Has Tony's improved at all?

[Lovetherodent]

I've avoided the place based on reviews, but one of my party wants Italian, and she's someone with, as she says, "basic" tastes (spaghetti and meatballs, etc.). MK is our only park without a must-do dining request, and so Tony's is on the maybe list. I see they got a new menu last spring, but looks like only Disney Food Blog had anything to say about it. How about you all? Any recent experiences?

 

[han22735]

We have been twice since the chef changed. Its much improved from years ago. Is it gourmet Italian...no...but its certainly sufficient for what it is.

 

[Ensusieasm]

I've avoided the place based on reviews, but one of my party wants Italian, and she's someone with, as she says, "basic" tastes (spaghetti and meatballs, etc.). MK is our only park without a must-do dining request, and so Tony's is on the maybe list. I see they got a new menu last spring, but looks like only Disney Food Blog had anything to say about it. How about you all? Any recent experiences?

A couple years ago Tony’s did improve when a new chef took over. Now, with food price inflation, cost cutting, and lots of menu cuts, I think it may be worse than ever. I dined there two weeks ago. Not good. And I never had a problem with it over many years, before and after the new chef. I actually wonder if the new chef might not even be there anymore. It’s that bad.

 

[WEDcryoHEAD]

Ate there during MNSSHP in Sept. and it was scrumpdiddilyumptious. I had no issues with service, food taste or quality. Basic Italian cuisine is not too hard to put out in mass and keep it of good quality. Like the above poster stated, its not gourmet.

 

[hsmamainva]

We had a wonderful meal there in June! My youngest loves spaghetti. No complaints and we were able to view the late afternoon cavalcade (the one with Zootopia & Mirabel) from our table on the porch.

 

[cdobert]

We like to eat at Tony's and watch the traffic in the square. Food quality is ok, prices have gotten ridiculous.

 

[VADisneyMama5816]

We ate there in August. It was fine. It is similar to Olive Garden in my opinion. Although, their fried mozzarella is really good. I could eat 10 pieces lol. Also, I find the service to be pretty good there.

 

[RoseGold]

For "basic" I'd just stick to Cosmic Ray's or Pinnochio has the flatbread, which is mediocre to bad pizza. It also has edible breadsticks which I have made a meal more than once with the adequate tomato soup. That will be as good and much cheaper. I can't fathom paying that pricing for Tony's.

 

[Neurodude84]

We had no complaints in December. It’s a better version of Olive Garden.

 

[MiraclesTakeTime]

We had visited after the Chef change, like directly after. It was not improved. In my opinion, not nearly as good as Olive Garden. It makes Olive Garden look like fine dining. If craving Italian, try one of the places in Disney Springs. Mama Melrose in Hollywood Studios isn't too bad.

 

[Minniemoo15]

We have really enjoyed every meal we’ve had at Tony’s.

 

[RivShore]

We had visited after the Chef change, like directly after. It was not improved. In my opinion, not nearly as good as Olive Garden. It makes Olive Garden look like fine dining. If craving Italian, try one of the places in Disney Springs. Mama Melrose in Hollywood Studios isn't too bad.

We had always considered Mama decent Italian until we went last year it was not good at all. Anyone had a good recent experience there?

 

[lucydachs]

My friends and I ate at Tony's in December. We all enjoyed our meals and the service. I liked it better than my experience at Mama Melrose's. However, it has been several years since I last tried Mama Melrose's so it may have improved.

 

[morganms22]

It’s not gourmet, but I don’t think it’s terrible. We stayed away for so long after reading tons of bad reviews. Then, we ate there last year and we all agreed it was fine and average for an MK restaurant.

 

[BeachMouse1]

We just ate there 2 weeks ago. We had been going the past few trips and it was good. They are very accommodating to my wife’s food intolerance. We looked at the menu when we sat and it’s a new menu. My wife asked if she could get some fresh vegetables and the server told us the new menu has no vegetables except tomatoes. She commented that since the change of the menu “the place is quite a mess”. Her words. My wife said her pasta was quite good the service was not great. The menu is rather lacking and basic. But we sat on the patio on a beautiful day saw cavalcades come by and the Dapper Dans.
if your not looking for great food but want the classic Disney Experience go, if food is your motivation I believe you can do better.
One thing more, we checked in via the app twenty minutes before. Almost immediately received a text saying our table is ready and we were across the park. We started walking and received another text that I have never seen before it said something to the effect of if we didn’t get there soon our table might be given away. This text came like 2 minutes after the first so we ran there. We still arrived well before our reservation time. Got to the desk checked in and waited about 30 minutes to be seated. This was the first and only time we ever received the text that our table might be given away and we always check in on the app whenever possible it was weird. But every time we have eaten at Tony’s the wait is long after the call you.

 

[Jimmy Mouse]

I've avoided the place based on reviews, but one of my party wants Italian, and she's someone with, as she says, "basic" tastes (spaghetti and meatballs, etc.). MK is our only park without a must-do dining request, and so Tony's is on the maybe list. I see they got a new menu last spring, but looks like only Disney Food Blog had anything to say about it. How about you all? Any recent experiences?

Me and DD 11 had dinner at Tony's in January and the food was really good. I had the chicken parm and was very pleased. She had the Alfredo and said it was delicious. The bread was also really good.

 

[Lovetherodent]

Well, I made an ADR because you never know until you try it. Maybe it’ll be a one and done like Coral Reef, maybe it’ll be someplace we consider consider for a sit down in the MK. MK has so few offerings for someone who feels like turkey and pot roast aren’t restaurant foods!

 

[MiraclesTakeTime]

We had always considered Mama decent Italian until we went last year it was not good at all. Anyone had a good recent experience there?

This seems to be an overall trend with several of the restaurants in the past couple years.

 

[TexasJedi]

My experience has been that Tony's is "fine" but inconsistent. One trip, it was one of my pasta-loving children's favorite meals and a "must do" for the next trip. The next trip, the same food seemed lower quality and they all came away far less impressed an voted to skip it the trip after that. We tried Via Napoli at Epcot for Italian, and now that's where they want to go back this summer for Italian over Tony's or Mama Melrose's.

MK can be tricky when it comes to table service. If you like Italian food, you're unlikely to come away feeling disgusted, but you're also not likely to think of it as one of your all-time favorite meals.

I find that if you're going to spend a several days at Disney World with a table service meal every day and don't want to pay for the all of the premier table-service options, you'll likely end up with one or two "filler" meals on your trip that are perfectly acceptable without being memorable or something you're dying to repeat. Tony's fits squarely in that category for me.

 

[mistysue]

LOL - I always laugh about this one because EVERY post is split between "that was the worst ever!" and "We LOVE it every time!"
Just cross your fingers you get a good day, and laugh about it if you don't.