We've eaten at all of the above.
Tony's--This was a very disappointing meal in terms of food and service. It was far from horrible, but it left us underwhlemed and wondering why we paid so much for so-so quality and service. We won't bother to go back.
Portabello--We had a pretty bad experience here. The a/c was broken, and the room we were seated in was in the low 60's. It was so cold I couldn't stay any longer and we left more or less in the middle of our meal. To make matters worse, we had a terrible server. He had no personality, insisted on reciting the entire menu word for word, and after delivering our food, which was so-so, he disappeared for quite awhile (over half an hour). We haven't gone back yet, although I think we will give it another try. I think we hit it on a bad night, and had a bad server. I hear John Coombs who works there is a fantastic server, and I'll definitely make sure to request him if I go back.
Alfredo's--We've eaten here probably the better part of a dozen times. I'm not sure why. It's not bad. But certainly not worthy of the amount of time and money we've spent there. The food has always been consistantly OK. The service has ranged from almost poor to good. Never excellent. Never polished. At times snotty and indifferent. Possibly due to a language barrier, but that's no excuse. I'm sure I'll end up eating there agian, but I'm still not sure why. Lunch is prefereable to dinenr.
You didn't mention a couple of others.
Palio--We've eaten there three times. The first time was incredible in terms of food and service. I can't think of anything to comment negatively on during that meal. It is still remembered very fondly. The second time was a disaster. We were entertaining four guests, and the service was deplorable. Horrible. Pitiful. The food was lackluster. It was actually embarassing after we had raved about this restaurant to our guests. We didn't go back for quite some time. We finally decided that maybe we had hit on an off night, and we'd give it another try. That was a mistake. The service started wonderfully. The server was attentive and personable. We ordered, and all went well, until the entrees were delivered. DS asked for some sauce for his chicken parm (which had been delivered with no sauce
) and our server disappeared for about half an hour. Our glasses remained empty as well. The restaurant wasn't busy, there was no reason for her to literally forget aout us. We finally flagged her down (DS had given up and gone off to the BW to find a hot dog) had his dinner wrapped we should have just refused to pay for it) got the check and left. We haven't been back, and probably never will be.
An Italian restaurant very worthy of your time is Mama Melroses. Attentive service, creative menu, excellent food, casual and relaxing atmosphere. I've eaten here at least a dozen times, and have never had a bad meal or server. This is an all-time, all-around winner, and often overlooked WDW restaurant. I highly recommend it. (And my DH who is sitting here as I type wholeheartedly agrees...and is now asking if we left right now for the airport, would we be able to get there for a late dinner before they close
)
Hope this helps.
Anne
