We’ve been trying out all kinds of holiday treats in Disney World lately.

It might seem like Disney skipped right over Thanksgiving and jumped straight into the festive season (and we won’t lie — they kinda did. Have you seen all those Christmas trees?), but we actually found a few Thanksgiving treats in the parks and at Disney Springs. And you could even get a full Thanksgiving feast at a few different restaurants on the holiday! You might be surprised by the restaurant we chose for our Thanksgiving feast (considering that it’s an Italian restaurant), but by the end of our meal we were convinced — Italians do Thanksgiving RIGHT. 

So obviously, you can’t go get this yummy Thanksgiving dinner just any ol’ day, BUT we know how many of you head to Disney World for Thanksgiving and want you to have a firsthand look at just how good a Thanksgiving dinner can be (even if you’re not the one cooking it!). We’re heading into Trattoria al Forno, which is an Italian restaurant described as “casual dining.” You will need reservations at this spot, which serves both breakfast and dinner. The breakfast used to be a character meal with Disney princesses, but the characters haven’t returned quite yet. You’ll find this spot at Disney’s BoardWalk, in between the AbracadaBar and the Pizza Window.

Atmosphere

First of all, we love that this restaurant is located right on the BoardWalk. Talk about the perfect location! This whole area is a fan-favorite spot to find great food and fun entertainment.

You’ll find Trattoria al Forno right on the water, surrounded by other restaurants and snack stands, and within walking distance of EPCOT.

So even if you’re not staying at the BoardWalk Inn, you can make reservations here on the same day as your EPCOT park day, if you want to try it. When it’s time to eat, just leave EPCOT through the International Gateway (the entrance/exit that’s in World Showcase, between the UK and France pavilions) and make the short walk over to BoardWalk.

Although Trattoria is described as “casual dining,” it’s still a very nice restaurant. The dining room is cozy, and it has very homey Italian vibes. 

The dim lighting and cozy feel make this a perfect option if you’re looking for a more casual spot for date night during your trip.

Trattoria also has an open kitchen, which you’ll find at a few different Disney restaurants. It was so cool to see the chefs working on the food, and the extra noise coming from the kitchen made the whole atmosphere feel a little more laid-back and fun.

We sat inside the main dining room, which has both standard tables and chairs as well as booths. There’s another, smaller dining room off the main room, and there are also a few tables and chairs outside if you’d prefer to dine al fresco right on the BoardWalk.

You also might want to eat outside if you don’t want to sit inside a loud dining room. The tables are quite close to each other inside (we were just a couple of feet away from both tables next to us), so people were talking pretty loudly, making an intimate conversation a bit difficult. Unless you get a booth, you’ll be close to your neighbor during your meal.

The close tables combined with the open kitchen made this restaurant quite loud, so if you’re looking for a quiet, romantic spot, you might want to check out some other options. Remember — they do call is casual dining for a reason! Some of our favorite restaurants for romance are (when available) Victoria & Albert’s, California Grill (especially if you get a window seat around sunset time), and Jiko.

The tables have cloth napkins with silverware, and the menus are QR codes that you can scan with your phone. They also have paper menus available if you’d prefer.

Now that you know all about this restaurant’s location, let’s get to what you really came here for — the FOOD.

Eats

Trattoria al Forno usually has an Italian menu with dishes like Steak Florentine, Truffle Gnocchi, Lasagna al Forno, and more. There’s also a selection of Pizza on the menu, along with some delicious desserts like Tiramisù, Panna Cotta, and House-Made Gelato. The menu recently got a big glow up and we really enjoyed all the updates. It’s casual, comforting Italian fare presented in an elevated way. Since we went on Thanksgiving, however, there was a special menu with a Thanksgiving feast instead. This meal costs $34.

Before the food, though, we ordered an Old Fashioned to drink, which was $16.

This drink is made with Eagle Rare Bourbon, Angostura and Orange Bitters, with Agave Nectar. It was a pretty classically made Old Fashioned, and we thought it was great. Simple, strong, and tasty. The only garnish was the orange peel, but if you have a good drink, you don’t want to dress it up too much!

If you like a citrus-y Old Fashioned, we don’t think you’ll be disappointed by the one you’ll find here. If hard liquor isn’t your deal, though, they do have beer and other cocktails as well as an extensive wine menu.

To start out, there’s a bread service that’s included with the meal — a ciabatta roll and olive oil to dip it in.

There’s an olive spread in the oil as well, which goes great with both the bread and oil. Even if you’re not big into briny olives, we suggest giving this a try! It’s really flavorful.

For Thanksgiving, our server also brought us some big Parkerhouse dinner rolls with butter. There were just two of us eating, so we had plenty of rolls to go around! But you could always ask your server for more if you have a larger party.

The rolls were basically your standard dinner rolls, and they were fluffy, light, and delicious.

The butter was just normal butter, but sometimes simple is better. Since the rolls were so good, we didn’t really need anything else to put on them.

Our entrée was the Thanksgiving feast, which is the Sage and Thyme Oven Roasted Turkey, Stuffing, Mashed Potatoes, Green Beans, Carrots, and a Cranberry Compote. Pan Gravy covers the turkey and potatoes.

Like we mentioned before, it might seem weird to you that we chose an Italian restaurant for our Thanksgiving dinner. But y’all. This was some of the best Thanksgiving food we’ve ever had. 

The turkey was moist and just about melted in our mouths. As most probably learned making their turkeys last week, turkey can easily end up a little dry and chalky, especially when produced en masse but this one was NOT. We did prefer the lighter meat to the dark turkey meat, but both were very good. It’s nice to get a bit of both here.

The herby flavor from the sage and thyme paired perfectly with the meat, and we loved the gravy on top as well. Some people see turkey as the vehicle to carry a great gravy. This one certainly did not disappoint — it had loads of savory flavor.

The mashed potatoes underneath were creamy and delicious. They’re described as Sour Cream Mashed Yukon Gold Potatoes. They weren’t super unique, but the texture was *perfect.*

You can’t have Thanksgiving without stuffing (in our humble opinion), and the stuffing here was the star of the show. It was made of cornbread and sausage, and it was a little unique with cranberries inside as well. We thought it was incredible. (If you look above you can see it hiding under our turkey!)

The veggies on the side were rainbow carrots and green beans, and both were cooked well and tasted amazing. We thought the carrots might have been a little under-cooked, but it wasn’t enough to ruin them. They’re served with herb butter.

And the cranberry sauce on the side? Another winner in our books.

It was very sweet with just a hint of the tartness you expect from the sauce, and we loved every bite. In general, this whole dish was a delight. 10/10, would recommend heading to Italy for Thanksgiving. 🙂

The dessert paired with this meal was an Apple Crostata for $11. It’s no pumpkin or pecan pie you might be used to for turkey day, but think of it like Italian apple pie! 

Again, we were very happy to be eating this loveliness. The pie crust was crunchy, with big sugar crystals sprinkled on top. It was a little tough and almost too crunchy, actually, so the pastry wasn’t our favorite part of this dessert. We needed a higher ratio of apples to crust.

But the apple filling made up for the problems with the pastry. It was for sure the highlight, with lots of flavor, big juicy hunks of apple, great texture, and a very delicious taste. We also liked the candied pecans and caramel sauce that were on top of the treat!

There’s a scoop of vanilla bean gelato on top, which paired perfectly with the rest of the dessert. It was creamy and smooth, and we liked how the coldness contrasted with the warm filling.

If you like apple pie and ice cream, you’ll be a big fan of this dessert! It was very good, although we have to say that the entrée was the clear winner as our favorite part of the meal.

Nosh or Not

Join us for Thanksgiving (or any other meal) in Italy if:

• You’re looking for a casual date night spot with a homey feel and a lively atmosphere
• You want a delicious, satisfying Thanksgiving meal
• You’re staying at BoardWalk Inn or are visiting EPCOT and want a sit-down meal to relax and enjoy some high-end Italian food. There are lots of good options on the BoardWalk for dining, and this is one of our favorites for a table service meal.

Check out one of the many other options at BoardWalk (or even head into EPCOT instead) if:

• You want a luxurious date night in a quieter, more romantic atmosphere (Trattoria is for a weekend chill date night, Victoria & Albert’s is for an anniversary)
• You don’t like Italian food (There are sooo many options in this area of Disney World for different kinds of food. Click here to check out more BoardWalk dining!)
• You’re dining on a budget and want to save some cash (This is still a pretty fancy restaurant, and the normal entrées run between $25 and $39 each. There are some great options for very good quick service meals around that will save you money.)

Overall

We thought that the Thanksgiving food here was delicious. Italians make up a pretty tasty take on an American classic, what can we say! It was all cooked well, flavorful, and really tasty. But on a normal night, can we really tell you to choose this restaurant when Via Napoli (some of our favorite pizza and Italian food in Disney World) is just a short walk away in EPCOT? If you don’t have a park ticket, Trattoria al Forno is still a great option. But if your main goal is pizza, you’ll want to head to the Italy pavilion in EPCOT instead. (Seriously. That pizza is crazy good at Via Napoli.)

The service at Trattoria was OK but not great. Our food came out very quickly, and the server was kind and helpful. But once we had our food, we didn’t see our server again for a while. They didn’t come around frequently, and it took a while to move into dessert and get the dinner plates clear. The cocktails also took a pretty long time to get to us.

It’s possible that the holiday made for a busier restaurant and that’s why our service wasn’t amazing, so you might have a very different experience on your trip. The entrée was fabulous here, and the drink and dessert were both good (but not mind-blowingly great). So next Thanksgiving, we’ll definitely be remembering this option for turkey day. For any other meal, we might recommend looking around in EPCOT’s World Showcase or elsewhere on the BoardWalk. That said, again, we have really enjoyed most of our meals here!

Keep following DFB for more reviews of all the restaurants (and snacks…and treats…) in Disney World!

Click Here to See Our Review of Via Napoli in EPCOT

Have you eaten at Trattoria al Forno before? Let us know what you thought in the comments!