Via Napoli...what have you tried besides pizza?

[sweeteypie1118]

I have a dinner reservation at Via Napoli next week. I know my son will get pizza and not finish it, so I'll be trying his. I would like to order a different entree for myself. I havent heard much on the food besides the pizza. What else have you tried and recommend?

 

[LuvLuvLuv]

i know it sounds basic..... but the spaghetti and meatballs is amazingggggggg!!

 

[sweeteypie1118]

Sometimes the basics are the best. I was considering that or eggplant parm, or the spinach lasagna.

 

[ajworthy]

When we went last year, DH got the chicken parm and it was to die for.

 

[Disnut4925]

I second the spaghetti and meatballs - just delicious, loved it. I also loved the San Pelligrino orange soda and ice cream dessert/beverage, if you want something sweet.

 

[Figaro972]

I also got the chick parm and LOVED it!

 

[sweeteypie1118]

decisions decisions. I have been staring at menus and reviews for 2 months! It would probably be frowned upon to walk around and ask people for bites of their food!

 

[tortoni]

Via Napoli is tucked away in the back of the Italy Pavilion and it is a nice addition, visually.

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The room is quite large and attractive—at least the main dining room is. We noticed a back room and I do not know what it would be like to eat in that room. I loved the chandelier that was part of the entry hall.

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We had a lovely and attentive CM from Venice who took our drink orders. It quickly became clear that there were quite a few items that would not be covered on DDP. The only drinks covered were the sodas and minute maid lemonade, not the aqua frescas and not the San Pellegrino sodas. DD wanted a San Pellegrino so she had that in lieu of the included drink. We ordered an appetizer of anancini because we love these and a tortellini en brood, DH’s favorite soup, knowing and expecting these would not be included. Both were very good.

As for main courses, DH ordered a pizza, which was okay, but not as good as the WPE pizzas.


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DD ordered a chicken salad, which was heavy on greens and light on chicken, but she enjoyed it.


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Oldest DS ordered a pasta dish that had a light cream sauce. Surprisingly, the dish was rather a small portion, even though it was an entrée. Given how little pasta costs, I just don’t understand when restaurants serve small portions of pasta. Since this was not enough to satisfy him, he shared some of the other dishes we ordered.
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Younger DS ordered the chicken parm. He asked for pasta as a substitute for the potato and the waitress said fine, without alerting us that it would be additional money, and not on the plan, to substitute. We were surprised later to learn that the pasta substitute (which came with miniature meatballs) was an additional $12!

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The chicken parm itself was a disappointment, not tender at all, so he left most of it.


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I ordered the pasta with seafood and requested that it be made without the calamari. The waitress advised me this was not possible because the kitchen was too busy. Huh? I guess this means they pre-make the sauce, which is disturbing because seafood should be added at the last minute so it is not overcooked. I ordered it anyone. Again, another small dish, but since I did not find it particularly tasty, it was just as well. The seafood had no taste and the sauce had no zip.


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I ordered the ricotta fritters for DS, since I wanted to try these and still have the orange frappe thing I’d seen earlier. The fritters? zepole?, I forget what they called them, were okay, and the chocolate sauce was nice, but they were not warm and fresh tasting, as they should have been.


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The frappes were a combo of orange soda, vanilla gelato and whip cream. Should have tasted like a frosty creamsicle and would have if the soda used was cold, but it was lukewarm and the gelato on its own did not cool it off enough. What a disappointment.


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DH and DS had the chocolate gelato, which they enjoyed.


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We also ordered 2 espressos for dessert, including a double for DH. Since we had only ordered water, we assumed, incorrectly, that these would be our drinks. Everywhere else we went, these were included as drinks. Not at Via Napoli. A double espresso was $8 plus my single for $4. WOW.

With the tip, we paid $90 out of pocket for this DDP meal. Since Tutto is owned by the same company. I went back to the Beach Club and cancelled our Tutto reservation.

I don’t like being nickeled and dimed and that is how I felt at Via Napoli. We may try it again in the future because sometimes things are off for a lot of reasons including your own mood and I do admit that we were a bit put off there and it may have affected how we viewed everything.

 

[sweeteypie1118]

Thank you very much for taking the time for the detailed review and pics. I've read other places that they are not very accomodating to special requests, even simple ones. I had originally had my reservation for Tutta Italia and was looking forward to the canneloni which got great reviews. Then I realized it was an outdated menu and no lonegr offered I changed my reservation to Via napoli because it seemed they have more variety.

 

[Princess Dolly]

I can't help with an entree since we get the pizza, but if you are looking for a nice, refreshing adult drink, I suggest the sangria.

 

[MickeyNicki]

DH loves the spaghetti and meatballs and I had the candele (think lasagne but with ziti noodles) and it was very good but very filling.

 

[Li-sa]

Dd and I both had the eggplant/aubergine parm and loved it...it's one of my favourite dishes anywhere and VN's was pretty good!

 

[luvmarypoppins]

I ordered the eggplant parm. I think I had about 4 thin, very thin slices of eggplant. Here in NY that would be considered more of an appetizer portion and certainly not a meal portion. The spaghetti side dish they served with it, was some kind of baked thing that was hard as a rock.

And as far as special requests, dh ordered a pizza, we asked for the salad for 2. They said, no you cant have it because one of you is only getting pizza and you both have to order pizza. Well only after dh made a stink about it, did they give it to us.

We really didnt enjoy it, and for our upcoming trip we are going back to Tutto insterd.

Dh has eaten pizza in Italy and he says Via Napoli was not that great, crust way too doughy.

 

[disneyfan888]

When we went last year, DH got the chicken parm and it was to die for.

I second this!! We loved it!
For appetizers we got cold cuts which were very good and fresh and we also tried the Arancini which I did not like. This was the first time I had tried this and it was not for us, DH did not like it either. For dessert DH had the Tiramisu which he loved and I had the Ricotta donuts with chocolate sauce. They were ok, nothing out of this world for me. I was happy that you cant taste the ricotta,because I am not a fan. I decided to try this because a friend of mine recommended it and also told me that you could not taste the ricotta, which is true.