Welcome back!
This past weekend, I had the opportunity to try out Tony's Town Square Restaurant. Tony's is located right in the town square of Main Street, USA at Disney's Magic Kingdom. It's in the first building on your right, as you enter the park.
It can actually be a little confusing, as the restaurant is part of a larger building and you actually enter what looks like a store entrance to get to Tony's Town Square Restaurant. The host/hostess stand is located just to the left after you enter the big, double main entrance doors. If you miss it, don't worry -- there's an outdoor host/hostess stand with Goofy sitting on a bench to greet you and direct you into the restaurant.
Tony's offers typical Italian cuisine, including one of my favorites, tomato and mozzarella salad -- although I must admit that Tony's was a bit bland. Tomatoes were just OK and the sauce really didn't add much to the flavor.
In addition to the tomato and mozzarella salad, we tried the pumpkin soup, toasted cheese and garlic bread, minestrone with orzo pasta, and the baked ziti.
The pumpkin soup was delicious, however it was too sweet for my palate. I loved the soup, don't get me wrong, but I just couldn't finish a whole cup, due to the sweetness and richness of the flavor.
I could not understand why they brought us two spoons for the pumpkin soup. Although we were sharing everything amongst the entire table, this was the only item that came with two utensils. Notice anything different about this view of the cup of soup? (Hint: HM)
Although called Toasted Cheese and Garlic Bread on the menu, this item was really more like bruschetta on toasted cheese garlic bread. It was amazing!!
The Minestrone with Orzo Pasta was the better of the two soups (only two are available at Tony's Town Square -- the minestrone and a seasonal; pumpkin for our visit). Deep, rich flavor and the orzo added bulk and texture to a fantastic soup.
The baked ziti was the best dish of the meal! Amazingly flavorful marinara sauce, lots of pasta and meat -- it was more than I could finish and that's saying something.
I did not particularly like the crostini you see pictured with the ziti. It was VERY hard (crispy) and didn't add any flavor or dimension to the dish.
The restaurant provides a very comfortable environment without a whole lot of fancy decorations. Pretty simple and plain, overall. There was a beautiful fountain in the center of the restaurant.
The "Lady and the Tramp" theme carried throughout the restaurant, even to the restrooms.
The restaurant also looks out over the "Town Square" at Magic Kingdom with a great view of the park and you could see part of the parade, if you're eating during one of the parades.
While we visited, they had the restaurant decorated for Halloween, which really added some needed flair to the restaurant.
Here's a pic of a booth seat in the restaurant.
Overall, the food was very good at Tony's Town Square. Would I go back? Not to say never, no, but it's not likely. It's good Italian food, but nothing real out-of-the-ordinary. It's all stuff you could get at pretty much any decent Italian restaurant and probably for much less money. If I'm going to pay Disney prices for dining, I expect something I couldn't just cook up at home or get at the local "mom-and-pop" Italian joint.
Disney also has a ton of superb restaurants that would make my list long before Tony's. Also, the ambiance, design (or lack thereof), and character needs a little updating and pizazz. It's a bit plain and dated. I feel like the Imagineer's sort of stopped midway through the plan.
If you're in the mood for Italian in the Magic Kingdom, I'm sure you'll love Tony's, just don't expect much more than an average Italian restaurant. If you want some really good food, interesting dishes, and better theming, try Mama Melrose in Disney's Hollywood Studios.
