Via Napoli or Chefs de France for dinner ?

[maryj11]

Which one would you choose?
We have boiled down to these two restaurants for dinner at Epcot. We have looked at the menus and like the food choices on both .

 

[cchevela1023]

Oh boy...

Hard choices LOL. We are eating at Via Napoli later this summer for the first time so I can't comment too much on that -- but I'm really looking forward to it.

I had two boys with may, age 10 and 8 at the time when we went to Chefs De France. It was a very very good dining experience. The restaurant was beautiful, the bread was amazing, and I thought the food was excellent. The boys both got their version of mac and cheese, and it was the best I've ever had. The Assiette campagnarde board they had was amazing. It was great to sample some items which I wouldn't normally get to try. Everyone was very warm and friendly too.

 

[JustCallMeMommy]

I would choose Chefs de France because it is DD(12)'s favorite Disney restaurant. She loves the escargot. She requests it as her top choice every trip. We enjoyed Via Napoli, but it has never made a repeat appearance on our ADR list.

 

[nanni]

I'd opt for Chefs, personally. I have eaten there and liked the atmosphere and the food. I wasn't as impressed with the food at Via Napoli. The pizza was okay, but the pasta dish a friend had was meh.

 

[JZCubed]

Which one would you choose?
We have boiled down to these two restaurants for dinner at Epcot. We have looked at the menus and like the food choices on both .

We prefer Chefs dinner menu over lunch.

Even very good pizza is not fine dining to us.

Regardless, we like both places.

Coin flip.

 

[han22735]

I'd say it depends on what the party looks like...We are doing Via Napoli one night with our daughter and MIL/FIL and then Chefs on a "date" night just my wife and I. They are both great places to eat.

 

[jerseygal]

We ate at CDF on a Candlelight Processional Dinner Package this past Dec and it was GREAT!
We will be at F&W this October and not doing a Dining Plan. Think that we will make a reservation for something "light" at Via Napoli since we have never been there. Heard it is GOOD! ENJOY!

 

[OKW Lover]

I'd go for VN. Our dining experience at CdF is great at lunch time, but terrible at dinner time. Don't know why that is, but in terms of the quality of food and promptness of service dinner there has been terrible.

 

[Belle612]

Via Napoli has AWESOME food, especially the pizza, but it does tend to get very loud in the restaurant because the floor is all tile. I still eat there almost every trip though because the pizza is THAT good (and I'm from NYC).

Chefs de France is also really really good, and the atmosphere is really nice. The baguette they give you when you sit down is awesome, and the mac and cheese is outstanding.

Basically, you can't really go wrong with either one!

 

[SouthJersey]

Ah, we do both each trip for lunch and I don't think I could choose between the two.
If I had to, I'd go Chefs for dinner and Via Napoli for lunch.

 

[disneygolfer1985]

I like both places, but I would state that CDF is nicer and a little different than the normal everyday fare; however, the pizza at Via Napoli is fantastic. I would pick CDF, which we have been eating at the last few years for when we do Candlelight Processional.

 

[Kimosabe]

Chef's is my wife and one daughter's favorite place to eat in Epcot (if not all of WDW), while VN is definitely on my short list. We have only done Chefs for lunch and have never had a bad experience. (Started going when animatronic Remy was making the rounds and ended up loving it with or without him, so we still go back, which I suppose was their original evil plan all along.) I get something different everytime, and daughter always gets the croque monsieur. Wife always gets the beef short ribs and has always declared that it would be her last meal if ever presented with the unfortunate scenario of being offered a "last meal." As unlikely as I thought that possibility might ever be, we ate there a couple of weekends ago for the first time since they replaced the noodles in that dish with polenta...and my wife was fully prepared to murder whoever made that decision...thereby almost making the meal itself the very cause for eventually needing a "last meal." Go figure. On the bright side, I'll probably get to go to VN more often now.

 

[njpyro]

Been to Chefs two times- both times the food was great but the service was horrible. The stereotypes were true- we were treated like dirt- and we didn't even do anything that could have been perceived as obnoxiously american. We were dressed neatly, didn't have phones out, order off the menu without making lots of changes or requests.
Via Napoli has quickly become our go to restaurant for every trip. Great food and great service.

 

[kastoney]

Definitely via Napoli. Best......pizza.........ever

 

[maryj11]

Ah, we do both each trip for lunch and I don't think I could choose between the two.
If I had to, I'd go Chefs for dinner and Via Napoli for lunch.

We were thinking about doing this lunch at VN and dinner at CDF lol but I'm not sure if we will be at Epcot during lunch yet.

 

[maryj11]

Chef's is my wife and one daughter's favorite place to eat in Epcot (if not all of WDW), while VN is definitely on my short list. We have only done Chefs for lunch and have never had a bad experience. (Started going when animatronic Remy was making the rounds and ended up loving it with or without him, so we still go back, which I suppose was their original evil plan all along.) I get something different everytime, and daughter always gets the croque monsieur. Wife always gets the beef short ribs and has always declared that it would be her last meal if ever presented with the unfortunate scenario of being offered a "last meal." As unlikely as I thought that possibility might ever be, we ate there a couple of weekends ago for the first time since they replaced the noodles in that dish with polenta...and my wife was fully prepared to murder whoever made that decision...thereby almost making the meal itself the very cause for eventually needing a "last meal." Go figure. On the bright side, I'll probably get to go to VN more often now.

 

[maryj11]

Been to Chefs two times- both times the food was great but the service was horrible. The stereotypes were true- we were treated like dirt- and we didn't even do anything that could have been perceived as obnoxiously american. We were dressed neatly, didn't have phones out, order off the menu without making lots of changes or requests.
Via Napoli has quickly become our go to restaurant for every trip. Great food and great service.

I have read before that Chef's service is not very good

 

[maryj11]

The poll is really close. Thanks everyone for helping us decide. I think we will go with Chef's even though I have read several post about them having poor service. Anyone else want to cast your vote please do

 

[Delphinus317]

We had excellent service at Chefs de France in July 2010. Our favorite meal of that trip!!!

I had the same dilemma for our upcoming June trip... Via Napoli, which is new for us, or Chefs, which we loved. Total coin toss, because we love Chefs & Via Napoli gets such rave reviews. Ultimately, I chose Via Napoli because it'll be a new restaurant for us. But, I think you'll love Chefs!

 

[Kimosabe]

When we were in there a couple of weeks ago, our service was great...and has always been great. When we sat down, the two guys at the table next to us were wrapping up entrée and about to order dessert, and they would not stop talking to each other about how incredible their service had been and were even talking to the waitress about making sure there would be a place to add a nice gratuity so they didn't miss it (which almost seemed odd, as these were Americans who are undoubtedly familiar with our typical system of adding a tip to a credit card receipt)...basically going overboard in their own discussions and with the waitress to make it very clear how awesome their service had been.

In short, pretty much every restaurant is going to have good stories and bad stories. If you get a bad day at one of these two options, then it's just bad luck, but in general, both are great.