Via Napoli at Epcot

When we are at Walt Disney World, my husband likes to dine at Via Napoli Ristorante.  Via Napoli is the restaurant located in Italy at Epcot.  Why does he like to eat at that same restaurant time and again?  Oh, trust me when I say that we enjoy a variety of different restaurants at Walt Disney World.  There are so many from which to choose.  Sometimes, though, folks find a place that they really like and that feels comfortable.  For my husband, Via Napoli is that restaurant when we visit The Mouse.

What Food is Offered at Via Napoli Ristorante?

Via Napoli is an Italian restaurant that serves an array of delicious, Italian cuisine.  You can order pollo (chicken), bistecca (steak), branzino (sea bass).  Do you like a good, pasta dish?  A fettuccine, a lasagna, and even good, old fashioned spaghetti and meatballs are on the menu.  Perhaps you prefer a smaller dish.  I like the fresh calamari rings.  There are salads, appetizers, and lots of other items on the menu.  Of course, there is also pizza.

What would you order if you went to Via Napoli to eat?

Oh, and we have not even talked about dessert.  I will leave this picture here in case you want to make your mouth water.

Admire the Ovens

There are three pizza ovens at Via Napoli.  If you have been there, have you seen them?  If you have not been there, they do catch a person’s attention.  Not only are the ovens creatively decorated, they are also named.  Each oven is named after a volcano in Italy.

The oven on the left is named Stromboli.  Stomboli is an island off of the coast of Sicily.  You may have heard about Stromboli recently because a volcano erupted there on August 28th, 2019.  It was said that the smoke from the eruption rose 1.2 miles into the sky!

The middle oven is called Vesuvius.  Mount Vesuvius is located just over five and a half miles from Naples and has not erupted since 1944.

On the right is the oven that was dubbed Etna.  Mount Etna is on the east coast of Sicily and has had ongoing eruptions since 2014.

Details in the Decorating

Once inside of the restaurant, a guest can see that there are many details in the decorating.  From the ceiling to the walls to the seats and lighting,

Italy in Italy

While the decorating details from outside, before you even enter the building, once inside, the foyer boasts a colorful chandelier.  Here is an interesting bit of trivia:  This chandelier was brought over from Italy for Via Napoli Ristorante.

Our server told us that when this chandelier was imported, it was all white.  Since then Disney has added color to the fixture.  The chandelier has a lot of character from different angles.

Service with a Smile

Whenever we go to Via Napoli Ristorante, we have friendly and even fun servers.  Last year our server and some others sang happy birthday to me — in Italian — even after the restaurant was closing.  It was sweet and fun!

During our most recent visit, our server this time was Paola.  She was friendly and seemed a little shy.  When we asked her some specific questions, though, she became quite conversational.

I am not sure how many times we asked Paola for more sauce, and she brought it to us or had someone bring it to us each time.  You may not think that that is a big deal until you run our of sauce for your calamari or garlic focaccia bread!

…and Some Education

We asked our busser, Rosario, what is the difference between the pronunciations of grot-zi and grot-zi-eh.  He kind of chuckled and shook his head.  Then Rosario told us that grot-zi-eh is Italian and grot-zi is…well…American.  Then he laughed.  We laughed.  We got a lesson in Italian and had some fun with our busser.  Grazie, Rosario!

More Disney Enjoyment

When you are not at Epcot to enjoy Via Napoli Ristorante, you can also dine at The Boathouse.  Not only is this a waterfront restaurant at Disney Springs.  You can also ride in the mind-blowing Amphicar which drives you around the like!