Satay by the Bay, the beloved open-air food court at Gardens by the Bay, will permanently close its doors starting 1 October 2026. Its last day of operations falls on 30 September 2026, with the announcement made directly by Gardens by the Bay through a Facebook post on 1 September 2026.
The closure is tied to a bigger plan. The site currently occupied by Satay by the Bay will be redeveloped as part of Wetlands by the Bay, a new attraction spanning seven football fields that will combine nature, dining, and immersive digital art.
One of its headline features will be teamLab's flagship museum, which offers a multi-sensory pedal kayak experience that has never been done before at Gardens by the Bay.
Trace the story back far enough and Satay by the Bay's roots go well beyond its current location. It all began with the original Satay Club, believed to have started in the late 1940s near Beach Road as a popular late-night supper spot for post-movie crowds.
In 1971, the Satay Club moved to the Esplanade area, becoming a favourite gathering spot for Singaporeans, open from evening through the early hours with dozens of hawkers, most of them selling satay. T
hat location, too, eventually gave way to development. In 1994, the stalls had to relocate again to make way for the construction of Esplanade Theatres on the Bay and the Nicoll Highway extension.
Eight of the original 28 stallholders moved to Clarke Quay, forming the Clarke Quay Satay Club, which itself shut down in 2005. It wasn't until 2013 that the open-air food court concept was revived under the name Satay by the Bay, at its current spot along the Marina Reservoir within Gardens by the Bay.
For more than a decade, Satay by the Bay has been known as a 1,000-seat food court serving up local favourites like satay, barbecued seafood, hokkien mee, popiah, rojak, and prata, all enjoyed with an unobstructed view of the waterfront and the city skyline.
Once Satay by the Bay closes, its site will be combined with the existing Kingfisher Wetlands, a car park, and a plant nursery to form Wetlands by the Bay.
Minister of State for National Development Alvin Tan shared in parliament on 4 March 2026 that the new attraction will be five times the size of the current Kingfisher Wetlands.
Construction on Wetlands by the Bay is set to begin in the first quarter of 2027, with the entire development opening in stages from the end of 2028.
A new two-storey dining block will eventually take over the role Satay by the Bay once played, alongside a new community space called Glade Lawn and the teamLab museum as its main draw.
For many Singaporeans, this closure feels far more personal than a typical relocation announcement. The Satay Club, in its many forms from Beach Road to Esplanade, Clarke Quay, and finally Gardens by the Bay, has always been tied to childhood memories, family nights out, and an open-air dining experience that's hard to replicate anywhere else.
Public conversation following the announcement has centred on one shared question, where does Singapore's satay culture go from here. There's a clear longing for something simpler and more grounded, far from a polished commercial feel, which many say was exactly what made the satay club concept special in the first place.
If you want to experience Satay by the Bay one last time, you still have until the end of September 2026. The food court is open daily, with the drinks stall operating from 9am to 10.30pm, while food stalls run from 11.30am to 10pm on weekdays and from 9am on weekends.
You'll find it at Waterfront Promenade, Gardens by the Bay, an easy walk from Bayfront MRT. While enjoying satay and other local favourites, take the chance to capture one last visit to one of the most iconic dining spots along Marina Bay before its next chapter begins in 2028.
