Disneyland's Naples Pepperoni Pizza -- Sister Restaurant to Via Napoli
Update: Via Napoli reservations available August 6th. The restaurant will soft open on August 5th and grand open on September 10th.
According to a press release from the Patina Group, here’s a bit more information trickling out about Epcot’s new Italian Pizzeria, Via Napoli, set to open in September 2010:
Menu Items
Featured on the Via Napoli Menu will be several authentic Neapolitan pizzas. Here are just a few that were mentioned in the press release:
- pizza bianca (the restaurant will likely offer several different types of white pizza)
- quattro stagioni (featuring artichokes, ham, eggplant, mushrooms, tomatoes)
- piccante (with chicken sausage, tomatoes, hot pepper, provolone, mozzarella)
- traditional margherita pizza
Famed Pizzaiolo Charlie Restivo will serve as executive chef, and ingredients will include Marzano tomatoes, Caputo flour, handmade fresh mozzarella, Parma Cotto, crumbled sausage, and water calibrated specifically to the pH found in Naples.
Storyline and Restaurant Features
The three wood-burning ovens of Via Napoli will be named after the three active volcanoes in Italy –- Mount Etna, Mount Vesuvius and Stromboli (ah ha — a Pinocchio reference! Or is that the other way around…).
Each oven will be sculpted with the “face of the volcano” — reflecting the gods whose mythology surrounds each volcano’s history.
That’s what we know so far! Check out our other coverage of Epcot’s Via Napoli here.
Our handy (and portable!) ebook guides make sure you get the best deals and can plan a vacation of a lifetime.
All I can say right now is – COOL!!! 😀 Love the description of the ovens!!
I wonder if they are going to have a good New York Style Pizza?
I think it’s a Pinocchio reference. 🙂
Awesome awesome awesome…can’t wait to make reservations for my October trip!
Does anyone know if they have an opening date yet? We’re going mid-Sept. and I would love to try this place. 🙂
Any ideas of when it will open in September? We will be down at Disney in September and would love to try it if it is available.
I’m taking a wait and see approach here. I don’t think Disney has ever gotten Italian quite right. It’s strange because Italian food isn’t that hard to do. I’m hoping they nail it.
Also, enough with the Chicago/New York pizza debate. The correct answer is New Haven, CT.
Skeptically looking forward to this place.. the pricing point could be a killer for me unless ive got a DDP. Hope the food is up to the hype as well but the menu is a good start
Wrong. The correct answer is Mac n Mancos at the Jersey Shore…O.M.G. best pizza EVER
I think the wait-and-see approach is always best with Disney food… but if it’s anything like the Naples restaurant in Anaheim, I think we’re in for a treat!!
People, the best pizza in the US is at Pizzaria Paradiso in Dupont Circle, Washington, DC. It’s heavenly, even if they don’t have a changing table in the restroom and expect you to change your poor baby on the floor.
Just tried to see if they’re taking reservations for this place on the Disney website. Denied!
I was a bit iffy about this place when first announced, but with each announcement im gettng more and more intrigued. Might have to try it out… And after all since im moving to Otown (just 7mi..woot woot) in August, it might just become a pizza place for me…haha
Good to see the part about the water. The water is one of the most important parts of the pizza dough and is the main reason you can’t get good pizza in Florida.
I grew up in heavily Italian neighborhoods in New Jersey suburbs outside of New York City. (And still live here in NJ). Have had what we believe is some of the best authentic pizza around, and it’s usually in NJ, not NYC. But you know, from Brooklyn to Lodi…you get to try out all the variations up here. Ultimately, even a moderately good pizza (the typical traditional one you get at most pizzerias) is still a wonderful thing to have. Especially if you don’t eat pizza a lot.
So I am curious to see how well they pull this off. The popularity of Domino’s and Pizza Hut has really skewed what America thinks of pizza so if you’re trying to make the masses happy, then you’d be doing a disservice to real pizza. Given the lack of American TexMex food in Mexico, i have hopes they’re going to stay true to the idealogy of World Showcase. I also have the concern of price. Up here, you could get half a pizza for $5, slices for $1.50…and in some places a large pizza for under $10. I don’t expect Disney to make it that cheap. But given their other food prices, I worry that it will be too expensive. And hopefully they’ll do right and have it be QS during the day!
Zanna — I know, right?!
Chip — My experience in Naples in Disneyland was excellent — definitely closer to NY pizza than anything else I’ve tried. Possibly a tiny bit crispier…
Kelly — Me too!
Elisabeth — Me either — I’ve been checking the online system daily!
Amy, Stephanie — No official opening date yet. Last year, Kouzzina was in soft opening very early in Sept with an official opening on Sept 17th, so you might have good luck!
GG and Kelly — You guys are clearly forgetting about Lombardi’s on Spring Street and Mott in little Italy…but its OK…I forgive you. Just don’t forget again — it’s embarrassing for you, I’m sure.
Mark and Nate — Agreed. I was impressed with Naples, but we’ll see how it’s carried off in Florida.
Chris — On the floor?!? Note to self: don’t bring babies to Chris’s favorite pizza place.
Cody — If only! It might be a little pricey to be your main pizza place! Do you read Watch-me-eat.blogspot.com or TastyChomps.com? Those guys surely have some good pizza suggestions 🙂 Also, ScottJosephOrlando.com just did an Orlando pizza throw down between several restaurants — that’s a good piece of research! When are you moving?
Randy — I’m excited to try it! I think they have the Neapolitan water in the mix over at Naples in Disneyland, too, and it must have made a difference!
Jason — I’m pretty sure the pricing will be a bit high for most of us mortals on this one. Tutto has significantly high prices, and I don’t imagine this will be any different. “Gourmet” pizza doesn’t come cheap. We shall see. Agreed that it would be GREAT to have a good QS location during the day. I haven’t heard anything about one, but I know they have a QS connected to Naples in Disneyland, so we can hope.
Do we know yet when we can start booking reservations for this and the New Mexico restaurant?
We’re going in October and I called and asked about making reservations to this restaurant as it’s not listed on the reservation website. The cast member I spoke with said that they can’t make reservations until the restaurant opens. She didn’t seem to know when it would be opening. In other words she wasn’t much help. =)
Annie and Erika — Not yet. They said in July or August. I’m hoping that booking opens up prior to opening, and I’m pretty sure it will. Disney mentioned at a recent event that Via Napoli and La Hacienda would be in the ADR system by July or August.
No offense, but you are all talking about Italian-American pizza. Which is fantastic. There is no real Italian pizza outside Italy. Cafe in Casa de Campo made me realize there is no substitute. Spending years across Italia made us shake our heads at anything from our native USA. And real gelato!? Doesn’t exist here
Dave — Good point. My trips to Italy have been full of incredible pizza, gelato, and food in general. I think we’re all just really excited that our favorite place is about to get some decent pizza (after years of sub-standard pies).