Time to head back to one of my favorite counter service spots in Disney World — Wolfgang Puck Express!

WPE offers consistently delicious food in an atmosphere that may make you think you’ve wandered into a table service restaurant. And with locations in both the Marketplace and West Side ends of Downtown Disney, you’re never far from one of their excellent meals.

Normally, it’s the Marketplace location that we favor as it’s bigger and has much more seating. But today we decided to give the West Side location a try. (If you’d like to see the details of my last Wolfgang Puck Express Marketplace visit, click here.)

Located just next to Wolfgang Puck Cafe and Dining Room, this location offers great eats for everyone. From grab and go, to pizza and more, there are really some incredible options here.

Let’s head in and check it out!

Atmosphere

Wolfgang Puck Express West Side is impossible to miss, situated across from Splitsville and the AMC Theatre. You’ll find the entrance tucked just to the left of the restaurant’s main door.

I enjoy visiting WPE during the day. While the restaurant takes on a chic, modern vibe at night, the sun streaming in during daylight hours makes for a bright, cheerful spot.

Of course, there is also outdoor seating and this busy area offers primo people-watching opportunities. The ceiling fans and overhang make it quite comfortable as long as you’re not visiting during the height of summer.

The open kitchen allows you to watch as chefs prepare the goodies — especially pizzas, for which WPE is famous.

Here’s the star of Wolfgang Puck’s — the pizza oven! Puck’s pizza really is excellent, and there are lots of different types to choose from.

Since we were more than ready for some lunch, it was time to head to the counter and see what we would find!

Eats

The emphasis on fresh preparation and quality ingredients continues at Wolfgang Puck Express. Right on the menu, you see the company’s commitment to using organic and local ingredients whenever possible.

If you frequent the Marketplace location and then pop into the West Side restaurant, you’ll notice a smaller menu at the latter. And yet, all the classics are here, so you’ll likely find something to interest you.

Prices are a little higher here than at many counter service spots, but food is consistent and freshly-prepared, and is often on par with table service options, so keep that in mind as you plan your experience. This is also a top spot to use a counter service credit on the Disney Dining Plan because of higher pricing.

Beverages are self-serve, although staff attentively wait on you once you’ve ordered your food and will happily refill your drinks.

The Grab and Go options are spelled out on the menu, but you can also take a look at the choices before you make your final selections.

With some really delicious dishes, this is a fantastic option for food on the go if you’re really in a hurry, but would still like a tasty, fresh meal. The fan favorite Chinois Salad is available grab and go — no waiting necessary!

There’s also a Chicken Caesar available, as well as some interesting sandwich options, prepared on beautiful artisan bread.

The Roasted Vegetable Sandwich, with its mix of veggies, cheese, and pesto, sounded pretty incredible. I’m putting a pin in that one for another visit for sure. 🙂

There are also a selection of sides and desserts. We’ll be taking a closer look at one of these in just a sec!

This carrot cake is phenomenal, just in case you’re wondering. I wanted to get it so badly, but I knew I wanted to review a different dessert for you that hasn’t yet been on the blog. So I’ll just tell you it’s out of this world, and show you the pic I have from my experience with it over at Wolfgang Puck Cafe!

Once you order, you’re given a number so that your food will find you. 🙂 Yep — you just head to the table of your choice, plop your number down, and servers bring your food out to the table, complete with real plates and silverware. Fancy!

Shortly after we were seated, our food arrived. First up, we went with the classic Pepperoni Pizza.

The pizzas here are the size of a dinner plate, and are easily share-able if you are looking for a light lunch or snack. They’re certainly adequate for one hungry person, and we ended up taking half of it back to the hotel. (FYI — it tastes awesome as a cold breakfast the next morning.)

The crust is thin and crisp-tender, almost like a flatbread, and really allows the delicious toppings to take center stage.

You see evidence of that hot, wood-burning oven on the bottom of the crust, which is nicely golden-brown.

We also got my old favorite, the Rotisserie Chicken, which came with a hearty helping of Garlic Mashed Potatoes.

This was my standard order when I first fell in love with WPE! And it was as great as I’d always remembered. It’s truly NOT a counter service meal, you guys. The quality is incredible.

The chicken was juicy and flavorful with crisp skin — perfect roasted chicken. The mashed potatoes were loaded with fresh, savory garlic. And there’s plenty of juice to flavor every bite.

Soon, we were ready to turn our attention to dessert. We chose the Key Lime Pie this time, since I’d been wanting to try it!

Topped with a lovely little crown of golden meringue, the pie was a bit too sweet for me. But you folks know how much I love my key lime pie to be mouth-puckeringly sour!

The texture was good — very firm — and there was a good ratio of graham cracker crust to filling.

But that’s not all we have to share with you food-wise!

In addition to my experience, DFB reader Susan T. also sent us some wonderful photos of her recent visit to Wolfgang Puck Express at Downtown Disney Marketplace. She provided her review of a few of the items that we didn’t sample this time, and we’re always excited to give you more details when we can! Thanks to Susan T. for the use of her photos and her review!

Here’s what Susan had to say:

The Four-Cheese Pesto Pizza was great with tangy creamy goat cheese and fresh tomato and basil. The crust is crispy on the edges and yet very tender in the middle, without being soggy. The ingredients taste top-notch and lived up to the Wolfgang Puck reputation.

The pizza is big and makes a mid afternoon meal that is satisfying enough to be lunch or dinner. I recommend getting two or more pizzas and sharing with table to taste the different flavors.

The Meatball Pizza and the Barbecue Chicken Pizza with fresh cilantro were both great as well.

The Crème Brûlée is small, but a very good dessert. It has a strong vanilla flavor and hits the sweet tooth spot. I will definitely be re-visiting on my next trip to Disney!

Thanks, again, Susan!! I’ve heard all about the creme brulee and love seeing pics!

Overall

Wolfgang Puck Express, both at Downtown Disney West Side and Marketplace, continues to wow us with incredibly tasty food and a wonderful, bright atmosphere. While these are technically counter service spots, the eats easily rival some of the meals that we’ve enjoyed at table service locales across Disney World. And when you compare the prices here to table service options, you’ll find that eating here is actually a bit of a bargain as well.

If you are looking for delicious pizzas or other dishes with a fresh California flair, consider stopping at Wolfgang Puck Express. Year after year, we are happy to return to this favorite counter service spot that features quality ingredients and friendly staff.

What’s your favorite dish at Wolfgang Puck Express? Leave a comment below and tell us all about it!