Guest Review: Via Napoli

Thanks to Gloria Blankenship for this great review of her experience at Via Napoli! She also added a photo to the growing number on our First Look!: Epcot Via Napoli Pictures post! Thanks, Gloria!

Via Napoli in Epcot's Italy Pavilion

Atmosphere
We went there today before the soft opening, scheduled for Thursday. We were able to walk right in, although the tables soon filled up. Epcot is beautiful — and my favorite park — so I am biased.

The wood-fired ovens have faces and names: Stromboli, Versuvio and Etna. Nice touch and amusing. Wood-fired pizza is the specialty here, and you can also find veal, chicken, pasta, eggplant, gelato, and assorted wines and non-alcoholic beverages on the Via Napoli menu. There are nice chandeliers, decor, and a fresh “natural light” feel to the restaurant along with the charm of back-lit wood-fired ovens, chefs tossing pizza dough, and servers whose goal is to feed and charm the guests.

Eats
The calamari fritti (14.00) was good and came with marinara and lemons. Very nicely portioned.

The pizza was quite good and came in three sizes: 16.00 for individual 10 inch, 27.00 for 20 inch, and 37.00 for half meter, which serves four. The Margherita pizza has real basil on it, although they only had grated parmesan pecorino from a shaker — not fresh parmesan service. The pizza sauce and dough are good, and the pizza’s cheese was nice. The crust is not too thick or thin.

The kids meals come with pizza, chicken, or spaghetti and meatballs, and include a drink (no grapes, carrots, [Read more…]

Lunching Pad Offers New Gourmet Hot Dog Menu

By AJ 26 Comments

Thanks to Paul Chadkin for allowing me to post this great pic of the new Disney World Tomorrowland Lunching Pad hot dog menu!

New Hot Dog Menu at Tomorrowland Lunching Pad

For $7.89 a piece, the new menu includes:

Philly Cheese Steak Hot Dog: Topped withe beef, onions, peppers, mushrooms, and cheese sauce

Reuben Hot Dog: Topped with Corned Beef, sauerkraut, swiss, and thousand island dressing

Taco Hot Dog: Topped with ground beef, lettuce, salsa, and sour cream

No idea if the turkey legs have stuck around!

First Look! Epcot Via Napoli Pictures

By AJ 14 Comments

Hey all! As we reported, Monday was Via Napoli‘s first day open to walk-in guests, and — lucky us — we got some pics from some wonderful DFB readers! Check out these fantastic photos:

First, a few external shots. You can see that Via Napoli has a completely different “look and feel” from the rest of the Italy pavilion. It’s much more “movie-set” than what you see to the right and left.

How Via Napoli Fits In With The Rest of Italy

A Close Up Shot of the Exterior

Lots of Folks In and Out of Italy Today

Heading inside, you’re greeted by a large lobby and a massive check-in desk. You can see the whole restaurant through the windows of the lobby, and the decor and themeing are colorful as well as light and “airy.” It feels somewhat more like “farmhouse” Italy with a contemporary twist; the brightness of the restaurants, high ceilings, and accent colors remind me a lot of Naples in Disneyland, a sister restaurant to Via Napoli run by the same company — The Patina Group.

Check In Area

Lobby Chandelier

Lobby Tile

Lobby Tile Close Up

Servers

From here, you enter into the expanse of the restaurant proper. To your right, you’ll find a room covered in an “aged” fresco depicting nature scenes, trees, grasses, and blue sky. In the center of this part of the restaurant, you’ll find acqua fresca containers holding strawberry, lemon, and blood orange flavors. Outside some double doors is an [Read more…]

Five Great Underrated Steaks in Disney World

By AJ 16 Comments

A couple of weeks ago, I highlighted my top steaks in Disney World. And today it’s time to spotlight my favorite lesser-known slabs of beef!

When you think about great steaks in Disney World, your mind goes to the big three: Le Cellier Steakhouse, Yachtsman Steakhouse, and Shula’s Steak House. If you’re a bit more studied in steak, you might also think of the great offering over at Flying Fish, or even the incredible Mac-and-Cheese festooned beef at Jiko.

But, with steak being one of my favorite meals in Disney World, I’ve been lucky enough to find a few more delicious options in my travels…

Teppan Edo

, the Teppanyaki restaurant in Epcot’s Japan pavilion, has steak on the menu and believe me when I say it is some of the best steak I’ve ever had in Disney World. Maybe it’s the flavors of the other items being cooked on the hibachi grill, maybe it’s the buttery goodness of the cooking ingredients, maybe it’s the fact that I’m eating with chopsticks. I have no idea why, but it’s delectable.

Teppan Edo Steak and Noodles with Vegetables

Kouzzina

That’s right! Disney’s newest (and only) Greek restaurant has a mouth-watering steak on the menu! Kouzzina‘s Wood-grilled Flank Steak with Kouzzina Potatoes is [Read more…]

Via Napoli Menu and Soft Opening

By AJ 3 Comments

Via Napoli

Disney World’s newest restaurant, Via Napoli is scheduled to have a “soft opening” beginning today, August 2, 2010. The restaurant will be open to walk-up customers only through September 10th, 2010. Guests wishing to make reservations for dates after September 10th may do so starting August 6th.

While we’re waiting for full reports on the new restaurant, feel free to check out the full Via Napoli menu here! The menu includes favorites like fresh, wood-fired pizzas with a variety of toppings (I might need to try the Carciofi); appetizers including calamari fritti and arancini; pastas; and desserts, including Zeppole di Catarina, which are ricotta cheese fritters with whipped cream and chocolate sauce!

To see our existing coverage of Via Napoli, click here.

Cupcake Store to Open in Disneyland’s Downtown Disney

By AJ 11 Comments

The OC Register’s Fast Food Maven is reporting some great news! Those cupcakes that were selling like hotcakes from the kiosk in Downtown Disney this past winter are getting their own permanent location!

Celebration Cupcake from The Cupcake Store

While The Cupcake Store‘s main bakery will be in Mission Viejo, CA, they’re also setting up shop in [Read more…]

Disney Food Post Round-Up: August 1, 2010

By AJ 1 Comment

Via Napoli

Greetings, Disney food lovers! As always, let’s start with the Disney Food News of the week:

Check out this amazing photo of the Via Napoli ovens posted by Disney social media director Thomas Smith last week! They’ve even painted each ovens’ name above their “faces!”
In 2010 Epcot Food and Wine Festival news, check out this cool photo of the new South Korea booth lettuce wraps! Also, here’s a sneak peek at the 2010 Epcot Food and Wine Festival pins!

In DFB news, I just finished a Food and Wine Festival project I was working on: To see information, menus, and photos of the individual Epcot Food and Wine Festival World Showcase booths (and even some photos of food items that will be on the menu for 2010!), click on any individual country name on our 2010 Epcot Food and Wine Festival Booth Menus and Photos page. For example, check out pics of what you can order this year in the Brazil booth!

We’re looking forward to reports from Via Napoli this week as well, so stay tuned. And a huge thanks to Amanda Tinney of Disney Every Day for getting the word out about the 2010 WDW Foodie Fest!

And now, on to the round-up!

Main Street Gazette has a fantastic review of Disney World’s Nine Dragons!

DisZine has a great review of Disney World’s ‘Ohana with some gorgeous photos.

TouringPlans writer, Caroline Baggerly, has some great tips for how to navigate the Disney World dining reservations system, even when you don’t already have an ADR!

The Caribbean Beach Resort Fan Site surveyed their readers to find out about the favorite food choices at Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort!

Rosie's Victory Garden

StudiosCentral has a great post about the “history” of the Victory Garden in DHS.

The Daily Disney reports that the Egg Rolls have vanished from the Anadapur Local Cafe counter service menu (i.e. the “Yak and Yeti counter service menu”). Can anyone confirm? So sad.

Everything Walt Disney World reports on a question for the ages: can you use kids’ quick service dining credits to purchase adult quick service meals?

Disney Wedding Blog gives us ten food and beverage Disney Wedding facts! Who knew?

Chip and Co reports on a an August 12th wine tasting event in Disneyland’s Downtown Disney.

Disney Parks Blog and Chef Kevin Dundon teach us how to make Irish Soda Bread!

DisUnplugged reviews Disneyland’s Celebration Round-Up.

To round out the week, here’s a great video from the Disney Parks Blog about everyone’s favorite Club Cool choice, Beverly!

And another great vid from Jeff Lange DVD of the outside of Via Napoli!

The Wait is Over! Disney Blog Carnival, 7th Edition!

By AJ Leave a Comment

DisMarks.com Logo

This is DisMarks’ biggest blog carnival EVER! It’s been exciting to watch this grow for the past few months, and it’s getting better every edition. Sit back, relax with a cup of coffee, and spend some time getting to know some new bloggers over on the Seventh Edition of the Disney Blog Carnival!

Topics this week include figuring out Your Disney Theme Park Personality, the legend of Humphrey the Bear at Wilderness Lodge, a look at Nighttime Activities at Animal Kingdom Lodge, thoughts about Golden Oak, and lots more! 🙂

Have more time? Check out the past editions, too! Here are links to the first , second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth carnivals.

Just head over to DisMarks to see dozens of articles about Disney from your favorite new and veteran Disney bloggers 🙂

I think it’s the [Read more…]

First Picture of Epcot’s Via Napoli Ovens

By AJ 6 Comments

Disney social media director, Thomas Smith, treated twitter followers to a special treat when he twitpic’d a photo of the Via Napoli ovens during a test meal last night!

As you know, Via Napoli’s wood-burning ovens in the photo are named after the three active volcanoes in Italy –- Mount Etna, Mount Vesuvius and Stromboli!

The restaurant will open to walk-in customers on Monday, and a media opening will be held on August 5th. The restaurant will continue to take walk-in customers only through September 10th. Grand opening festivities will be held on September 10th. Guests can make Via Napoli reservations for September 10th and later starting on August 6th. Call 407-WDW-DINE or check out DisneyWorld.com.

To see all of the Disney Food Blog coverage of Via Napoli, click here!

Disneyland’s Blue Bayou

By AJ 32 Comments

Ye come seekin’ adventure with salty ol’ pirates, eh? Sure you’ve come to the proper place. But keep a weather eye open mates, and hold on tight. With both hands, if you please.

Ah, yes. We’re headed to the Blue Bayou. All jazzy New Orleans Square on the outside and dreaded pirates on the inside, these are some of the most coveted tables in Disneyland.

Atmosphere

Coming in from the busy New Orleans Square Royal Street outside (those little winding alleyways make it seriously congested in NOS!), Blue Bayou is like a hushed hive of activity. From the lobby, you can only catch a glimpse of shadows scurrying everywhere underneath the Chinese lanterns of the restaurant. The rest looks like sheer blackness — pitch dark.

From the Lobby Into the Restaurant

After giving your name to the reservations CM (hopefully you made an ADR — Blue Bayou is one of the only Disneyland restaurants for which a reservation is practically a necessity), take some time to peek around the lobby. Take in the incredible detailing of the walls, windows, and ceiling. Every inch of Disneyland is packed with [Read more…]

Looking for something?

STAY CONNECTED