DVC Shop’s Friday For Foodies is an exploration of dining at the Walt Disney World Resort. The first series in this journey through Disney World’s food is called “Eating Around The World Showcase at EPCOT.” As part of this series, DVC Shop will dine at restaurants around the World Showcase in order to explore their food items and overall dining experience. This week’s featured dining location is Via Napoli Ristorante e Pizzeria!
Overview of Via Napoli Ristorante e Pizzeria
Via Napoli is located in the rear of the Italy Pavilion at EPCOT. This table service restaurant focuses on authentic southern Italian cooking, like fresh salads, pasta, and most notably pizza. The pizzas are thin crust, made with fresh mozzarella cheese, San Marzano tomatoes, and Caputo flour imported from Italy. Water used in the pizza dough is sourced from a spring similar to Italy’s Campania region to nearly replicate the chemical composition of water that would be used in Italy, helping to create an authentic experience. To finish, pizzas are cooked in wood-burning ovens! These ovens are a focal point of the restaurant, and each is named after an active Italian volcano–Mount Etna, Mount Vesuvius, and Stromboli.
Food & Drink Items We Tried
Whether or not you choose to order pizza, the overall menu at Via Napoli is hearty, comforting, and great for sharing with your travel party. The items available at lunch and dinner are identical, so you can enjoy a fabulous Italian meal most days from 11:30 a.m. through the evening.
Appetizers
Appetizers at Via Napoli are called antipasta, or small plates. These are a great start to your meal and perfect for sharing.
Calamari Fritti – $23.00
This generous portion of fried squid rings are light and crispy and is served with a side of spicy tomato sauce.
Entrées
Via Napoli does offer a variety of entrées, including several pastas, fish, beef filets, and chicken parmesan. However, we simply could not resist the pizza. Pizzas come in three sizes: individual (about a ten inch round), large (about a twenty inch round), and mezzo metro (about a half meter rectangle). The large and mezzo metro sizes are great for groups, and can be an economical way to feed a family.
Large Pizza – $42.00
You can build your own pizza, choosing your own toppings, or you can order a specialty pizza on Via Napoli’s menu. Plus, if you order a large or mezzo metro size, you can split those in half if you want to try different toppings.
We opted for half quattro formaggi and half capricciosa for our large pizza. The quattro formaggi is a white sauce pizza with four cheeses: mozzarella, parmesan, fontina, and provolone. Capricciosa pizza is a tomato sauce base with mozzarella parmacotto ham, olives, artichokes, mushrooms, and oregano. Splitting our pizza in half meant we got to try two specialty pizza offerings for the price of one!
Desserts
Desserts at Via Napoli are indulgent – don’t forget to save room!
Cheesecake alle Fragole – $12.00
This is a ricotta cheesecake topped with fresh strawberry compote and whipped cream.
Cannolo di Cioccolato e Nocciola – $12.00
A classic! Chocolate-covered cannolo filled with hazelnut ricotta cream and garnished with additional hazelnuts.
Via Napoli is a great choice for guests looking to enjoy traditional southern Italian cuisine in an open and vibrant atmosphere. Have you ever eaten at Via Napoli Ristorante e Pizzeria? Let us know about your experience in the comments down below!
Written by
Jacqueline R.
Contributing Writer
Jacqueline is a PhD scientist with a passion for synthesizing detailed information in an understandable format. She is a Disney Vacation Club owner, overall Disney fan, and the primary content creator on the YouTube channel Pixie Dust PhD.
