Universal CityWalk Update: Cigarz & Candy Co. Closed; Antojitos Almost Open
Last month, Universal Orlando announced eight new venues coming to CityWalk over the next year, and it wasted little time after the New Year’s Eve ball dropped to make way for the new arrivals. In this edition of Universal CityWalk Update, we’ll say final goodbyes to old friends like Cigarz and Katie’s Candy Co., and get a first glimpse inside the new Antojitos.
For starters, I crossed the moving walkway from the hub…
…and headed upstairs…
…to see the sad sight of beer kegs being carted away from Cigarz.
The popular hangout among employees and locals served its last drinks before New Year’s Day, and was being emptied already during my visit. I was allowed to take a last look inside the store:
Next door, TCBY is still serving froyo until Saturday.
Together with Cigarz, the TCBY space will become Breadbox sandwich shop.
Katie’s Candy Co. has also closed now, and I was among its final customers.
Here is Katie, herself, in her store’s final hour of operation.
With the clearance discount, the candy was a below-cost bargain!
At the other end of CityWalk, Antojitos looks almost ready to go. Construction walls have been removed, and the bar had a soft-opening service on New Year’s Eve.
Barriers have been moved back to the newly tiled patio.
We’ll finish with a first look into the front part of the restaurant’s interior.
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Ahhhh this is sad news that cigarz has closed. Every time my wife and I visit Universal Cigarz is our favorite afternoon or after HHN hangout…Very sad. Thank You for the pics even if they did hurt to look at them. Do you know why they closed? Was it the lack of buisness or did Universal want to get away from the “smoking stigma” that’s rampant in the US?
Ron,
Unfortunately, Universal has been wanting to get rid of Cigarz for a while now. They have kind of viewed it as a “black eye” on CityWalk with all the employees going there after their shifts and getting a little rowdy. Ok ALOT rowdy. But I digress ahah. Also, Universal wants to maintain as much control as possible on liquor sales in CityWalk as they can. And seeing that Cigarz was a tiny 3rd party establishment with a big boom…They decided to pull the plug. I agree, it is very sad. Their last night open (New Years Eve) was quite the emotional roller coaster for all. Staff and patrons. Was sad to see the littlest place at CityWalk with the biggest personality go. Will be missed. Hope this helped!
Thank you for the reply. It is now late March and looking at Universals current expansion endeavors and it made me sad that the cool thing about Universal was the size and the more “adult” aspects are going away ie Cigarz. When you visit Orlando you have Disney for the families and Universal that catered more to adults if need be. I think I’m being to nostalgic and don’t want to share Universal with others 🙂 The fear of change…The next time I visit I will have baby daughter in tow. I will see If I appreciate the more family city walk or not. I’ll just have to bring a cigar with me grab a Fat Tuesday and sit on the river stairs and reminisce. If Fat Tuesday or Pat Obriens go city walk will loose all it’s appeal to me.
Ahhhh this is sad news that cigarz has closed. Every time my wife and I visit Universal Cigarz is our favorite afternoon or after HHN hangout…Very sad. Thank You for the pics even if they did hurt to look at them. Do you know why they closed? Was it the lack of buisness or did Universal want to get away from the “smoking stigma” that’s rampant in the US?
When I booked my trip months ago, the plan was to have dinner this coming Thursday night at Latin Quarter. Any chance Antojitos might open that soon? That’s the only night I have free in the Universal area.
I expect it to open by the end of the month, but this week is a little optimistic. Consider Emeril’s or the new Margaritaville menu as a CityWalk alternative.
Thanks, Seth – I actually have a reservation at the Trattoria over at PBH, but I’ll take a look at Antojitos on my way out of the park, just in case. So I figure I can’t lose either way.