Favorite/Best Italian Restaurant

[sleepydog25]

None. I am Italian and it rare I use red sauce on my food. At Disney, this is basically all you get unless its a seafood dish and Im not a fan of seafood either. I wish one restaurant would offer Saltinbocca, Piccata, Marsala, Scaloppine, Braciole etc.... instead of Americanized Italian with red sauce.

On another note...I dont typically go to Italian restaurants at Disney because I can find one on every corner here at home. I go to places I cant find at home...Germany, Norway, Spirit of Aloha, Kona, character meals, M. Paul etc.. Going to Le Cellier this time around for the chateaubriand, which is very difficult to find around me unless I drive into Boston.

But if I were to choose one, it would be Via Napoli...for the pizza only

To be fair, the food from Germany, Norway, Kona, Monsieur Paul, et. al., is also Americanized and/or dumbed down for the majority of dishes. I will say that Il Mulino actually has several dishes that do not feature a red sauce, and at least 10 of those don't feature seafood, either. I understand your point--Disney's Italian may not be best or most authentic. Then again, I'd say that for pretty much all Disney fare save V&A's.

 

[DISNEY1975]

To be fair, the food from Germany, Norway, Kona, Monsieur Paul, et. al., is also Americanized and/or dumbed down for the majority of dishes. .

True, but Americanized or authentic, I cant get any kind near where I live. There is Italian, "Pub", Chinese, Japanese, Seafood, etc... on every street corner here.

 

[DISNEY1975]

Il Mulino actually has several dishes that do not feature a red sauce, and at least 10 of those don't feature seafood,

I just checked out the Il Mulino menu. Yes, there are items that dont have red sauce or seafood, but they arent really italian dishes either. Someone just translated the entree name into Italian!



Then I was SUPER excited to see Saltimbocca...



But then laughed that they managed to incorporate 3 styles of cooking into this one dish. Saltimbocca, Scaloppini and Marsala are 3 different things!

Scallopini is pounded meat with lemon, capers, white wine
Marsala is a different wine (Madeira is close..dark, smokey)
Saltimbocca is ham, white wine, garlic

 

[disnmooner2013]

What is your favorite pizza at Via Napoli?

 

[NickC]

I think 'authentic' is often difficult. When I was in Naples this past spring, my dinner was still in the sea (bay) when I woke up in the morning. The clams and mussels were not only fresher, but less gritty and salty. The preparation isn't impossible to duplicate, but the food quality is. I've been searching for those clams in the states for months, but haven't been able to find them.

 

[disnmooner2013]

I think we are going to do Via Napoli for dinner on our next trip since that is geared around celebrating our daughter. Our daughter loves cheese pizza and raviolis (which Via Napoli has both). Then on our 10 year anniversary trip which will be our following trip try Il Mulino for the 1st time.

 

[GeorgiaHoo]

We've only been to Mama Melrose and Via Napoli and enjoyed both. I think Mama Melrose probably has the slight edge in food/service, but we really enjoyed our two meals at Via Napoli. But as I say in every post about Via, we refuse to eat inside--it is the loudest restaurant I've visited at Disney so we request an outside seat. That usually means a longer wait for a table but the weather outside has been really nice both times we've eaten there (after sunset in the spring) and we've had an enjoyable meal. I enjoyed the pasta at Via Napoli but not sure the exact item I order (linguine allo scoglio) is still on the menu.

 

[disnmooner2013]

We've only been to Mama Melrose and Via Napoli and enjoyed both. I think Mama Melrose probably has the slight edge in food/service, but we really enjoyed our two meals at Via Napoli. But as I say in every post about Via, we refuse to eat inside--it is the loudest restaurant I've visited at Disney so we request an outside seat. That usually means a longer wait for a table but the weather outside has been really nice both times we've eaten there (after sunset in the spring) and we've had an enjoyable meal. I enjoyed the pasta at Via Napoli but not sure the exact item I order (linguine allo scoglio) is still on the menu.

My wife and I ate at Mama Melroses in 2013. Thought it was good but nothing Spectacular.

 

[GeorgiaHoo]

My wife and I ate at Mama Melroses in 2013. Thought it was good but nothing Spectacular.

Oh, I agree. I think it's about equivalent to Olive Garden, maybe not quite as good. I've had very few "spectacular" meals at Disney--the only one I can think of is California Grill brunch. I've had some very enjoyable meals, often a combination of decent food and a nice Disney environment. Narcoossee's comes to mind--food was fine but the restaurant itself has a great view. Same with eating on the pier/deck at Boathouse.

 

[DVC'96]

What is your Favorite and/or Best Italian Restaurant for Italian dishes not pizza? Which ones have raviolis on the kids menu? What is your favorite dish?

We were there before Christmas and went to Maria & Enzos. It was very good-we were a party of 9 and I didn't hear anyone with complaints about the food. Pasta and bread were incredible. Two in our party had the ravioli and raved about it even though the portions were smaller. I had the Spaghetti alla Chitarra en Polpette and loved the handcut pasta. We didn't have dessert that night but we went back a few days later to their take out place with the huge slices of pizza and got cannoli and cookies that were great also. I loved their Summer Sangria. I've never had anything like it! It was very expensive but overall I was happy with my choice for my half-Italian family. The DVC discount helped too!

 

[NickC]

After our trip this past November, we decided that Via Napoli is our favorite Italian restaurant. The pizza is amazing.

 

[disnmooner2013]

what is your favorite pasta or pizza at Via Napoli?

 

[a742246]

I voted for ii Mulino, great food, nice setting, and I can have a conversation here and be able to hear it.

 

[disnmooner2013]

I voted for ii Mulino, great food, nice setting, and I can have a conversation here and be able to hear it.

What dishes are your favorites at Il Mulino?

 

[a742246]

What dishes are your favorites at Il Mulino?

I always have the veal saltimbocca but just about everything is good. This restaurant is my go to every time we have guests with us, because no one is ever disappointed.

 

[xipotec]

I guess Mama's....

The Italian food in FL is not that great......but I was born in Brooklyn so very bias.

 

[sleepydog25]

Very true.
Going to BiCE in 10 days and looking forward to it. As much as I enjoy a lot of the WDW restaurants, even Il Mulino isn't close to BiCE. Just an amazing experience. Just a bit excited.

I was just nosing through this thread again and saw your old post. Did you wind up going to BiCE? We opted out a couple of weeks ago, instead doing mostly lounge fare prior to what we knew would be a food-heavy experience on the Dream for the Christmas cruise. @gharter

 

[NickC]

what is your favorite pasta or pizza at Via Napoli?

We like the pizza. I am not going to claim that it is "authentic Neapolitan" pizza. But, what I can say is that it seems that they make a lot of effort to get it as close as possible. Pizza in Naples is very different than pizza in NY or Chicago or Philadelphia, etc.

 

[disnmooner2013]

We like the pizza. I am not going to claim that it is "authentic Neapolitan" pizza. But, what I can say is that it seems that they make a lot of effort to get it as close as possible. Pizza in Naples is very different than pizza in NY or Chicago or Philadelphia, etc.

Which pizza is your favorite on the menu?

 

[NickC]

Which pizza is your favorite on the menu?

We like to keep it relatively simple. We usually do pepperoni or margherita. We have also done the mezzo metro sized pizza and I believe we did half pepperoni, half cheese. I like Italian food that is simple, but fresh.