Favorite Italian Outside the Parks

[catsrgr8]

Obviously a bit in advance, but who doesn't love Disney planning....

I'm headed to WDW in January for the WDW Marathon. I'm looking at options for sit down Italian restaurants for dinner (typically I have pasta, or potentially pizza) the night before the race. It looks like these would be the options for Italian sit down options outside the parks and I'm wondering which one everyone recommends:

Maria and Enzo's at Disney Springs
Terralina at Disney Springs
Trattoria al Forno at Boardwalk
Il Mulino at Swan Reserve

We're staying at Grand Floridian so we'd use Disney transport. Also, if there are other resort restaurants I missed, please feel free to add additional suggestions!

 

[sponica]

Topolino's at Riviera

 

[catsrgr8]

Topolino's at Riviera

Of course! We ate there for character breakfast but I definitely forgot about dinner there! I'm trying to keep a few options as I know there will be a lot of runners looking to carb load that night

 

[kylenne]

Il Mulino at Swan Reserve

Il Mulino is at the Swan proper, not the Swan Reserve. Amare at the Reserve does serve some Italian fare though.

I can't speak to Topolino's, but Il Mulino is great. Not as good as the original one in NY, but it's way better than everything else you listed.

 

[SteveH]

Il Mulino at Swan hands down.

 

[japanese maple]

We are trying Amare. Menu looks fantastic! We had that or Il Mulino as our choice for one evening, but Amare won out.

I'm not really interested in the menu at Topolino's. I know everyone loves it, but for a place that uses pasta in it's decor, I wish they'd have more pasta dishes!

 

[patty57]

I would have said Il Mulino, but ended up at Trattoria al Forno in May and had a great dinner. I hadn't eaten there in years.

 

[katiebelle21]

We just ate at Trattoria al Forno and it was delicious! The atmosphere was a little chaotic/loud, but the food was fresh and tasty.

 

[OKW Lover]

Best Italian food on property is Il Mulino at the Swan.

 

[gharter]

Il Mulino at the Swan is very good and my pick.
Amare at Swan Reserve was good, but kind of generic Italian. maybe my mistake, but was expecting it to be more upscale and it isn't.
Love Toppolinos.
Don't waste your time at Maria and Enzos. Love the atmosphere, but the food was not worth the money. One of the weakest Italian restaurants at WDW.

 

[catsrgr8]

This is all super helpful! I had gotten the idea that Maria and Enzo’s was not great, but this has definitely helped with which reservations I might aim for during race weekend!

 

[japanese maple]

Il Mulino at the Swan is very good and my pick.
Amare at Swan Reserve was good, but kind of generic Italian. maybe my mistake, but was expecting it to be more upscale and it isn't.
Love Toppolinos.
Don't waste your time at Maria and Enzos. Love the atmosphere, but the food was not worth the money. One of the weakest Italian restaurants at WDW.

That's interesting because we decided on Amare because Il Mulino is the everyday Italian restaurant fare!
I'm sure they are both good.

 

[gharter]

That's interesting because we decided on Amare because Il Mulino is the everyday Italian restaurant fare!
I'm sure they are both good.

We had good meals at both, but felt the food at Il Mulino was better. YMMV.

 

[sponica]

Of course! We ate there for character breakfast but I definitely forgot about dinner there! I'm trying to keep a few options as I know there will be a lot of runners looking to carb load that night

Well if you want to carb load, there's also a pasta bolognese on the primo piatto menu. My kid still raves at the pasta at Riviera, both at Topolino's and at Primo Piatto.

 

[fly girl]

I’m in the minority. Have been to Il Mulino three times and the three strikes you’re out rule applies. The last time (2021) the service and the food was abysmal. Idk if we are ordering the wrong things, but 3 people ordering 3 different meals and every time we left underwhelmed.

Trattoria al Forno is a rollercoaster. Sometimes fantastic, other times mediocre. I miss the donuts. But that’s a different story.

Amare was good, not incredible. It was more Mediterranean cuisine than Italian.

If I had to pick one, I’d say Trattoria.

Good luck, and if you do go with Il Mulino (which always seems to be the fan favorite) may your experience be a lot better than ours.

 

[NYCgrrl]

We don’t eat Italian in Fl often since it’s easy to get at home but enjoyed our meal at Bice. Good service and food.

 

[Pens Fan]

Il Mulino is great, but expensive - especially for Italian food. I'm probably biased though, as we live in an area with tons of mom and pop Italian places that are reasonably priced and delicious. We ate at Trattoria Al Forna a few months ago and were pleasantly surprised at the food quality and affordable prices (for Disney at least). I can definitely see us returning there sometime.

We also had an amazing meal at Topolino's a couple of years ago. I still dream about that chicken rigatoni. It's also a pricier option, but we felt the food quality, the exceptional service and the fireworks views were worth it for a fun splurge. We plan on going back again for our Dec trip.