REVIEW: The Most HATED Magic Kingdom Restaurant Just Got a Menu OVERHAUL

As far as dining in Disney World goes, Magic Kingdom isn’t necessarily our top spot.

Cinderella Castle at Magic Kingdom

Of course, we can’t resist stopping by the Spring Roll Cart or checking out any new secret menu items at Skipper Canteen, but for the most part, there are better restaurants elsewhere in Disney World. One Magic Kingdom spot that has left us salty (literally) in the past is Tony’s Town Square. We recently spotted some menu changes at Tony’s and decided to head on over to see if the new menu items were worth a visit!

Tucked away in Main Street, U.S.A.’s Town Square is Tony’s Town Square Restaurant. This Lady and the Tramp-themed spot serves up Italian food with stellar Main Street Views.

Time for Tony’s!

We haven’t sung its praises in the past and neither have many of our readers, but could the new menu offerings change our tune? Let’s dig in and find out!

Atmosphere

First things first, let’s check out the atmosphere of Tony’s. You’ll find it directly next to the Town Square Theater at the front of Magic Kingdom. You can make a reservation ahead of time or you can join the Walk-Up Waitlist by using the My Disney Experience app. At the time we joined the waitlist, there was an estimated 10-minute wait.

©Disney

There are three dining areas inside Tony’s, including an outdoor patio, an indoor sunroom, and an indoor dining room. The sunroom has beautiful views of Main Street, U.S.A. and as a bonus, it’s air-conditioned!

Great views

Inside the restaurant, you’ll find TONS of references to Lady and Tramp, like this gorgeous Lady and the Tramp fountain.

Lady and the Tramp

The main dining room has a black and white checkerboard floor with both table seating and booths.

Dining Room

Now, let’s move on to the main event — the new menu items!

Menu

Tony’s recently overhauled their menu to include more “upscale” Italian dishes. There are the Anitpasti and Secondi Piatti offerings…

©Disney

… some decadent desserts

©Disney

… and your typical kids’ menu!

©Disney

Tony’s also offers a selection of wine, beer, and one wine cocktail.

©Disney

Food

After looking at the new items, we decided to start with some Antipasti, and first up was the Toy Box Tomato Salad. For $12, you get marinated tomatoes with torn burrata cheese, cucumbers, focaccia, pickled onions, and basil. 

Toy Box Tomato Salad

We thought it was…just okay. The vegetables were fresh but the burrata cheese definitely needed more salt, which was ironic considering our last review. The serving size is quite small for the price tag and really this wasn’t too fulfilling.

Toy Box Tomato Salad

Of course, it wouldn’t be an Italian restaurant without…CARBS. So, we ordered recently added Tony’s Garlic Bread for the Table, which included toasted ciabatta with roasted garlic-butter and parmesan fonduta for $11. 

Tony’s Garlic Bread

Honestly, this garlic bread was the STAR of our whole meal. The bread was heavy on the garlic (not a problem for us) and the sauce was like a creamy parmesan Alfredo sauce, and it worked perfectly with the garlic bread. We might never look at garlic bread the same again — that’s how incredible it was.

YUM

Get a closer look at these appetizers in our video below!

Next up, we wanted to check out the new Secondi Piatti items. We started with the new Oven-Roasted Shrimp Scampishrimp with lemon, roasted garlic-butter, and white wine served with crispy parmesan potatoes for $30.

Oven-roasted Shrimp Scampi

We haven’t always had a good experience with shrimp dishes at Tony’s, but this Shrimp Scampi was excellent! It had a strong garlic taste that balanced perfectly with the butter sauce, and we really enjoyed it. It was a great portion size too!

So good

Another new dish on Tony’s menu is the Penne with Chicken Al Forno. It’s made with roasted chicken, caramelized onions, and mushrooms, baked in a spicy creamy tomato sauce and topped with mozzarella. But is it worth $26?

Penne with Chicken Al Forno

We thought the chicken was cooked really well and there was enough cheese to balance out the mushroom flavors. Our reporter wasn’t a huge mushroom fan but felt that there weren’t too many mushrooms, so if you don’t like them you can easily eat around them. This dish was pretty good!

Penne with Chicken Al Forno

Is it a surprise to you that we love cheese? See these dishes up close in our video below!

We also tried some new desserts! Tony’s Spumoni Tart was a flourless chocolate cake, pistachio cream, and dark cherry mousse for $9. It had an artificial cherry flavor that we didn’t hate, but it was VERT tart.

Tony’s Spumoni Tart

The pistachio cream was somewhat savory and we felt like it was there more for the color than the flavor, especially when it came to cutting the treat in half. Overall, the tart was just okay.

It looks very Neopolitan

Finally, we ordered the Mandarincello Custard. You’ve heard of Limoncello? Enter its Mandarin-orange cousin, Mandarincello served with almond biscotti for $8. The custard had a strong citrus taste and it was very thick — think less creme brulee and more straight custard. If you like orange-flavored desserts, you might enjoy this.

Mandarincello Custard

Which dessert would you choose?

Nosh or Not

You SHOULD try the new items at Tony’s if…

  • You already enjoy eating at Tony’s Town Square Restaurant and you’re looking for Italian dishes at Magic Kingdom. These new menu items might not be earth-shattering but we did enjoy a few of them! We will say, you can find better Italian dishes in Disney Springs and EPCOT though.
  • You’re really into garlic bread. Like really into it. We won’t judge if you join the Walk-Up Waitlist just to try that garlic bread!
  • You’re looking for a restaurant with good Main Street, U.S.A. views. If you are seated on the porch, you can get an excellent view of the Festival of Fantasy Parade or the 50th Anniversary Cavalcade.

You should SKIP trying Tony’s new menu if…

  • You want really upscale Italian food. Even with these new menu additions, they might not be what you’d consider “upscale” Italian food. You might want to try Via Napoli in EPCOT if that’s what you’re looking for. These dishes are basic and the restaurant has proved to be very hit or miss.
  • You have a limited dining budget. The Shrimp Scampi is $30 and the Penne with Chicken Al Forno is $26, so this isn’t exactly cheap dining.
  • You want a relaxing meal. We felt a little rushed during our meal so this might not be the place to sit and visit. You could instead grab a quick service meal where you can generally sit as long as you like.

Overall

So, would we come back to Tony’s for the new dishes? We’d love to come back just for the garlic bread, but we’re not sure if we’d return just for the other new menu items. While Tony’s Garlic Bread was a fairly reasonable price of $11, the entree prices and the rushed atmosphere make us hesitant to return.

If you’re already a fan of Tony’s, these new menu items might be an even bigger incentive to visit, but they don’t quite deliver “upscale” Italian for us, even if we enjoyed a few of the new menu options. If you don’t care about that and you’re looking for an excellent Magic Kingdom location with great views, you might consider it worth a visit.

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What do you think of Tony’s Town Square? Let us know in the comments!

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