Via Napoli Ristorante e Pizzeria is a full service dining restaurant located in the Italy Pavilion at EPCOT’s World Showcase. The restaurant specializes in all things Italian, but especially pizza. According to the Disney website, real Caputo flour is sourced from Southern Italy and water for the dough is sourced from a spring similar to Italy’s Campania region.
Disney even states the head chef spent time in Naples studying dough, crust, sauce and oven temperatures. We can assess Disney is trying to market Via Napoli as authentic as possible.
Stella and I dined here for the first time in 2019. We were able to easily secure an advanced dining reservation for our day spent at EPCOT. We shared a pizza and enjoyed it. Is it the best pizza I’ve ever eaten? Not really. The best belonged to a restaurant long gone in San Francisco. However, Via Napoli serves the best pizza I’ve eaten at a Disney restaurant. To be far, I think everything is better than Pizza Port. Just sayin.
Below, the following review will analyze Via Napoli’s theming and food.
Theming
As I said above, Via Napoli is located in the Italian Pavilion at EPCOT’s World Showcase. The restaurant is themed as an Italian pizzeria. The kitchen area includes three wood-burning ovens named after the three active Italian volcanoes. Each oven has its own unique face. I guess that’s what they do in Italy?
Other than the kitchen, I wouldn’t say I saw much theming anywhere else. The dining room just looks like a generic dining room. It’s a big dining room with lots of tables. But I didn’t see anything to remind me I am in Italy. Although the restroom gender identifiers might be in Italian.
Now, I’ve never been to Italy and I am sure they have dining rooms like we do in the US. The perceived lack of theming didn’t brother me. I didn’t go in wishing for some over the top Italian pizzeria. I expect an over the top theme for Trader Sam’s, but not for Via Napoli. It’s clear Disney invested more of the “Italian experience” into the food, which we can agree is better than making the dining room look “Italian”, whatever that means.
Overall, the dining room looks nice. Again, it’s big. And when we dined, it was busy. Most of the tables were booked and the place was active and alive. Servers and staff were running around everywhere serving the many different families. With the high energy I hear about Italy, I felt this helped with the theming and experience.
Now, let’s get on with the food!
Food
Via Napoli has an extensive menu of Italian food. Since we visited as a large group. we first ordered a calamari appetizer. The plate was decent sized and included a side of spicy tomato sauce. Don’t worry, the sauce wasn’t spicy. We enjoyed the calamari and felt it was crunchy and savory. However, I don’t feel it was worth $20.
Our server also asked if we wanted bread. We assumed it came with the meal like tons of other restaurants. But apparently it cost money. I think it was $5, but it would have been nice to know it was an add on. Our server definitely got us there.
From what I remember, it came with about eight pieces of Italian inspired breads. Nothing crazy but I wouldn’t pay $5 again for it. If it was complimentary then sure. But it’s not worth paying money.
We also ordered a pitcher of Peroni, an Italian beer. The beer was a nice crisp lager. For $34, it was a good bargain. Stella and the girls ordered signature cocktails. All were way too sweet in my opinion. Go for the beer over a sweet and expensive drink.
For the main course, Stella and I shared a Margarita Pizza and added pepperoni. The pizzas are large at 20″. Between the two of us it was plenty. And tasty. The dough was crunchy and flavorful. The cheese oozed off and the pepperonis were crunchy and had a bit of a kick.
I also liked that the pizzas didn’t look standardized. Since our table as a whole ordered different pizzas, none looked the same. The toppings and cheese looked like they were all over the place.
I used to work at Dominos and each pizza had to look the same. The same ingredients in the same places each time. But here, you could tell each pizza received its own love and care. There was no standard other than make a great pizza.
Again, my favorite pizza was a restaurant in San Francisco but Via Napoli easily has the best pizza I’ve eaten at a Disney park. Although the competition is nowhere close with other pizza restaurants. But if you want a great pizza, you can’t go wrong with Via Napoli.
Outside of pizza, Via Napoli serves an extensive amount of food. The menu includes specialty salads, pastas, raviolis, fish and of course, tiramisu.
But pizza is the star. The menu includes 27 different pizzas. All can be customized, allowing a pie for any taste. As Americans, we love pizza. Do yourself a favor. If you’re in EPCOT, stop by here for a great pizza. Via Napoli is also easy to score an advanced dining reservation. There is literally no reason not to try this place out. On our next trip, we will definitely be coming back (minus the bread).
Thoughts?
Thanks for reading our review of Via Napoli! We hoped it was helpful. Do you plan to dine here on your next trip? Fancy a drink around the world? Be sure to read our One-Day EPCOT Itinerary and our guide EPCOT: Drinking Around the World for the best tips and tricks when visiting EPCOT!
Which pizza is your favorite? Cheese or pepperoni? Ever been swindled into paying for bread you thought was free? Let us know in the comments below!
