Which Italian restaurant to pick?

[Farro]

Yes, you are wrong. The short-lived Il Mulino in Chicago was a more formal--and ridiculously overpriced--restaurant. The Orlando outpost is their less formal Trattoria Il Mulino brand and is consistently excellent. Terralina looks good and Tony Mantuano is a great chef, but it will have to be extremely good to surpass Il Mulino.

It's still the same group though, right? We won't really know I'm wrong until I try it.

 

[jcvalenti]

I'm pretty sure the Il Mulino at the Swan is not part of their value brand. It is styled after their New York flagship, and a relatively formal place - just in a resort so the dress code is a lot more casual. It used to be one of our absolute faves, but we had a couple very mediocre meals there in 2014 and 2015, and haven't been back since. It sounds like they are back to their fabulous selves, which is great. It is a very cool place, although also very pricey. Their wine list, for example, is always around 4x markup, which even for Disney is very aggressive. I did love a night out there - they have a great lounge you can relax in before dinner, a hip and upscale vibe and just do everything just right for a big night out.

If you're looking for a more casual Italian place, what about the many new places that have opened in the last few months in Disney Springs ? Maria & Enzo's, Terralina Crafted Italian and Enzo's Hideaway ? All seem like promising pasta and chicken parm type joints if that's what you want (the Enzos ones are all run by the same group that runs Tutto Gusto / Tutto Italia)

 

[monorailsilver]

Via Napoli has delicious pizza, "gravy",like my husband's granny used to make( he flashed back and smiled like the food critic from Ratatouille)and super flat pieces of chicken for the chicken parmigiana and other dishes. It's a good restaurant with good food. But, it seems that a lot of people sit back , drink wine, and get louder and louder. I get it. They're on vacation. Downfall-it's super loud and hard to hear each other speak, even at the same table . Tutto Italia and Mama Melrose seemed like an Olive Garden- just ok. This trip , we are trying I'll Mulino. It's worth a try.

I am excited! I have never eaten there because my DS has a dairy allergy and I didn’t want to spend that kind of $$$ on a cheeseless pizza for one. But he can have cooked dairy now so a week from Saturday...yippee!

But the Gravy like granny part above got me excited. My gramma used to make her gravy every August and can it for the winter months. Yummy! Then she got old and couldn’t make it anymore so my mom did and we’ll it wasn’t the same. I had one pizza place in CT (I had dated the owners son in HS) that had that fresh gravy taste and smell. But since then I found at Stew Leonard’s: Italian Jersey Gravy! My family does not like it but I could seriously scoop it with a spoon and eat it that way. It smells and tastes so fresh but it is $6.99 for a jar!

 

[marvin12]

I really want to thank everyone for their help. So many choices and we only need to pick one. But it’s so hard. We now have some great views from all of you. Thanks so much.

 

[sleepydog25]

As if you needed yet another recommendation. . .but definitely Il Mulino if on property. Now, if you don't mind driving a few minutes, then BiCE at the Portofino Hotel at the Dark Side is better than Il Mulino. Worth the extra time to make that trip.

 

[goofyintoronto]

Via Napoli has delicious pizza, "gravy",like my husband's granny used to make( he flashed back and smiled like the food critic from Ratatouille)and super flat pieces of chicken for the chicken parmigiana and other dishes. It's a good restaurant with good food. But, it seems that a lot of people sit back , drink wine, and get louder and louder. I get it. They're on vacation. Downfall-it's super loud and hard to hear each other speak, even at the same table . Tutto Italia and Mama Melrose seemed like an Olive Garden- just ok. This trip , we are trying I'll Mulino. It's worth a try.

Im with you 100% about the noise at Via. Its soooo bloody noisy! They couldnt have come up with a better design to muffle the noise a bit when they were designing the place? Still love this place though. So worth going as the pizza and pasta are really good.

 

[Pygoplites]

I'm pretty sure the Il Mulino at the Swan is not part of their value brand. It is styled after their New York flagship, and a relatively formal place - just in a resort so the dress code is a lot more casual.

The Flagship brand is Il Mulino New York and has locations across the U.S., including Las Vegas, the Hamptons, South Beach, etc. The Orlando one is Trattoria Il Mulino and is less expensive (although certainly not a value brand). Trattoria IM is in Orlando, Nashville, Atlantic City and New York.