Tutto Italia Review

POSTED: Tue, 02/22/2011 - 12:00 | POSTED BY: Bradley Johnson

No one ever seems to have much nice to say about Tutto Italia Ristorante in Epcot's World Showcase. Since no one ever says anything nice about me either, I thought we might be kindred spirits. I'd never been before, and with my expectations set nice and low we headed to Italy.

Entrance

First of all, like everything in the Italy pavilion in World Showcase, the restaurant is quite lovely in my opinion. We asked to be seated in the section near the windows to get some additional light for our pictures. The long narrow section didn't seem as comfortable, or nice as the main dining area, but had cool masks on the wall. I could tell that the other diners, despite their more adequate space and lovely dark woods, were secretly covetous of our mask.

Tutto Italia Dining Room

I Named Him 'Grapey'

All Italian restaurants are mandated by law to serve a bread basket before the meal, which is a key reason why I love Italian food. I need to load up on carbs before my carbs arrive. The bread was quite good, however the bread sticks were a bit tough for my liking. They still had a good taste, but the potential dental bills were a bit off-putting.

Bread at Tutto Italia

For appetizers we had the Pasta e Fagioli soup and the eggplant mozzarella. The soup was not really the Pasta e Fagioli to which I'm accustomed and was a bit bland for my taste. The mozzarella on the other hand had a pretty intense taste for eggplant. Neither one "wowed" me, but both were serviceable. (I've been checking the history books to see if anyone has ever been "wowed" by eggplant. My research is inconclusive, so let me know your opinion in the comments.)

Eggplant Appetizer

Pasta E Fagioli

Our entrees were Farfalle for me and Gnocchi for my dining partner. The farfalle is bow-tie pasta and is served with a cream sauce, peas and some prosciutto. Now all of those things are good, and the dish wasn't bad overall, but the taste was a bit too uniform. I enjoyed my first bite, but I got bored with it pretty quickly. After the meal my companion expressed similar opinions about me.

Farfalle

The gnocchi on the other hand was quite memorable. It was cheese, cheese and more cheese. It has gorgonzola, parmesan, mozzarella and fontina cheeses as well as spinach. As you might expect it was rich, and the cheeses dominated the taste. This dish was much better than mine, and I enjoyed the tastes I got. I fear however that a whole serving of it might have been a tad too much. But since my companion wasn't a very good sharer, I'll never know.

Gnocchi Gnocchi

The dessert for me was probably the highlight of the meal. We ordered profiteroles and a lemon cheesecake. The profiteroles were quite good with a very strong chocolate sauce. They might not be to everyone's liking, but they hit the spot that day.

I've documented before my love of mediocre cheesecake in all forms, and the lemon flavor was a great accompaniment. The strawberries on top were quite nice as well. I'd recommend both desserts although the profiteroles were much more interesting and unusual; the cheesecake probably wasn't much different than what you'd get at a chain restaurant.

Profiteroles

Cheesecake

Sadly my overall impression is probably in line with what I most commonly hear about Tutto Italia: The food is fine, not great, but it's way too expensive for what you get. It's even harder to justify now that Via Napoli is open next door. I've never had a bad meal at Via Napoli and it's cheaper. I didn't hate Tutto Italia, but I'm not desperate to return.

Have you had a good experience at Tutto Italia? A bad one? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

In:

Jenn wrote on Tue, 02/22/2011 - 15:19:

I think I'm one of the few people that actually LOVES Tutto. I haven't tried any of the dishes that you guys did so I can't comment on those. My favorites though are the cassereci and the oricchiette with lamb ragu. Actually I think the lamb ragu was my all time favorite. My mother, who always orders sole when it's on the menu, says that the sole at Tutto is one of the best she's tried. For appetizers I love the prosciutto y melon. The desserts didn't wow me, and it looks like they changed up the breadsticks since I've been there last. Ours were much thinner. I do really enjoy Via Napoli and haven't been back to Tutto since it's opened, but that's mainly due to the fact that I'm always with people that have never been to Napoli so we go there for them to experience it. :)

laurie wrote on Tue, 02/22/2011 - 16:05:

thank you for a very enjoyable review

FrankO wrote on Tue, 02/22/2011 - 16:35:

Thanks for the great review!!

Brad wrote on Tue, 02/22/2011 - 17:45:

Thanks for the comments guys!

Jenn, I'm glad to hear you have enjoyed some of the dishes. I kind of had the feeling as I was eating that there might have been better options. We very nearly ordered the prosciutto y melon, which I almost always enjoy so that would have probably been a better option.

Anonymous wrote on Tue, 02/22/2011 - 20:53:

I hope it is better than when it was Alfredo's. My late husband's family is from a small town north of Venice, Italy and we took his brother and his wife for dinner. They ordered the gnocchi and did not like it. They spoke to each other in Italian about it but the servers also spoke Italian. It turned out to be a fun night for them laughing and speaking to each other in Italian.

Melisa wrote on Wed, 02/23/2011 - 19:42:

Thanks for the review. The only thing I'm confused about is your comment that it's cheaper than Via Napoli next door. A few friends and I ate at Via Napoli for lunch a few weeks ago, and thought it was way overpriced for the food we ate ($24 for a caesar salad?!?) After our meal we headed to Tutto Italia to check out their lunch menu prices, which seemed to be cheaper for comparable items we ordered at Via Napoli. (I think it was $19 for a caesar salad) In any event, the food at both Italian places is good, but as you said, overpriced. My friends and I will likely stick to the German buffet or to the new Mexican restaurant.

Brad wrote on Wed, 02/23/2011 - 20:43:

Melisa, that's a good point that Via Napoli isn't exactly inexpensive either. I suppose I felt like I got more value for my money at Via Napoli, but I didn't really crunch numbers before making my assertion. Thanks for pointing that out.

As far as the Alfredo's history, everyone's opinion on that subject seems to widely vary. The best theory I've heard is that it was good to start and went downhill. Does anyone agree or disagree with that proposition?

Rose wrote on Fri, 02/25/2011 - 00:04:

I liked Tutto a couple yrs ago. Haven't been back because it is soooo $$. We had spaghetti and meatballs, chicken parm and the other dish was sort of like stuffed shells with a cheese sauce. Can't remember what it was called. We were all happy with our choices. Your pic of the pasta fagioli looks a lot better than the one I got at Alfredos. That one was so thick, almost 'gummy'. Even the waiter agreed and said most people didn't enjoy it!? Got a free dessert. YAY!
Thanks for the review. Nice details!

JeffC wrote on Mon, 02/28/2011 - 03:07:

Never been there, but I think you got a bum rap. First, I think you're swell. And I'd hardly think boring. So there.

We're going to try via Napoli in September. We've never had an interest in Tutto, and every time we've stopped to look at th emeu we just decide "Nah, let's go somewhere else".

Júlia wrote on Mon, 03/07/2011 - 04:09:

I'm not exactly a food expert, but I'm a spaghetti bolognesa lover and I must say: I had the best spaghetti of my life at Tutto. I wasn't expecting so much, but the sauce caught me. It was such an experience for me, that I feel obligated to stand for Tutto in your review. :)

Brad wrote on Mon, 03/07/2011 - 05:14:

Rose, it's never a good idea when the waiter says no one likes your dish, is it?

Thanks Jeff!

Julia, I seriously considered getting the spaghetti as I'm a fan of that dish and I went against my instincts. I'll be sure to give that a try next time!

Amy wrote on Mon, 03/07/2011 - 17:50:

Your review kept me smiling - great job! I have to tell you that Tutto is the very first restaurant my family mentioned that we HAD to go back to - they LOVED it! The profiteroles are still the talk of the table when dessert comes up, so I'm really glad you enjoyed them. Our other dishes were also excellent, and the calamari (a family fave) started our meal on the right note (it was so tender!). Thanks again for giving Tutto a chance - and for your entertaining review!

Lisa wrote on Mon, 06/20/2011 - 15:07:

Five of us ate here on our last trip.Although, we too didn't expect much, we found it to be one of the best dinners of our trip. You cannot beat the value on the meal plan (it is still a one credit). Our family is Northern Italian so we tried some of the many classic northern dishes on the menu. If you like pizzeria or very southern (Naples and south) dishes,you probably won't like this cuisine. The lasagna was the first authentic northern style that i've had in this country and excellent with it's combo of meat sauce and creamy beschamel. The portion was enough for 2. The veal and pasta that we tried were exquisite and my steak was one of the best I have had ANYWHERE...the potatoes and veggies were to die for. If I closed my eyes, I'd think I was back in Verona. We have reservations for our upcoming trip. Oh,did i mention the desserts? Decadent as well as authentic!

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