Tell Me About Tony's Town Square... Is it actually bad food, or just not really Italian food?

[persimmondeb]

We have a reservation for there on our last park day, around 8pm. It works for us for a bunch of reasons (it'll be December, we may be cold, we'll definitely be tired, and we will want to sit and recharge, preferably with a glass of wine/beer). Also DH is very fussy, and he'll predictably eat red sauce Italian.

I'm aware that it's an old fashioned and heavily Ameracanized approach to Italian cooking, and that many people don't love their sauce, but is it mostly a style issue, or is the kitchen consistently turning out bad food (under or overcooked, underseasoned, greasy, etc.)?

I'd prefer to keep it, but I've noticed that it's number one on at least a couple of "Worst Walt Disney Restaurant" lists.

 

[SM101]

I've just eaten there once.

In all honesty - it wasn't bad. I'd put it on par with chain Italian like Olive Garden.

It wouldn't be my choice to eat at again because we have so many good local Italian restaurants at home (and I cook a lot of Italian food) that Tony's pales by comparison.

It's ok. It can fill a niche. I just generally prefer something more interesting when I'm on vacation.

 

[Mr & Mrs DD]

We put off Tony's based on the bad reviews we had read. We finally decided to try it for ourselves. We enjoyed our meal. I agree with the above post that it is on par with Olive Garden. We enjoyed it and we may eat there again at some point. I had the chicken parm dinner and have no complaints.

 

[persimmondeb]

Thanks, guys. Olive Garden is fine, I was just starting to worry that it would be inedible or close. We have the DxDp so I'm not bothered that it's considerably more expensive than Olive Garden.

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

Olive Garden was a lot better. personally I compared it to canned spaghetti

 

[holden]

None of us liked our meal. We won't be back.

 

[buzzrelly]

We usually eat lunch there and we like it. It isn't a super awesome Italian restaurant, but we don't think it's as bad as people make it out to be.

 

[LucyBC80]

My least favorite restaurant in all of Disney. Olive Garden is fine dining when compared to Tony's. I've tried twice and truly hated. Mushy pasta, bland sauce, subpar service. Just a big no no from me.

 

[goofyintoronto]

Olive Garden was a lot better. personally I compared it to canned spaghetti

Same here! Definitely canned spagetti. Thats no joke btw. Im dead serious. its that bad. For what its worth, we had the chicken parm and spagetti/meatballs. Awful.

 

[Kiara5]

The last time we ate there was in Jan 2015 but it was good. I liked the chicken parm dish I had and our son wants to go back this trip

 

[shannonstar]

We are doing the FOF package and I am sad to see the reviews, but want to judge for myself. As long as the calamari is hot, the pistachio dessert available, and something a 4 year old will eat... I won't be too judgy.

 

[quandrea]

We ate there at dd's request in August. I had the vegetarian ravioli. Very good. Dd enjoyed her spaghetti and meatballs. My salad was fresh and well seasoned. We brought tiramisu back to the room. Bread service was tasty. It was fresh and good. Not the best tiramisu ever, but decent. We enjoyed our meal. I cook a lot. Do I make better spaghetti? Yes. But our meal at Tony's was far from inedible. Service was top notch.

 

[goofyintoronto]

BTW this video on dis unplugged says it all. I agree with their review on Tony's.

Starts at 48:38...

 

[Barbydoll8]

It was meh. We tried it once but did not get spaghetti. It was what I would call a step below Olive Garden. Not horrible but unless we couldn't get anything else, there are too many other places to eat that are so much better.

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

It wasn't the worst we've ever had. And unlike Olive Garden, they actually kept my gluten free meal, gluten free. Olive Garden hasn't learned how to do that yet.

 

[CinderellaDream]

I would also compare it to Olive Garden. The best Italian ever? No not even close. Edible? Absolutely. My kids can be picky so anywhere with pizza and spaghetti is a winner for them and I'm a fan of all things pasta related. We also had good service there. We would eat here again despite the terrible reputation it seems to have here on the Dis.

 

[gharter]

I like the atmosphere of the restaurant. The food is OK at best. I would not put it close to the level of Olive Garden. Canned spaghatti is a good comparison. I've read that they improved their red sauce since the last time we ate there. I hope that is true. IMHO, there are much better options. That said, both times we ate there, it was packed so some do like it.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

I would say it's better than Chef Mickey.

 

[elaine amj]

I'm not picky about my pasta (we like Olive Garden) and we enjoyed our meal here. We have a fun photo of DH and I doing the Lady and the Tramp scene!

My niece (mid 30s) still raves about Tony's as her favourite WDW restaurant by far (she has come to Disney all her life and has tried a decent number of restaurants).

It's way, way better than canned spaghetti

 

[Disney Mom 7272]

I have eaten there several times and have never had bad food or service. It’s always been great when we have went!