Why Is Tutto Italia Not A First Choice?

[DVC-Don]

Subpar food and service. Grossly overpriced and way too underwhelming for us.

Tiger

I agree. We had our entire bill refunded to us for burnt food and terrible service last year. That is the only time in 34 WDW visits we had to do that.

 

[dismichael]

For me, it's cuz I have a deadly nut allergy, and they make a few dishes with pesto- which has pine nuts.... I'm Italian too and would love to try it, though.

 

[DisMN]

Because I can buy Contadina tomato sauce at my local grocery, wayyyy over cook lasagne noodles and sprinkle on Kraft canned parmesan cheese in my very own kitchen for $1.49 total. Why pay more for the same stuff at WDW?

Sadly I'm not joking about the food.

 

[rfrangel]

Sorry this is going to be long.

We had reservations for this restaurant on 7/22, one of many others during a long 3 week stay. Reservations were made in January at the 180 day mark noting my daughter's allergy issues. We followed with a fax to Disney Dining listing all our ADR's and her issues in detail. We also did our home work and looked at the menus on another discussion board. We decided there was probably a good chance they would be able to accommodate her needs. Pretty routine, no dairy, shellfish or nuts. We were not on the DDP.

We arrived on 7/22 to find they had no record of the allergies on the ADR. No big deal, it happens. We'll discuss with the chef at table side as usual. When our server arrives he explaines that the chef is 'very busy' but he could guide us. Red flag but we pressed on. As we reviewed the menu it was evident that he was not as familiar as he claimed. We requested to speak with his supervisor. He was very gracious and understanding and called one over. The supervisor was also understanding but claimed that all they could do for her was plain lettuce, grilled chicken strips and jello off the kids menu. As appealing as that might have been to an 8 year old, after 3 weeks grilled chicken had run it's course. She wasn't very enthusiastic. We asked about pasta with a plain tomato sauce. Can't do it, the sauce has parmesan cheese. My daughter began to get visibly upset because from her 8 year old perspective she was ruining dinner for everyone. To defuse the situation and make things easier and safer for all involved, I offered to pay for the kids meal of which she would eat the 'salad' and jello and bring her a plain hamburger from The American Pavilion which I would retrieve myself while the rest of the family had appetizers. I had done this several times before at other restaurants, including The Wave, Tony's, Nine Dragons...ect. No problems, most were happy that we were happy. The supervisor agreed and left the server to take our order. 2 minutes later he returns to explain the general manager, Benito, refused to allow me to bring 'theme park food' into 'his' restaurant. Theme park food? Take a look around this is a restaurant in a theme park, not a 3 star Michelin venue on the Amalfi Coast! The kid at the next table has a slice of pizza stuck to his forehead while he's dancing on his chair! My daughter began to cry, very sure she had ruined the whole evening. I asked to speak with Generalissimo Benito. The supervisor said he refused to speak with us and would not change his mind....ever. I carried my sobbing daughter out while everyone in the restaurant looked at us as if we had been caught stealing the silverware. We were shocked and embarrassed.

I quickly made a call to Disney Dining to file a complaint. They apologized and offered to accomodate us at another restaurant but we were no longer in the mood for dinner that evening. I've also come to understand that this is not a Disney owned establishment either and have sent a letter to the parent company as well.

So I've never had the food at this restaurant it's probably pretty good. We'll never know, we were judged and found to be unacceptable. The General Manager is pretty good at arrogance though.

 

[stitch34]

I love GOOD Italian food and also not so good Italian food (Olive Garden), and expected to really like this place.. but nope, is definitely the #1 we won't return to.
Lasagna was lousy. Nothing really impressed any of us there, actually.

We do dining plan, and some meals OOP... this one we did lunch, okay, it's lunch, do it OOP. ouch! Way too expensive.
For kids meals.... usually every disney restaurant seems to be about $8 or so for a kids meal which includes appetizer, entree and dessert. Nope, not here. All they got was an entree - had to pay like another $8 almost if wanted an appetizer and more for dessert, too.
We all left still hungry and unsatisfied. And really, the lasagna was the nastiest ever - frozen food from the store would have been much better. Had looked at the food porn section and thought it looked great from the pics, but um, not IRL!

 

[HunnyJar]

Italian is one of the more common types of food that people can get at home...with all the great TS meals in the world, it does seem a little bit silly to get Italian...just like getting Chinese at 9D. Just too much of an ordinary experience for some I guess

This is why we haven't tried Tutto Italia. My husband LOVES Italian food and would pick it almost every time if he were to pick the restaurant when we decide to go out to eat. Since we eat so much of it at home, I want to try something different while we are on vacation. This usually has us trying places like Boma, Biergarten, Marrakesh and 'Ohana.

 

[Evan&Kimberly]

My 3yr old son and I ate at Tutto Last year well at least he did I could not eat it; I have never had Italian food that was BLAND! I am African American and I make WAY better Italian food then what they are serving at Tutto. Like any other place that you hear mix reviews I would tell you to try it because you may like it, but if you’re looking for fresh flavors that true Italian food is known for this is not the place! I can bet that if this restaurant was not in WDW it would be out of business! I will say this, if you are not in the DP then please don’t waste so much money on such mediocre food!

 

[kpmdjm]

we went for the first time last year and every one loved it even my 100% italian hubby. we will be going back in a few weeks.

 

[MightyDuck001]

I don't go to this restaurant because the last time I was there the food was lackluster. Normally, I have never complained about service but I got the feeling that a) the food came off a conveyor belt it was out so quickly and b) that I was being unnecessarily rushed.

Plus, I love the decor and service much more at Les chefs de France and Teppan Edo so I'd rather go there.

 

[Monkida]

For me, I can get Italian anywhere here. Italian is good...but it is Italian. I want something more than I can get at home.

 

[HLBee]

This one is a no go for us. In 2006, we had one of the worst dining experiences we've ever had at Disney or anywhere else, for that matter. The place was overcrowded and noisy, and we were seated uncomfortably close to our neighbors. I had a shrimp and pasta dish which was just horrible. The shrimp were mushy and tasted like they had gone bad. It's not even on the menu anymore. Even my very non-picky DH agreed it tasted bad. The service was very rushed, and our obviously overworked server was just plain rude. Way too much $$ for bad food and bad service. After reading about some of the more recent experiences, I am even more sure now than I was that we won't be going back.

 

[princessallegra]

We have eaten at Tutto twice, and had great meals both times. We had the large antipasto platter to share once as an app and that was sooo good. Being of Italian descent in NY means eating a lot of authentic Italian food, and Tutto was spot-on, at least with our orders. I've heard awful things about the lasagna but I've never tried that so I can't say. We only eat outside, we'll wait for a table as long as we have to. We love the atmosphere, and ate here when it was Alfredo's 3 times. We like it better as Tutto

 

[goodferry]

We have had great meals here, but it is expensive for what it is. I wouldn't consider it if I was not on the DP.