In Disney World, there are hidden treasures, and then there are restaurants that are hidden for a reason.

PizzeRizzo in Disney’s Hollywood Studios fits into the category of hidden for a reason. In the past, we haven’t been impressed by any of the food here, and little has changed over the years. Although it may be worth a walk-through for Muppets-fans, has the food gotten any better recently? We’re here to find out!

Atmosphere

PizzeRizzo is themed after the Muppets! Rather than featuring a super popular Muppet like Kermit or Miss Piggy, this restaurant is all about Rizzo the Rat. The decor in the restaurant is inspired by Rizzo and his extended family and friends who have visited his restaurant over the years. Because what most people want when they pick a pizza joint is one frequented by generations of rats, right? If a massive family of rats is cooking up your ‘za, at least it’s rats from New York City. Hopefully, they know a thing or two about baking up the perfect slice!

Before it was PizzeRizzo, this spot was home of Toy Story Pizza Planet. NO, sorry guys, NOT the Pizza Planet of our dreams from Toy Story. It was nowhere near faithful to the version seen in the film and instead was basically your average generic Disney World fast-food pizza spot with mild Toy Story theming and a couple of arcade games. Boooooring! No blacklight arcade carpeting, no out-of-this-world theming, no CLAW MACHINE!

The pizza wasn’t good and it was often skippable for us. Plus it was super random sticking a Toy Story themed spot right next to Muppet Courtyard (remember, there was no Toy Story Land back then!). When it was retheming to center around the Muppets in 2016, we were excited to see if the food and decor would improve.

The PizzeRizzo look was a nice improvement on Pizza Planet, mimicking the look of an old grungy New York eatery. This restaurant is two-stories and upstairs, guests will find Rizzo’s Deluxe Supreme Banquet Hall where a wedding reception is being held (It’s a very classy joint, after all)!

You’ll find hidden (or not so hidden) details from the Muppets throughout the restaurant. There are other fun touches like the “You Got the Dough? We Got the Cheese!” quote on the front of the building. One of our favorite details you’ll only spot at night. (Hint: check out the flashing neon sign near the restaurant!)

There’s even a fun nod to the location’s former inhabitant.

Above the main entrance, you’ll see a giant sign that says “Pizza” with Rizzo in a chef hat!

Right now, in order to enter the restaurant, guests must place a Mobile Order through the My Disney Experience app. Disney does make it easier by adding a sign with a QR code to scan outside, if you don’t want to find it yourself. By using Mobile ORder, guests can make their selections, pay, and pick up their order once it’s ready. You can check out our step-by-step tutorial for Mobile Order here.

We placed our Mobile Order on the app and waited outside of the restaurant until we got a notification that our food was ready. Once you do get a notification, you’ll need to show it to a Cast Member who will let you inside of the restaurant. When you walk in, there’s not much to it besides some cool tiling on the floor. Other than that, it looks like most other counter-service locations in Disney World.

The notification will tell you which numbered station you should go to in order to pick up your food. We were told to go to station number 2, so on we went!

When you step up to the counter, there is plexiglass to prevent contact between guests and Cast Members.

Condiments and utensils are all self-serve, just like we’ve seen at many other locations. The trash cans also feature Rizzo and say “Clean it up! Your ma don’t work here.” We love the Muppet humor in these sayings around the restaurant!

One BIG perk of eating at PizzeRizzo is the amount of seating. There are SO many places to sit and relax! On the first floor, there are booths and regular chairs and tables all over.

Also on the first level, there is a huge covered patio with several tables. Although many are marked off as not available to continue physical distancing, there are plenty of open tables, especially for a counter-service place.

If the covered patio with fans and heaters is full, there are also many tables with umbrellas to protect you from the Florida sun.

Up on the second floor, the indoor seating looks the same as first level. There are booths separated by little curtains…

…and regular tables and chairs. On the walls, you can see some memorabilia from New York City like an interstate sign and photos from around the city.

On another wall, you’ll see a Subway sign and some vinyl records!

An elevator and stairs are available to get between the two levels.

Earlier we mentioned the Rizzo’s Deluxe Supreme Banquet Hall was on the second level, and there are really fun details that make you feel like you’re at a wedding reception.

There are chandeliers, drapes on the ceiling, and detailed gold-backed chairs. There’s even a wood dance floor in the middle of the room! This room gives us major Wedding Singer vibes in a cheesy, good way! Although this room may be a little random, we love the theming and it’s usually empty! If you’re looking for a place to escape, this is a great room to go to.

Our favorite place to sit at this restaurant is on the second-floor patio. Not only is it covered, but it gives you great views of the Muppet Courtyard!

On the patio, there are regular tables and chairs as well as barstool-type seating.

This patio also gives you an awesome view of Rizzo’s sign!

If you are a die-hard Muppets fan, this restaurant is worth a walk-through for the decor alone! There are so many things to look at including this sign for “Fozzie’s Funny Business”…

…and a brochure for the Swedish Chef’s “singing cakes”.

There’s also some neat caricature-style artwork of several characters like this portrait of Pepe the Prawn who looks like he’s trying to give his rose to someone on The Bachelor.

There’s also a portrait of Rizzo skating down the street while he delivers some of his pizza!

Some are fully colored pictures, while others are black and white sketches, but they all celebrate the beloved Muppets. For a restaurant owned and operated by a wisecracking rat, you might expect grungier, more “lived in” looking decor, but it’s surprisingly understated in here. That helps the hits of Muppet-ness really pop.

A few random things around the restaurant include this Souvenir Coin machine that can imprint Frozen 2, The Incredibles, or PizzeRizzo on a penny.

There is also an I.D. Tag machine if you want to do a little shopping while you eat.

The atmosphere is charming, has a unique themed room, and features the oh-so-lovable Muppets, but how does the food compare?

Eats

The menu has very basic Italian-fare with pizzas, salads, and subs.

The sides are also simple and include a Side Caesar Salad, a Cuties Mandarin, and a Mini Babybel Snack Cheese.

The Cannoli is the only dessert option on the menu.

The kids’ menu is a smaller version of the adult menu and has the same type of food.

Here you’ll find regular beverages like coffee, tea, soft drinks, and more…

…and there are a few alcoholic beverages for the adults. The menu itself is very boring compared to some other options in Disney’s Hollywood Studios, but let’s see how everything tastes!

To drink, we ordered the Opici Family Sangria. We could tell the drink was from a bottle and not freshly mixed, so we think a fresh orange slice would have gone a long way to help this drink. It was still pretty refreshing and if you want a light alcoholic drink, this’ll do the trick. BUT, for $11 we could easily find a better drink nearby in Hollywood Studios. We recommend saving your 11 bucks, as we probably wouldn’t get this again. Traditional sangria fans would be disappointed.

So, there are two “flavors,” if you will, of Disney World pizza: puffy, round, single-serving pizzas (like you’ll find here) or flatbreads (like we recently tried over at Pinocchio Village Haus in Magic Kingdom). Both aren’t typically the best pizza out there, but, of the two, the puffy pizzas tend to be our least favorite. In the past, we’ve found them to be doughy with a disproportionate amount of toppings. Often the cheese and sauce are afterthoughts, getting lost in the massive pile of dough. They’re comparable to fast food pizzas you might get at a 7-11 or other grab and go type location.

First up, we gave the Meat Lover’s Pizza a go for $10.99. This is simply a pizza topped with pepperoni and sausage with a choice of one side (we chose the side salad). Overall, this pizza was decent. It has all the necessary components to call it a pizza — mildly seasoned sauce, a scattering of mozzarella cheese, and some toppings. As you can likely guess from the photos, the crust was once again the most dominant part of this ‘za. If you’re a person who goes out of their way to eat pizza crusts (you know who you are!) this will probably check a lot of boxes for you.

We wish the crust was smaller, and we got more sauce, cheese, and toppings more towards the edge. The puffiness of the crust tends to make the topping settle in th middle like a puffed up dough bowl meaning lots of bites will be straight dough. The crust is relatively soft as well. All that being said, there was a good amount of pepperoni and sausage, and there was a bit of Italian seasoning on top that we really enjoyed.

We also tried the Pepperoni Pizza for $10.49, which is exactly the same as the Meat Lover’s Pizza without the sausage. The worst part about these pizzas is how generic they are and the crust. As you can see, another mini dough bowl here too. The pepperoni are there but not contributing too much to the overall experience.

Without the sausage, the pepperoni pizza was notably bland. Every aspect about this pizza is just meh. We found ourselves emptying an entire pack of red pepper flakes and parmesan cheese on each slice to give it some zazz. This is pizza we’d expect most kids to enjoy. It’s simple, the crust is soft, and it’s easy. This is what you order when you don’t want to fight everyone in your family to eat their food!

All toppings come in small packages and are self-serve when you go to pick up your food. We found both red pepper flakes and grated parmesan cheese.

The Side Caesar Salad was also generic, but in a better way than the pizza. It was the perfect size when paired with a pizza, and it’s nice to have a lighter side option as opposed to french fries. We wouldn’t go out of our way to order this on its own, but it helped counteract the “we ate two giant balls of dough” feelings from the pizza!

After the pizzas, it was time to try the Meatball Sub! This is made with a Hoagie Roll stuffed with Seasoned Meatballs, Marinara Sauce, Provolone, and a choice of one side.

This one actually pleasantly surprised us! We weren’t expecting much from this after the bland pizza, but the meatballs were seasoned very well. It was topped with LOTS of marinara sauce and cheese. The meatballs were a decent size, and we found the sub to be very filling!

We do wish the bread was toasted before piling all of the goodies on, but other than that we didn’t have much to complain about. And for $9.99, we think it’s worth the money if you are dining here. Nice work, little Meatball Sub That Could!

Another shocker to us was how much we enjoyed the Antipasto Salad! For $10.49, this salad includes Ham, Salami, Pepperoni, Kalamata Olives, Mozzarella, Tomatoes, Pepperoncini Peppers, and Red Onion Tossed-to-order with Chopped Romaine and House Vinaigrette. It was not listed on the menu, but we also got a piece of garlic bread to go with it!

What sets this salad apart is that it is fresh tossed-to-order, and we could totally tell. The meat was not only on top, but under the layers of lettuce, so we were not left hunting with each bite more toppings. We had a hard time trying to find something critical to say about this salad. It’s big enough to share, especially if you split another entree. This was our favorite item we tried on our visit!

With only one dessert option, we tried the Cannoli. In the filling, we noticed orange zest and tons of chocolate chips.

It tasted alright, but it was not the most authentic cannoli out there. The ricotta filling was smooth and creamy, but overall this dessert was pretty boring. If you’re a ride or die canolli fan, you’ll likely be disappointed. But if you’re in the market for a sweet bite at the end of your meal, it’s a nice alternative to a cookie, cupcake, or ice cream.

After trying some predictable dishes and some surprising entrees, our meal at PizzeRizzo was done!

Nosh or Not

You might want to eat at PizzeRizzo if…

• You are in need of a quick-bite and don’t want to wait. Woody’s Lunch Box and other popular counter-service restaurants in this park can have a lengthy wait time, but we rarely see a long wait at PizzeRizzo.
• You want to please the picky eaters. Sometimes you go to a restaurant and the picky eaters in the family can’t pick anything on the menu to eat. Pizza is typically an easily agreeable meal for groups.
• You LOVE the Muppets. Fans of the Muppets will love looking at the artwork and decor around the restaurant.
• You are traveling in a big group. There are TONS of places to sit here, and you could easily fit a large group in here.

You might NOT want to eat at PizzeRizzo if…

• You want flavorful food. With the exception of a couple things, the food here is plain and won’t satisfy adventurous eaters. If you’re looking for destination foods you can only get at Disney World, skip this spot.
• You’re only at the theme parks for a limited time. There is SO much amazing Disney food out there, so don’t waste your time on boring pizza!
• You prefer thin-crust pizza. This crust is THICK and dough-y, and just not very good. If you are a thin-crust pizza person, steer clear.

Overall

PizzeRizzo is not the best counter-service restaurant in Disney’s Hollywood Studios, however there were some highlights this trip. It is GREAT for picky eaters, but not so fun for those looking for unique eats. We would recommend other spots counter service spots like Woody’s Lunch Box over PizzeRizzo, but if you’re in a pinch, we don’t think you’ll absolutely hate the food. One thing to take away is that the food is, for the most part, pretty bland across the board, but the Antipasto Salad and Meatball Sub were actually pretty good. While the pizza unsurprisingly stayed the same, we were happy that our salad still impressed compared to last time. We don’t review PizzeRizzo often because, well, there’s just better food out there. Just about any other location in the park will have something we think is more worth your time. And why waste time, money, and calories on anything that just OK when you could eat something GREAT?

REVIEW: Does Paddlefish Hold Up in a Sea of Stellar Restaurants in Disney Springs?

Join the DFB Newsletter to get all the breaking news right in your inbox! Click here to Subscribe!

Are you team crust or team toppings when it comes to pizza? Let us know in the comments!

The post Review: Order Anything BUT the Pizza at PizzeRizzo in Disney World first appeared on the disney food blog.