Dave Portnoy of Barstool Sports returned to Walt Disney World this week and did another “one bite” pizza review, this time at Via Napoli Ristorante e Pizzeria in the Italy Pavilion at EPCOT.
In 2021, Portnoy visited PizzeRizzo at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. He rated the infamous pizza a surprising 7.1 out of 10, saying it was “not the worst I’ve ever had, not the best.”
In his newest video, Portnoy took a whole pizza from inside Via Napoli to try. Before taking a bite, Portnoy noted that his stomach was off because he just rode Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, and he’s “not a roller coaster guy.”
Portnoy initially thought the pizza wasn’t Neapolitan but ultimately determined it was. Here is how Disney describes Via Napoli’s Neapolitan pizza:
Enjoy traditional Neapolitan pizza delivered right to your table, from cheesy quattro formaggi to sausage-topped piccante.
The thin-crust pizzas are made with fresh mozzarella cheese, San Marzano tomatoes and real Caputo flour imported from Southern Italy. Water for the dough is even sourced from a spring similar to Italy’s Campania region. Pizzas are then cooked in wood-burning ovens named after the 3 active volcanoes in Italy—Mount Etna, Mount Vesuvius and Stromboli.
To ensure every detail is perfect, famed restaurateur Nick Valenti spent time in Naples studying the art of dough, crust, sauce and oven temperatures at the famous pizzerias Da Michele and Trianon before creating the menu at Via Napoli Ristorante e Pizzeria.
Being Neapolitan, the Via Napoli pizza automatically starts at a 6.8 on Portnoy’s rating scale. He brought the Via Napoli pizza up to a 7.1, the same rating as PizzeRizzo, saying, “It’s pretty good stuff.”
Via Napoli is considered some of the best pizza on Walt Disney World property, well above PizzeRizzo, so the two getting the same rating is a bit of a shock.
At Via Napoli Ristorante e Pizzeria, guests “Discover authentic Italian cooking, including hearty pastas, fresh salads and pizzas perfected in wood-burning ovens.” It’s open for lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. It then switches to dinner, which is available until 9:00 p.m. The restaurant is denoted with two dollar signs on Disney’s price scale, meaning it’s about $15 to $34.99 per adult.
Via Napoli is run by Patina Restaurant Group, which operates several Walt Disney World food and beverage locations including Gelateria Toscana also in the Italy Pavilion and Space 220.
Here is more about the restaurant from Disney:
Take a culinary tour of Southern Italy at this family-friendly restaurant and pizzeria at EPCOT.
Start your meal with fried risotto balls, vegetable soup or prosciutto e melone. Then delight in lasagna napoletana, chicken parmigiana and wood-fired pizzas.
After dinner, treat yourself to Italian coffee—as well as tiramisu and chocolate gelato.
Pair your entrée with refreshing blood orange or strawberry fruit juice coolers. Guests 21 years of age and up can also enjoy Italian wines, domestic and Italian beers (available by the pint or pitcher) and specialty cocktails.
Portnoy also added that he finally rode Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, but he thinks Star Tours is better.
What do you think about PizzeRizzo and Via Napoli both being rated a 7.1? Let us know in the comments.
For the latest Disney Parks news and info, follow WDW News Today on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.