Tutto Gusto Wine Cellar at Epcot

[mikejs11]

My wife and I visited Epcot on Friday. One of the main things we love to do there is visit the Tutto Gusto Wine Cellar in the Italy pavilion. We stopped by there at around 2:30 PM on Friday and we were told that it is now "an extension of the main restaurant dining room", and that it is only available for full meals and not for small bites and wine. The lady at the check-in desk was actually somewhat rude about it and almost acted like it was bizarre that we'd want to go into the wine bar.

Does anybody have any idea on if this is a temporary or permanent change?

We actually ended up just leaving Epcot at around 3:30 and heading over to Disney Springs. With the lack of music in the World Showcase and the wine bar thing, Epcot is much less interesting right now for adult trips.

 

[Moliphino]

I think it's temporary while distancing inside is still in effect. We did end up going to Tutto Italia and just getting some apps, desserts, and drinks one day. We were mostly interested in trying the carpaccio, which was delightful.

 

[OKW Lover]

That's disappointing. We've enjoyed our visits to Tutto Gusto many times.

 

[mikejs11]

I think the crazy part about this is that we have gone several times this year and late last year. The wine bar operated as normal other than having to wear a mask when not eating/drinking and having extra spacing between tables.

 

[monstermash23]

This is disappointing to hear. We love stopping in there - a good way to escape the heat for our drinks around the world adventure. I hope the tequila bar is still open in the Mexican Pavilion. Didn’t even think of that till reading this thread.

 

[mikejs11]

The tequila bar is open, but only for counter service. Also a little trick I found out....you don't have to stand in big line to get into Mexico in order to go there. They opened an entrance just for the tequila bar on the right side (when looking at the pavilion). Hopefully they keep that going for a while.

 

[monstermash23]

The tequila bar is open, but only for counter service. Also a little trick I found out....you don't have to stand in big line to get into Mexico in order to go there. They opened an entrance just for the tequila bar on the right side (when looking at the pavilion). Hopefully they keep that going for a while.

That's a great trick to know actually. I was a bit turned off by the pictures that I saw of lines to get into the pavilion. Without a reservation to San Angel, I would just be going for the tequila bar. So that's great to know, thank you!

 

[2xcited2sleep]

I think/hope it's just temporary and will go back to "normal" when the restaurant can return to full capacity. I thought you could still enter and get a "to-go" drink but perhaps not. It's one of my favorite spots as well ... although I will say I've always found the management to be a bit on the rude side with a few exceptions. One guy in particular is just . Servers have always been great but the managers have not.

 

[JenSop]

Bummer! That bar is always a stop for us when drinking around the world. Hoping it goes back to normal by our January trip!

 

[mikejs11]

Does anybody know if the Wine Cellar is back to operating like usual or if they are using it as part of the restaurant?

 

[gharter]

Hoping it is back open as a bar when we are there in October.
Its always been a fun place to stop when it isn't too crowded inside.

 

[monstermash23]

Does anybody know if the Wine Cellar is back to operating like usual or if they are using it as part of the restaurant?

Our trip ended a few days after August began. It had not turned back into a bar by that point. Asked someone at the front podium if they expected it to ever return back to normal and he said he wasn’t sure, all he knew was that the restaurant took it over and it is now exclusively operated by them (meaning Patina I guess?). Hope it reopens normally in the near future, but given the new mask mandates I doubt it will anytime soon unfortunately.

 

[gharter]

That would be sad if that is true.
Tutto Gusto had its own identity and was separate from the restaurant.

 

[mikejs11]

Agreed!

Nobody has been by lately?

 

[Quilty]

Still closed from the outside and being used exclusively as seating for the restaurant as of yesterday.

 

[mikejs11]

That's definitely unfortunate. I wonder how long it will be like this. For me Epcot is already much worse with British Revolution and other bands in the world showcase. Take away the wine bar and I'm not really interested in going anymore.

 

[loves to dive]

It is one of our favorite places to go. We love doing wine tastings around the world at Epcot. You used to be able to get flights in just about every country but they have even put a stop to that in most of them. How sad.

 

[gharter]

It is one of our favorite places to go

And ours as well, always a stop there.

 

[mikejs11]

I emailed Disney via the website to ask about the wine cellar. I don't know if I'll actually get a real response back.

 

[mikejs11]

This was the response:

We looked into this for you and you may be happy to learn that Tutto Gusto Wine Cellar is operating with their own menu. We hope you'll have the opportunity to return soon and enjoy some of Italy's finest flavors once again!