Via Napoli (slow) pizza service

[kermit116]

We will be taking a large party (8) of family members to Via Napoli on our upcoming trip to WDW. This wasn't our first choice of restaurant, but we will be in Epcot on this particular evening, and unfortunately we only got word that the rest of our family would be joining us a few days ago and our trip is in less than 1 month. So, with those restrictions, VN was our only option for a TS meal with 8 people on this particular night. We will spend another night in Epcot doing the "snacking around the world" thing, so we want to do a sit-down meal for this other night.

I have been to VN once, and I enjoyed the atmosphere and the food, but we had a bit of a problem during our meal that in hindsight I wish I had addressed with the server or manager at the time. I ordered a pizza for my meal and DH ordered pasta. We both shared an appetizer. It wasn't a particularly busy time of day, but my pizza came out several minutes after my husband's pasta. I didn't make a big deal about it at the time because it was the first night of our WDW trip and I didn't really want to get into it with the server and/or manager and be annoyed on the first night of the trip. When the pizza did arrive, it was hot and I really enjoyed it. I actually thought it tasted better than my husband's pasta.

I've since heard from other people that they had a similar experience with pizzas coming out at a different time than other entrees, and the explanation was that since the pizzas come from the brick oven, it's not possible to coordinate all the entrees coming out at the same time, so they just bring pizza entrees out when they are ready.

Now, having worked in large restaurants in the past, I know this is a ridiculous explanation, and I'm wondering if this person (and me) just had a not-so-great server who gave that as an excuse. Again, I didn't ask for an explanation on the day my pizza came out late, although now I wish I had.

My big concern is that when we have our family there I don't want to get into a situation where half the people have their pasta entrees and the other half are waiting for their pizzas and getting grumpy.

Has anyone else had a similar experience at VN? Has anyone else heard this ridiculous explanation? Can we just insist that our server bring all the entrees at the same time? Or will half the table then end up with cold food?

I know with a good kitchen manager it is entirely possible to get entrees from different kitchen stations to come out at the same time. Aside from the service I really enjoyed our last experience at VN, so I'm hoping to avoid any unnecessary annoyance when dining there with my family. DH and I are able to roll with the punches, but some members of our extended family may not.

 

[Hopefully]

We will be taking a large party (8) of family members to Via Napoli on our upcoming trip to WDW. This wasn't our first choice of restaurant, but we will be in Epcot on this particular evening, and unfortunately we only got word that the rest of our family would be joining us a few days ago and our trip is in less than 1 month. So, with those restrictions, VN was our only option for a TS meal with 8 people on this particular night. We will spend another night in Epcot doing the "snacking around the world" thing, so we want to do a sit-down meal for this other night.

I have been to VN once, and I enjoyed the atmosphere and the food, but we had a bit of a problem during our meal that in hindsight I wish I had addressed with the server or manager at the time. I ordered a pizza for my meal and DH ordered pasta. We both shared an appetizer. It wasn't a particularly busy time of day, but my pizza came out several minutes after my husband's pasta. I didn't make a big deal about it at the time because it was the first night of our WDW trip and I didn't really want to get into it with the server and/or manager and be annoyed on the first night of the trip. When the pizza did arrive, it was hot and I really enjoyed it. I actually thought it tasted better than my husband's pasta.

I've since heard from other people that they had a similar experience with pizzas coming out at a different time than other entrees, and the explanation was that since the pizzas come from the brick oven, it's not possible to coordinate all the entrees coming out at the same time, so they just bring pizza entrees out when they are ready.

Now, having worked in large restaurants in the past, I know this is a ridiculous explanation, and I'm wondering if this person (and me) just had a not-so-great server who gave that as an excuse. Again, I didn't ask for an explanation on the day my pizza came out late, although now I wish I had.

My big concern is that when we have our family there I don't want to get into a situation where half the people have their pasta entrees and the other half are waiting for their pizzas and getting grumpy.

Has anyone else had a similar experience at VN? Has anyone else heard this ridiculous explanation? Can we just insist that our server bring all the entrees at the same time? Or will half the table then end up with cold food?

I know with a good kitchen manager it is entirely possible to get entrees from different kitchen stations to come out at the same time. Aside from the service I really enjoyed our last experience at VN, so I'm hoping to avoid any unnecessary annoyance when dining there with my family. DH and I are able to roll with the punches, but some members of our extended family may not.

Personally, I don't think this is a ridiculous explaination!!!! Foods cook at different speeds.
The alternative is for some foods to sit under a heat lamp waiting for the slower cooking foods to be ready. I have experienced this in "signature" restaurants in the real world.
Personally, I agree with their philospophy. Bring me my order when it is ready, hot and fresh - not sitting under heat lamps waiting for other foods.

 

[BLLB]

When we were there a couple weeks ago, all of our meals came out at the same time. Maybe we were just lucky. The restaurant was pretty full.

 

[kermit116]

Personally, I don't think this is a ridiculous explaination!!!! Foods cook at different speeds.
The alternative is for some foods to sit under a heat lamp waiting for the slower cooking foods to be ready. I have experienced this in "signature" restaurants in the real world.
Personally, I agree with their philospophy. Bring me my order when it is ready, hot and fresh - not sitting under heat lamps waiting for other foods.

That is a good point. Just to clarify, my point is not that they should have food sitting under heat lamps - that of course is not ideal and no restaurant should strive for that. But I know from my personal work experience with several large, corporate restaurants that if the kitchen manager is on the ball, s/he will hold the dishes that cook faster and only "fire" them when it is appropriate so that all the entrees will be finished cooking at approximately the same time. This is completely possible to do, and it's how most good major restaurants operate to provide optimal service to their guests.

When people are not dining in a family-style situation, many people consider it rude to begin eating their meal before other guests at the table have theirs. That's my primary concern in asking this question. If it was something family style I wouldn't worry at all because everyone could start on the dishes that arrive first and then eat as food comes to the table.

I know that two of the older gentlemen in my party will not eat their food until their wives have been served out of respect for them. I'm just looking for feedback so we don't have half the party sitting there watching their food get cold while they wait for the other half to get served their dinners.

 

[deakam]

I would strongly suggest to your server that you would like all meals to be served at the same time. Simply explain to the server what the situation is. Disney is pretty accomodating when it comes to this kind of stuff.

 

[honeymo78]

Our two pizzas came out a few minutes after DH's pasta dish. Our told us the pasta might come out early due to slight variations in cooking time for the pizza. It seemed like it was no more that 2 or 3 minutes between entrees. For such a short time difference anywhere else, I would have expected the pasta to just sit in the kitchen and I don't think they could really have "fired" the dishes any better. DH preferred the pasta coming right out. Had it been 5-10 minutes difference in timing, that might have been an issue.

 

[fadingjamie]

How many minutes was it exactly? The word "several" means about 5-7 minutes which is not unacceptable by any means. I definitely understand your frustration as we will be trying VN for the first time in May and one of us will be ordering pizza, the other pasta. So I'm worried that the same thing will happen too.

Question though, I know you've worked in a kitchen before so how does it work when a chef holds back an order to be fired so that it is in sync with the other orders of the meal? Does that make other people wait longer for their food then? Not trying to I really have no idea how it works.

 

[Bob NC]

Several minutes difference between the appearance of pizza and other dishes would not bother me. I know cooking pizza in a wood fired oven is not an exact science.

It sounds like you are ready to be upset at VN, so I'd recommend you avoid eating there.

 

[RMulieri]

Honestly, I think you are getting jacked up too much worrying about what happened last time and what MIGHT or MIGHT not happen this time.Kindly mention to your server that you would appreciate it if all meals could come out together, or as close together as reasonably possible.I am sure they will do their best to accomodate your party.If the same happens again, than you can complain if you feel the need to.

 

[kermit116]

How many minutes was it exactly?

Question though, I know you've worked in a kitchen before so how does it work when a chef holds back an order to be fired so that it is in sync with the other orders of the meal? Does that make other people wait longer for their food then? Not trying to I really have no idea how it works.

It was about 7-8 minutes (not sure exactly, but definitely more than just a 2-3 minute delay).

The restaurants I worked in had either an experienced kitchen manager or a designated expeditor ("expo") who would coordinate every order that came in so that all the dishes on one order was ready within 2-3 minutes of each other. This is difficult to do, but it can be done and it's one of those things that restaurants with a similar corporate philosophy as Disney (it's all about creating a great guest experience) strive for.

The kitchen manager or expo at the places I worked would look at ticket as it came in to the kitchen, and determine the dish that would take the longest to cook and how long that would be. In a worst-case scenario, you'd have a well-done steak on the same ticket as an entree salad. In that case, the kitchen manager or expo would tell the line cook working on the grill/broiler station to fire the steak immediately, and then would tell the salad line cook to hold off on making the salad. Once the steak was near being done, the kitchen manager or expo goes back to the salad line cook and tells him/her to make the salad, and ideally both entrees hit the window at the same time so that the person who ordered the steak gets a hot, well-done steak and the person who ordered the salad gets a freshly-prepared, cool salad. Unfortunately, in a case where you have on person ordering an item that takes a really long time to cook (like a well-done filet mignon) and the other person ordering something like a cold sandwich or salad, then both dishes will take longer to come out. But that's not really the fault of the staff because you can only cook a well-done steak so fast, and most people consider it rude to eat their dinner before the other person(s) at the table have their food, so it's not advisable to bring out the salad in the few minutes it'd take to make it unless the guests specifically ask to have the food as soon as it can be made.

Now, even though we served a wide variety of foods (including pastas, salads & pizzas) at one restaurant where I worked, I do acknowledge that working with a wood-fired stove is more difficult and less predictable than working with a standard pizza oven. I'm sure that contributes to the reports I've now seen on this thread that most people get their pizzas a couple of minutes after the rest of the party. That, to me, is not a big deal. My concern is more about having to wait another 7+ minutes for the rest of the party to get their meals.

As for the comments that I'm worrying too much, you all are probably right. The planning for this big family reunion trip has fallen on me because I'm sort of the resident "Disney expert" of the group, even though this trip wasn't my idea and is coming at a bad time of the year for me. I mean, there's no "bad time" to visit Disney, but in terms of pre-trip planning time this is not a good time for me and I should just tell my family that. Unfortunately since it's coming at a really bad time for me, so I think I'm just being hyper-sensitive to trying to make everyone's experience perfect. Also, we have a few members of our family who haven't been to WDW in 20+ years, so I'm really trying to make their experience as magical & stress-free as possible. I appreciate the comments here and will definitely take them into consideration. I also appreciate the reality check, because after all, this is just a vacation

 

[plutolovr]

The restaurants I worked in had either an experienced kitchen manager or a designated expeditor ("expo") who would coordinate every order that came in so that all the dishes on one order was ready within 2-3 minutes of each other. This is difficult to do, but it can be done and it's one of those things that restaurants with a similar corporate philosophy as Disney (it's all about creating a great guest experience) strive for.

First off, Via Napoli is not a "Disney" restaurant.

We've eaten at Via Napoli 3 times and each time we were told that they bring out entrees as they become ready, so they may come out at different times. Never had a problem with that.

I think part of the problem is that the pizzas are cooked in the restaurant part of the kitchen and the other entrees are back in the kitchen. They also have limited pizza oven space and I'm sure that has lots to do with when the pizzas are ready.

 

[jdisnut]

We've eaten at Via Napoli 3 times and each time we were told that they bring out entrees as they become ready, so they may come out at different times. Never had a problem with that.

See, I actually would have an issue if that was actually Via Napoli's practice. I understand if a restaurant miscalculates an order occasionally and is forced to stagger the delivery of the food. But I think a good restaurant should always make every effort to ensure everything is served simultaneously.

 

[fla4fun]

As for the comments that I'm worrying too much, you all are probably right. The planning for this big family reunion trip has fallen on me because I'm sort of the resident "Disney expert" of the group, even though this trip wasn't my idea and is coming at a bad time of the year for me. I mean, there's no "bad time" to visit Disney, but in terms of pre-trip planning time this is not a good time for me and I should just tell my family that. Unfortunately since it's coming at a really bad time for me, so I think I'm just being hyper-sensitive to trying to make everyone's experience perfect. Also, we have a few members of our family who haven't been to WDW in 20+ years, so I'm really trying to make their experience as magical & stress-free as possible. I appreciate the comments here and will definitely take them into consideration. I also appreciate the reality check, because after all, this is just a vacation

Take a deep breath and relax! You are doing the best you can, and no vacation is ever perfect - there's bound to be a hiccup somewhere! Hopefully you have a family that can roll with the punches and get a good laugh out of any challenges. Sometimes the best travel memories are when things don't go according to plan.

 

[rsimon]

Keep in mind, this style pizza in the wood oven takes about 2 to 3 minutes tops. These ovens are very hot and it doesn't take long at all. Where a pasta dish (if cooked fresh) would take longer to cook and prepare.

It is not hard to get these in sync with each other, even as the pasta is completed, the pizza could be fired and be done without the pasta waiting long.

I would actually expect the pizza to come out sooner than other dishes, but if there is a backup on the pizza ovens, then that wouldn't be the case. I do think a competent kitchen could manage it though as other itallian places with this kind of pizza do.

 

[disnut8]

I would explain your experience that you had before to your family members. Joke a bit and say "but hey, we're at Disney World!" And then go and enjoy your meal. I think because you are in the restaurant industry, your standards are higher. You also have guests who have a protocol about serving and eating which has become very lax with most Americans these days. I think you all need a relax a bit (not saying the gentlemen will be able to relax) and realize that it's probably not going to be perfect and exact. And if everything does come out on time, then that's a bit more magic to the trip.

But saying something to your guests beforehand and relaxing your standards (just this once) might be the first step.

 

[kermit116]

I would explain your experience that you had before to your family members. Joke a bit and say "but hey, we're at Disney World!" And then go and enjoy your meal.

But saying something to your guests beforehand and relaxing your standards (just this once) might be the first step.

I think this is a great idea - thanks!

 

[DonaldDoleWhip]

Ironically, my experience at VN was quite different. My pizza was brought out while I was still working on my appetizer.

That's another restaurant no-no, so I guess you should be prepared for anything.