Dissappointment Reigned at new pizza place in Epcot

[parkedgourmet]

Two large pizzas and "free" water for all was a whopping $97.31. I am still amazed. As soon as our server realized we were not there on the dining plan, the meal went downhill. She turned her nose up at us when we went for the free water rather than the large selection of bottled options.

Our pizza was burned on one end and underdone on the other. Go if you must, but be forewarned.

Has anyone else had this experience? It was a first and last visit for us (I had so looked forward to it).

 

[catne]

so sorry you had a bad experience...did you send the pizza back? (I know, you wait for the food & don't want to waste park-time waiting for another...just curious if you complained. People always ask me that when I give a bad review: not being judgmental if you didn't. I rarely do myself!)

We actually had a very good experience there in September...good food, good service. But we were on the deluxe dining. Maybe the servers there prefer the dining plan customers for some reason (which is kind of funny, since every so often somebody starts a thread about how the servers prefer non-dining-plan people. If it's not one thing, it's another)

Either way...sorry you had bad food. That's not fun, no matter where you are. Especially if you were looking forward to it. Hope the rest of your trip was fun.

 

[The_Aviator]

I am truly surprised to read that the service you received was worse because you didn't have a dining plan. Perhaps this restaurant has received a very lucrative deal from Disney management to allow the dining plan?

Nevertheless, there is no reason to treat any guest differently regardless of how they are paying for their meal.

 

[bop28]

As a frugal person, I can't even wrap my brain around $97 for 2 lrg pizzas. What does that even mean? There simply is no way to justify that. We were there last week, and were very unimpressed with the pizza. We felt it wasn't done all the way. The desserts were blah and after the tip and tax were added, we spent way more than we should have. I remember thinking after we ate that Tutto had much better quality food than Via Napoli. We won't go back either.

 

[eliza61]

Man, I'm sorry to here that. I was excited that Disney was finally attempting to do a decent pizza. LOL. no way am I paying 30 bucks for a pie, ain't gonna happen.

 

[TinkerBelle_325]

Do you mind me asking how many were in your party? Based on the price you quoted, you ordered 2 half meter pizzas ($39 each) which are meant to served 3-5 people.

If your party was 6 people, that is $16/person

If your party was 8 people, that is $12/person

If your party was 10 people, that is $10/person

$10-12 per person is what you would pay to eat at any Counter service restaurant at WDW. $16 per person is about the cost of a gourmet individual pizza at any table service restaurant.

I'm sorry if you had bad service and if the pizza didn't live up to your standards, but in terms of cost (relative to suggested serving size, party size, and comparative cost of other WDW restaurants) it isn't outrageous.

Did you complain?

 

[Pooh&OurHunny]

Sorry to hear you had a bad experience. We just got and eat there Thrusday and LOVE it. Our appetizers, pizza, our son pasta and the desserts were so amazing. we wanted to go back Friday. We had a server that came to our table every 5 mins and keep our sodas refilled (it was half way and we would get another glass). The pizza reminded me when we ate in Florence Italy and the gelato reminded me Capri Italy

 

[MickeyNicki]

So sorry about your experience at VN, we ate there three times last month and each time the food was amazing and the service was top notch. We did tell them we were not on the DDP but didnt tell them about our TIW until they brought the check

 

[cymbaldiva]

I am curious myself....how many of ya'll were there? It does help to determine value when there is a number of people served to base it on...

I know this has been asked as well, but did you mention the problem to your server? Issues can't be remedied until they are pointed out.

 

[disneybound31]

Yes- how many were in your party...I would cry if that 2 pizzas were to have to feed my fam of 4 or even worse 2 or 3 people...

 

[havoc315]

The size of their "large" pizza is meant to feed 4 or more.
To the extent it tries to be authentic Neopolitan wood- oven pizza, it is going to be quite different than pizza most Americans are accustomed to. It is meant to be "burned" in spots.
Some people will like it, and some people won't. But it is difficult to just compare it to your neighborhood pizza parlor.

 

[KBoopaloo]

We visited here in early November and LOVED it. We got a large pizza ($28), the arancini and the $4 pp salad to feed 3 adults and it was perfect. The mozzarella on the pizza was the best I have ever had. And we had the opposite experience with the service. Our server was super attentive and there seemed to be a million servers in the place!

We can't wait to go back. OP, sorry you had a disappointing experience!

 

[Missytara]

The size of their "large" pizza is meant to feed 4 or more.
To the extent it tries to be authentic Neopolitan wood- oven pizza, it is going to be quite different than pizza most Americans are accustomed to. It is meant to be "burned" in spots.
Some people will like it, and some people won't. But it is difficult to just compare it to your neighborhood pizza parlor.

So true; I have two places I frequent at home; one is a Chicago deep dish place and one is a traditional family owned place there bakes their pizzas in a wood burning oven similar to the new place.

At the Chicago deep dish place, I cannot tell you how many times people expect their pizzas in five to eight minutes (like Pizza Hut) or send it back because the sauce is on the top and "they forgot the cheese and the toppings.)

At the traditional Italian place, I don't know how many times I have heard someone say the crust is strange, it is too thin, or it is burnt in places, etc. They are also unaware that this is the traditional way of making the true Italian pizza. Believe me, I have had it in Italy.

In addition, when you look at their bill, they ordered 2 - 2 meter pizzas, which feeds several people.

Sadly, many people's comparison of pizza is not the traditional Italian method or the Chicago deep dish method, but Pizza Hut and Domino's.....

 

[havoc315]

To MissyTara, very true..

Apples need to be compared to applies.
It's like if someone who enjoyed seafood, walked into a Japanese restaurant, ordered the Tuna sashimi, and then was outraged to find that the tuna was raw.
If you like sushi... then you like your tuna raw.

Though I haven't experienced Via Napoli pizza yet (I will in a couple of months), I have had wood-burning oven pizza before. While I love it, if you walked in expecting typical American pizza, you will be thrown off.

Bad service is bad service. But as to the quality of the food, it is hard to say whether the OP's food was actually substandard, or just outside of their expectations.

I find off all the restaurants at Disney, as I'm always reading the reviews, the pizza at Via Napoli is the most controversial -- garnering the strongest praise and the strongest criticism.

Though I applaud Disney for launching a restaurant with an effort at authentic ethnic cuisine, and not bending to water down the food to make it the least objectionable to the greatest number of Americans.

 

[WheelCEO]

If you live under a rock, then Via Napoli MAY impress you. As I posted in another thread, it has hit me that the majority of users on this site live under rocks, enjoy subpar food, never leave their homes or all of the above.

Via Napoli is no more than an overpriced bad version of every coal fire pizza place out there. We ordered the pizza that serves "5", 5 what? infants? We wound up going to eat a 2nd dinner because no one in our group was even remotely "full" (Ages: 22,24,25,70,65).. and our bill was still $50+ for 1 pizza + 3 sodas (not including tip).

If you are on the DDP then maybe it's worth it.. but if you are paying OOP, I'm sure there are better choices out there.. like chewing on some rocks

 

[catne]

If you live under a rock, then Via Napoli MAY impress you. As I posted in another thread, it has hit me that the majority of users on this site live under rocks, enjoy subpar food, never leave their homes or all of the above.

Via Napoli is no more than an overpriced bad version of every coal fire pizza place out there. We ordered the pizza that serves "5", 5 what? infants? We wound up going to eat a 2nd dinner because no one in our group was even remotely "full" (Ages: 22,24,25,70,65).. and our bill was still $50+ for 1 pizza + 3 sodas (not including tip).

If you are on the DDP then maybe it's worth it.. but if you are paying OOP, I'm sure there are better choices out there.. like chewing on some rocks

Gosh, tell us how you really feel about people who like Via Napoli.

So you didn't like it. OK. No need to bash people that did like it.

 

[Laketravis]

This is exactly why I never went into the restaurant business.

Give the same exact piece of food to 100 people, and 50 will rave about it while the other 50 complain about it.

And while most people will believe WheelCEO's post to be harsh, I think his real point is that people who eat chuck will love sirloin, and people who eat sirloin will hate chuck.

I found good food at DW. I found awful food at DW. In my opinion, it was all over priced.

One thing is for sure. Search these forums for the same time last year and you won't find near as many complaints about the food and service.

Something's going on, and that's a fact.

 

[prttynpnk]

Well, last month my husband and I drug our rocks to Via Naploi, crawled out and enjoyed it very much.

 

[Missytara]

To MissyTara, very true..

I find off all the restaurants at Disney, as I'm always reading the reviews, the pizza at Via Napoli is the most controversial -- garnering the strongest praise and the strongest criticism.

Though I applaud Disney for launching a restaurant with an effort at authentic ethnic cuisine, and not bending to water down the food to make it the least objectionable to the greatest number of Americans.

I have to add I think Kouzzina's is the other controversial restaurant out there right now as well; Via Napoli is a lot newer and getting a lot of press.

I thought last year hands down Kouzzina's was the best meal I had on-site, because they didn't go to the standards of preparing food you are used to getting in any chain restaurant - Cat Cora does her food her way.....and I loved it.

 

[havoc315]

If you live under a rock, then Via Napoli MAY impress you. As I posted in another thread, it has hit me that the majority of users on this site live under rocks, enjoy subpar food, never leave their homes or all of the above.

Via Napoli is no more than an overpriced bad version of every coal fire pizza place out there. /QUOTE]

Or if you know the difference between coal-fired pizza and wood-fired pizza... then I suppose you might enjoy it as well.