lemonade Cider, made by Broski Ciderworks, which I couldn’t put down, it was so good. The beer flights are four 6 ounce pours and cost around $16-17.
In addition to that, we wanted to see how mixed drinks faired. I got the Cranberry Mojito which normally I’d go for a strawberry but our waiter recommended it. Let me tell you this mojito was so refreshing. I was impressed, it was perfectly made.
For starters, we enjoyed the Buffalo Shrimp, which was jumbo shrimp that was crispy and covered in the most perfect buffalo sauce on a bed of blue cheese crumble and dressing. So I’m not a huge shrimp or blue cheese fan but even I liked it! I didn’t even mind the blue cheese! It had just the right amount of spice. We tried the Kung Pao Cauliflower. I would get this again in a heartbeat. Its a sweet and spicy cauliflower with peppers, green onions, and peanuts and garnished with chilies. Its got a kick but the sweetness balances it out. We also had the BBQ Chicken flatbread that was great. It had the nice smokey Chicken with onions, and housemade BBQ and I loved the cilantro on top of it. Appetizers ranged from $10-18.
For the main course, we tried a few different options to see a variety of the menu. We went with the pork chop ($26), Chicken Tinga Tacos ($16), and the smokehouse burger ($20). The pork chop was my favorite, but I really loved all the flavor combinations in each individual dish. The chop was perfectly cooked with a sweet chipotle maple glaze that was out of this world! It was topped with spiced cinnamon apples and fried buttermilk onion rings, on a bed of potato puree. This is a must! It was absolutely delish!
The Chicken Tinga Tacos were full of flavor, pulled chicken, grilled corn pickled red onion, avocado mash, queso, and cilantro on corn tortillas, accompanied by a corn and black bean salad. On to the burger! We ordered the Smokehouse Burger and whoa! This was one massive burger with layers of goodness. It’s topped with BBQ pulled pork, BBQ Bacon, smoked provolone, onion relish, a Carolina mustard BBQ sauce and covered in crispy onion rings. This burger is served with tasty olive oil parsley fries which I could have eaten a whole plate of, but a little on the salty side.
For the sweet ending of the meal, I’m sure you all want to know what to get! The Peanut Butter Snickers Pie, get this!! If you love peanut butter its heaven! I wouldn’t even call myself a huge peanut butter person but I loved this dessert! It was my favorite of the three. It is a peanut butter mousse, snickers, whipped cream, with a chocolate and caramel drizzle on top of an oreo cookie crust.
Next was the Smores Dip. This dessert we found out is a Disney location exclusive. It would be the perfect sharing dessert, definitely a hit for the kiddos very gooey with the chocolate and toasted marshmallows. Last but not least was a Baked Cookie Dough, it is cookie dough crisped in a little cast iron skillet with caramel and chocolate drizzle, topped with ice cream and whip cream. It’s good and sweet. All of these desserts cost $10 and are great shareable treats.
City Works really paid attention to creating their restaurant even down to the sound system louder towards the bar and softens the sound volume further from the bar. It can also become an open-air restaurant with all the windows being retractable. They have some really neat features here. Great big screens for the games. They even have an outdoor bar and seating area. There is something for everyone on the menu, even designated gluten-free options and vegan options labels on the menu. They even have an impossible burger as well. I highly recommend City Works Eatery and Pub. It is a great new addition to Disney Springs. Check out the NBA Experience after your meal right next door. As you can see day one and the place was hoppin’!
Follow Chip and Co for other reviews of new restaurants, as Disney has a few in the works!!
