Tutto Italia is the quickest $100 you'll spend at Walt Disney World.
Written: Oct 25 '09 (Updated Nov 07 '09)
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Pros: The food will please picky palates.
Cons: This is a generic, rushed experience not worth the premium price tag.
The Bottom Line: I won't be dining here again any time soon.
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| chelledun's Full Review: Tutto Italia Ristorante |
As much as I love Walt Disney World, I must acknowledge that relaxing, adult-friendly dining experiences in the parks few and far between. To the extent these exist, they are mostly located in EPCOT's World Showcase. As a lover of Italian food, I hoped the relatively newly opened "Tutto Italia" would join our list of Disney favorites and eagerly made a reservation for our February visit. Sadly, this was not to be.
Know Before You Go
Probably because Italian food is widely regarded as "family-friendly," reservations at Tutto Italia are particularly tough to get even by Disney standards. If you don't make them at least two months prior to your visit, you are probably out of luck barring a last minute cancellation. Reservations can either be made by telephone or online.
Tutto Italia is located in Epcot's World Showcase. Park tickets are necessary to access this area. If you are not already in the park for the evening, allow plenty of time to get to Epcot, park, and make your way to the veeeery back of the park for your meal. Disney dining requests folks arrive fifteen minutes early for a reservation, but in my experience this is probably not necessary as we are much more often seated late than early.
Tutto Italia counts for one credit on the Disney Dining Plan. Given the prices, this makes it one of the better deals on the program.
Atmosphere and Service
Tutto Italia looks like a fairly generic nice restaurant with wood, chandeliers, and Italian murals lining the walls. In typical Disney style, patrons are sectioned off from each other so the dining room seems smaller than it is. We were seated in a rather small, narrow room with a view to the outside. Mainly, this was a view of the back of our fellow diners' heads because the outdoor seating area was pretty packed during our meal.
We did not like our service at Tutto Italia at all. It isn't that it was too slow - it was quite the opposite. As two childless adults on vacation, Mama_chelledun and I had no particular place to go and looked forward to relaxing over a leisurely meal and a drink or three. Instead, we were rushed through or meal at a breakneck pace. After our initial drink order, the server returned at two-minute intervals to try and take our order. Our meals came out so quickly they must have been sitting in the kitchen waiting to be ordered, and the dessert was the same. We were never offered a drink refill but received our check along with our dessert.
The whole experience was extremely hectic and we found ourselves standing outside the restaurant less than forty-five minutes after entering it, which is not what one wants from a $40 per person venue.
Food and Drink
Tutto Italia has a nice menu of Italian-inspired cocktails. I had a tasty Bellini and Mama_chelledun an Italian beer.
In the food department, all expected components of an Americanized Italian menu are accounted for including spaghetti, lasagna, and Caesar salad. I opted for farfalle pasta with ham, peas, and cream sauce. Mama_chelledun ordered dish containing some type of spiral pasta (Fusilli? Gemelli?) with a light meat sauce. Fortunately, the food was better than the service. Portions sizes were reasonable without being overwhelming, and the noodles were well-cooked. Both sauces were very tasty.
For dessert, which arrived right on the heels of our pasta, we each ordered a piece of chocolate torte with raspberry sauce. The dessert was okay, but not as moist as hoped for. We probably should have mixed it up with a cannoli or something, as two pieces of this very rich cake was too much for us.
For those not on the dining plan, most pasta dishes cost right around $25.00 and most entrees are between $30.00 and $35.00. Appetizers and desserts are overpriced at $15.00 and $10.00, respectively.
Overall . . .
One reason I love dining at Epcot so much is that I often forget that I'm eating at a theme park. Les Chefs De France, Le Cellier, and the San Angel Inn, for example, all provide relaxing, immersive, dining experiences. This was most definitely not the case at Tutto Italia. If I am spending a hundred dollars (or the Disney Dining Plan equivalent) on a meal, I'd prefer not to be served ready-made pasta in an assembly line setting and I imagine most diners would feel the same.
*This has been an entry in Mark's second annual All Things Disney Write-Off.
Recommended:
No
Kid Friendliness: Yes
Vegetarian Friendly: Yes
Notes, Tips or Menu Recommendations Pasta
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