Epcot’s Tutto Italia in World Showcase – a Review

Guest Blogger Jeff Onorato is back, this time with a review of Epcot’s Tutto Italia!

Like many loyal patrons, I lamented the loss of L’Originale Alfredo di Roma Ristorante when I heard the news of their closure back in 2007. When it was announced that the restaurant would be quickly re-opening in a new incarnation, I was intrigued to see what changes where in store. The Italy pavilion was a favorite lunchtime spot for me when visiting Epcot’s World Showcase.

When Alfredo’s contract with Walt Disney World Resort expired, the Patina Group was selected to fill the void left behind. In addition to Tutto Italia, the Patina Group also manages several restaurants on the West Coast, including Disneyland’s Tortilla Jo’s, Naples Ristorante, and Catal.

Second only to Canada’s Le Cellier restaurant, Alfredo’s was arguably one of Epcot’s most popular restaurants. Their Fettuccini Alfredo was a favorite among park visitors. Naturally, when I heard that the restaurant would be changing management I was curious to see how the new establishment would live up to the reputation set by its former occupants.

Translated, Tutto Italia means “anything/everything Italy’ in English. I visited for the first time during a trip to Walt Disney World in early December and was pleased to see that they do live up to their name. All of the staples of a traditional Italian menu can be found here: Pasta, Fish, Chicken, Veal, Lamb, and a wide variety of appetizers. Fettuccini Alfredo was not on the menu on the day of my visit.

Cosmetically, not much has changed since the new management took over. In fact, no visible changes were made to the outside of the restaurant with the exception of new signing.

Tutto Italia Approaching

Tutto Italia Outside

Tutto Italia Outside

Tutto Italia Signage

Tutto Italia continues to offer outdoor seating, and there is a separate host podium outside for guests wishing to dine alongside the plaza. I enjoy eating outdoors here on a sunny day. All of the tables have umbrellas and offer picturesque views of Italy.

Tutto Italia Outdoor Seating

For this visited I opted for indoor seating. Again, there were no major changes to be found. The lobby area and interior of the restaurant look just as they did before. I did immediately take notice of one alteration – the absence of the pasta kitchen. The machines previously used to make the pasta in-house where nowhere to be found, and decorative bowls of fruit where in place.

Tutto Italia Lobby

Tutto Italia Lobby

In-house Pastry Chefs created the amazing holiday sculpture on display in the lobby throughout the Holiday Season. The attention to detail in this tiny Italian village is astounding. I thought the candy-cane fence and gondolas were a nice touch.

Tutto Italia Italian Village Pastry

After checking in at the host stand, I was quickly escorted to my table within a minute or two. My reservation was for 12:00 and the restaurant was about 75% full at that time of day.

Murals of Italy’s Masqueraded carnival performers still adorn the walls within. Exquisite glass chandeliers hang from the ceilings, and the restaurant still has its old-world European renaissance charm fully intact.

Tutto Italia Dining Room

Tutto Italia Dining Room

Tutto Italia Dining Room

Tutto Italia Dining Room

Tutto Italia Dining Room

Each table is under the care of both a Server and their assistant. After being seated, a basket of bread and olive oil is served to welcome you. No butter is presented, as it is not customary to do so in Italy. When in Rome, does as the Romans do.

I found the service here to be very good. My server was very friendly and seemed more than happy to answer any questions I had about the menu. A children’s menu is also available, and I recommend this restaurant for birthday celebrations – the wait staff gathers together to sing “Happy Birthday” in Italian.

Food was presented at a nice pace, and I did not feel hurried despite the restaurant being busy. Drink refills were readily available, as was the side of parmesan cheese I requested. It is not automatically offered here.

For my appetizer, I chose the Melanzana Alla Parmigiana. This consisted of baked eggplant, melted mozzarella, tomato sauce, and parmesan cheese. The eggplant was sliced very thin and the tomato sauce had a nice zing to it. It was topped off with Basil which helped to bring out the flavor of the other ingredients.

 Tutto Italia Melanzana Alla Parmigiana

For my Entrée I had the Tagliatelle Alla Primavera. This included fettuccini egg pasta, broccoli, peas, mushrooms, sweet cherry tomatoes, and a very light cream sauce.

Tutto Italia Tagliatelle Alla Primavera

As is the case with many pasta dishes, the meal was very filling. However, I found the portion size served at Lunch to be especially large. This would definitely have been enough for two people to share. Everything was freshly prepared. I could actually see steam still rising up off of the plate. The sauce was perfect – not at all rich or overpowering.

For dessert I had the Gianduja, which is a chocolate and hazelnut layered cake topped with whipped cream and raspberry sauce. This is a chocolate lover’s dream. The cake itself was very rich however the whipped cream and raspberry sauce helped to bring things down a notch.

Tutto Italia Gianduja

I was most impressed by the food and service at Tutto Italia. I went in fearing that the recent changes would tarnish my opinion, but am glad I kept an open mind and gave it a try. From what I found, there is still a lot to love here. I plan to stop in again the next time I am on a “tour of Italy”.

Related Links:

Tutto Italia Lunch Menu
Tutto Italia Dinner Menu
Tutto Italia Children’s Menu

Readers Rate and Review Tutto Italia!

About Jeff: I am 33 years old and from Gettysburg, PA. By day I work in the Accounting Department of a Newspaper Publishing Company. My first visit to WDW was at the age of 2, and have been back around 35 times since then. I often travel solo to WDW, as well as with family. I make good use of my Annual Pass, and trek to Orlando about 5 times per year to visit my favorite travel destination. My favorite resort is the Polynesian, but have stayed at all of the WDW resorts at least once. In fact, my favorite aspect of visiting the Walt Disney World Resort is trying out the different Resorts and Restaurants. I also enjoy the many restaurants and sampling different foods that I normally would never try at home! (such as Escargot at the France pavillion).

Read Jeff’s other blogs:

A review of Bluezoo

A review of Paradiso 37 in Downtown Disney.

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20 Replies to “Epcot’s Tutto Italia in World Showcase – a Review”

  1. My husband and I were at Epcot in May, 2010 and had dinner at Tutto Italiano. I must say we were very disappointed with our dinners and felt rushed. Our waitress was not very attentive and the food was like eating caffeteria food, just placed on nicer dishes. We are both Italian (first generation). We should have known better, but we needed to get an Italian fix. It was a huge mistake. Will not eat at this restaurant until it changes hands again.

  2. My daughter and I recently had dinner here and our experience was very nice. We started with drinks and was served bread and a small plate of olives and other veg. We shared a chicken entree and a wonderful dessert.We never felt rushed and the servers gave us the perfect amount of attention.We left nicely full and happy! Thank you very much Tutto Italia!

  3. I loved Titto Italia when I went there a few years back with a friend. Sure it was expensive (at dinner, with a generous tip almost $150) but it was wel worth it. Look forward to going the again this fall!

  4. Thanks for this good review. Being of Italian heritage, we actually tend to avoid Italian restaurants and deliberately didn’t eat at Tutto Italia when we were there in April. Now I’m sorry we skipped it. Our next trip won’t be until 2012, Lord willing, unless you are willing to pack me along with your family — it only takes me 20 – 25 minutes to get to Gettysburg, so let me know when you’re ready to go!

  5. Thanks for the review except I promise that is basil on top of the eggplant appetizer, not cilantro. The Italians NEVER use cilantro and it would probably make the dish taste bad.

    Fixed in the blog now, thanks!!!

  6. This is my family’s least favorite restaurant at Disney! The food was just okay, the service was remarkably slow. We were seated right at our 6:40 P.M. reservation time. But, my daughters and I had to literally run out of the building for the 9:00P.M. IllumiNations start time, while my husband stayed back to pay the bill. If the food was great I would be willing to give it another try, but it was not any better than the average Italian restaurant at home in Ohio.

  7. My wife and I ate dinner at Tutto three times this year,January, March and September we loved it every visit. We had previously eaten there when it was Alfredos and were disappointed because we found the food very generic. When we learned that it had changed hands is when we gave it another try and now we always plan a meal there when we visit Disney.

  8. love tutto italia, Angelo is our favorite waiter, we’re making our way thru the menu! is always a pleasant escape, stellar service, food, ambiance. well worth the $$. can’t wait for our next visit!

  9. Thanks for the great review Jeff! I must say that we have never given Epcot the attention it deserves as far as restaurants there…other than Germany. But I am definitely going to make a point to try this next time we are there…it sounds and looks wonderful!
    Many thanks!
    Michelle

    ps – I so have envy of the number of times you get to visit ‘our happy place’…we’re almost a 6hr plane ride away so we’re lucky if we can do it once a year…continue enjoying the moments and we’ll continue to live vicariously through All Ears!!

  10. My wife and I have eaten numerous times in all the incarnations of this restaurant over the years and our last visit a few months back was very disappointing. Fortunately we were on the Dining Plan and all we had to pay was the tip. The service was good but the food was about on par with what you get at Olive Garden, and I don’t particularly like Olive Garden. I just walked out of there shaking my head and couldn’t imagine if we actually had to pay the $70+ for that meal. It was a joke. My wife had the Farfalle and I had the Petto di Pollo. They were both pretty bad.

  11. I hope I don’t sound rude, but wanted to point something out. That is fresh basil on the appetizer, not cilantro. You would never find cilantro on a parmigiana dish. Sorry.

    Fixed in the blog now, thanks!!!

  12. My daughter and I had lunch there October 1 and had a wonderful meal and a very handsom and helpful server, Lorenzo. We will definitely eat there every time we go to WDW.

  13. Alfredo’s was always a favorite of mine. One of the best dining experiences of my life was at Alfredo’s, all thanks to a fantastic waiter named Claudio. When I heard that Alfredo’s was closing, I was saddened by the news. I decided to try Tutto Italia, and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised, not only did the food live up to its predecessor’s, but the service was absolutely perfect…and I discovered why. Someone in charge of this establishment had the wisdom to promote Claudio to dining room manager. Let me tell you, you will never find a more professional and dedicated individual in the restaurant business than Claudio. The next time you are dining there, look for him, his presence is obvious. He is always smiling, and his influence over his staff shines through in every single thing they do. If you are lucky enough to speak with Claudio, let him know that a patron had good things to say about him…you will come away from the experience with a feeling that you will carry with you for the rest of the day.

    HPX

  14. Thanks for the review and the great photos, Jeff! I recently ate there for the first time, and had the very same entree, also for lunch. It is indeed a fine restaurant, but I’m glad I ate there for lunch rather than dinner — the tagliatelle was $26. (To be fair it was the most expensive pasta dish, but I don’t think any of them were under $20.)

  15. I have been to Tutto Italia several times already since it opened and agree completely with your comments about the servers being attentive and friendly. In May 2009, I went to try the new owners out and was very pleased. In Dec 2009, we celebrated my parents 50th Anniversary and my birthday there — my brother in law was with us and from his Italian background said the food was second only to his Mom’s. That’s quite a compliment. I will absolutely be back !

  16. My family of six has enjoyed several meals at Tutto, you are right about everything coming out of the kitchen fresh and hot. That is a lovely difference from so many places we have been to! One small quibble, the herb used on your first dish is basil.

    Fixed in the blog now, thanks!!!

  17. We have been there just once. Hard to reservations!

    Agree the food is good to very good. We will try to get in during our Feb visit. (Going to Hollywood Studios in Jan)
    It is a little pricey when compared to other area “upscale” Italian eateries, but none of them have a firework and lazer show just outside their front door

  18. Tutto Italia is on the top of the list for our dining selection. Our wonderful dining experience was this August, 2009. We were there for lunch, you are so right, hubby and I could have split an entree, the servings are more than accommodating, we opted not to add a appetizer, as we have always been very filled with just our dinner and dessert. We had the sachetti and spaghetti with veal meatballs, as was our families selection. We were on the dining plan and that included a dessert, we really had to work hard to finish our dessert as we were stuffed with our entree. We had what you had for dessert and it was very tasty and filling. We will be going to Disney World again next year for our annual trip and this resturaunt will certainly top our list! You gave this resturaunt a great and fair review. I agree, Le Cellier is tops also in our book!