Via Napoli Epcot

Via Napoli – Bringing Pizza Perfection to Epcot®

by Magic Maker® Joe DeFazio

For all the wonderful culinary treats you can experience at the Walt Disney World® Resort, the one thing that always seemed to be missing was top-notch pizza. While Disney pizza wasn’t bad, it also wasn’t on many people’s must do dining lists. That all changed with the opening of Via Napoli in Epcot’s® Italy Pavilion.

Via Napoli serves authentic Neapolitan style pizza and Italian cuisine in an expansive dining room situated in the back of the Italian pavilion. The open design of Via Napoli captures a buzz from the visible kitchen and it’s large brick ovens and the hum of conversation and dining that makes you feel like you have been transported to an busy square in Naples for your meal.

The highlight here is the food, and the pizza is the star. The pizza is made with imported flour from Naples, San Marzano tomatoes, hand-made mozzarella and water that is identical to that used in Naples. The result is a wonderful, crispy, chewy and airy crust baked to perfection with a wonderful selection of options. Via Napoli’s twist on a traditional Italian appetizer is even made into a meal with Prosciutto e Melone pizza topped with- fontina, mozzarella, prosciutto, arugula and cantelope – a perfect blend of salty, sweet, creamy and crispy.

While the pizza is the star, the supporting cast of traditional Italian favorites including pasta dishes, chicken, eggplant and veal parmigian, lasagna and a wonderful selection of antipasti and appetizers to get you started. Nia Napoli has a nice selection of Italain wines, dry and sweet, a flavorful sangria and a selection of Italian beer, including a restaurant exclusive, LaRossa – a double malt lager. Save room for desert and you will be treated with affine selection of traditional Italian sweet treats.

The wonderful atmosphere is made complete by the wait staff, all from Italy and all seemingly with a permanent smile. The language, conversation and insights into cast member’s culture along with wonderful food and drink make Via Napoli an outstanding place to share a meal at Epcot®.

Are you ready to experience the many flavors the
restaurants of Epcot’s® World Showcase has to offer?

Via Napoli Now Open in Epcot

The lively, 300-seat restaurant that is operated by Patina Restaurant Group is full of energy with an open kitchen and three wood-burning pizza ovens thatrepresent Italy’s three active volcanoes: Etna, Vesuvius and Stromboli. Those ovens are cranked up to 700°F with oak wood, each ornamented with an open-mouthed face, waiting to “swallow” the mouth-watering pizzas.

Everyone is sure to find something on this menu. If you’re hungry or have at least four gathered for lunch or dinner, try the fritto misto, an enormous platter of fried mozzarella, calamari, eggplant, asparagus, zucchini, artichoke hearts and arancini (rice balls) – delicioso! – dipped in the spicy red sauce. Enjoy entrées such as Lasagna Verde, tortino di melanzane (baked eggplant with Parmesan and mozzarella cheeses), and of course, the wood-fired margherita pizza. And don’t forget to wash it down with an Acqua Frescas, the housemade seasonal fruit juice coolers.

Those pizza pies will quickly become a new favorite and Via Napoli Executive Chef Charlie Restivo shares why. The secret combo: the oven, the mixer and the ingredients. The mozzarella is flown in from Italy, the water from a source in the U.S. that is similar to the alkaline of the water in Naples, and San Marzano tomatoes – absolutely no substitutions for a “certified” Vera Pizza Napolitana, with specific rules, including hand stretching the dough. The crust is blistered and slightly charred to seal in the flavors, says Chef Restivo. The gargantuan “1/2 meter” to share is rolled to the table on a stainless steel cart.

Sweet endings are not an afterthought. Indulge with the hot, crisp zeppole di Catarina, ricotta cheese fritters with chocolate sauce and whipped cream; traditional tiramisù; pistachio gelato; and the over-the-top coppa di brutti ma buoni, a vanilla gelato with Amarena cherries and “ugly but good” cookies. Worth an extra lap around World Showcase.

The same menu is for lunch and dinner. Table service only, one meal point on the Disney Dining Plan. Contact your Magic Maker® to request a quote and to make your dining reservations.

Via Napoli – Bringing Pizza Perfection to Epcot®

Are you ready to experience the many flavors the restaurants of Epcot’s® World Showcase has to offer?

Via Napoli Now Open in Epcot

Are you ready to experience the many flavors the
restaurants of Epcot’s® World Showcase has to offer?