Has Tony’s Town Square Restaurant Redeemed Itself?

by Beth Keating

Food Review

November 20, 2024

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It had been more than twenty years since the last time we ate at Tony’s Town Square Restaurant in Magic Kingdom.  It was part of a multi-family trip, and to put it kindly, none of us had a great meal.  A few of the diners felt the entrées were “adequate,” but the rest of us were not impressed. (Even the kids’ pastas had that “Chef Boyardee-esque” quality.)

First, two caveats. Back then, Disney had not yet gained a whole lot of momentum for “fine dining.”  It was still largely “theme park food.”  And secondly, we were a group of New Yorkers raised with some of the best Italian restaurants around.  So, Tony’s wasn’t quite living up to the cuisine we were used to.

The experience was disappointing enough that over the years, as we heard other families nix their visits to Tony’s as well, we continued to take our meals elsewhere.  But recently, there’s been some chatter in Disney corners that Tony’s had upped its game, particularly in the appetizers department. 

One recent afternoon, a last minute change of parks had us walking into Magic Kingdom at lunchtime, with lots of the day’s dining reservations already spoken for.  Tony’s, though, had a ten-minute walk-up wait list, and we decided to throw caution to the wind and give it a shot.

Honestly, we’re glad we did, because the experience was so much more than the food, and that is all thanks to the cast member who served as our host.  As he was leading us to our seats, he very cheerily told us that he was seating us at his favorite table in the entire restaurant. It turned out to be at the very end of Tony’s front porch.  He also smiled as he said, “It’s the best place for people watching while you are waiting for your food, and if you take your time eating, the Festival of Fantasy Parade will be coming through in about 45 minutes, and this is a great table to watch the parade from.”

He was so right!  We happened to be enjoying one of the first cooler Florida afternoons of the fall, and the spot on the porch was delightful.  And the people watching was great.  Normally, you are so busy hustling through Town Square to get to your first attractions that you miss a lot of the details.  As we waited for our meal, we watched the Main Street vehicles ferrying guests back and forth, the Main Street Philharmonic parading through Town Square, and even had a few performances by the Dapper Dans, who were giving renditions of their favorite tunes and even more of their cornball jokes, all from the comfort of our table.  And our meal was perfectly timed so that just as we were finishing our entrées, the parade came rolling down Main Street. 

So, how was the meal?  We had originally come to partake specifically of the appetizers, with the garlic bread tower and the mozzarella sticks coming highly recommended.  Both appetizers are unassumingly listed on the menu, however, so you sort of need to be “in the know.”  “Tony's Garlic Bread For The Table” ($13.00) is described as toasted Ciabatta with roasted garlic-butter and parmesan fonduta, but it is so much more than that – this isn’t your usual long loaf of garlic bread.  Nope, this is a tower of crispy garlic bread sticks stacked Jenga-style that comes with a small pitcher of the melty parmesan fonduta that you pour over the bread before eating these small wedges.

The second buzz-worthy appetizer, and the one we ended up selecting, was the Fried Mozzarella with Spicy Creamy Tomato Sauce ($15.00).  This in no way resembles the plate of mozzarella sticks you’d find at your local pub.  In fact, we’ve never seen such enormous mozzarella sticks before – they ran the entire length of the plate.  There were only two sticks, but oh, what an amazing two they were! Crispy and golden on the outside, and warm, gooey and stretchy on the inside, these were quite possibly the best mozzarella sticks we’d ever eaten. If you are spice-shy, you might want to ask them to put the marinara on the side, as the two huge mozzarella sticks are plated on a swath of the slightly spicy sauce.  A sprinkle of parmesan cheese gave the sticks (logs?  planks?) an added punch of flavor.  No lie, we would come back to Tony’s repeatedly just for these mozzarella sticks.

For our entrée, we went with the Chicken Parmigiana, “lightly-breaded chicken breast baked in Tony's marinara sauce and mozzarella served with spaghetti” ($32.00).  While it was good, it didn’t live up to the fireworks that accompanied the mozzarella sticks.  The spaghetti side was just al dente, and the sauce was a touch on the bland side, despite the sprinkle of parmesan and julienne strips of basil.  The main event, the chicken parmesan, was what we New Yorkers have started calling “Florida style.”  Rather than baked completely immersed in a surrounding of sauce, the way it usually is up north, this version was more like a very thick chicken cutlet topped with a ladle of sauce and a covering of cheese.  The piping hot cutlet itself, however, was moist and very thick, and crunchy on the outside. It would even be welcome on a sandwich. 

 By the end, we were too stuffed to try the desserts, but there is a nice selection of sweets to sample if you’ve made it that far, from seasonal cannoli ($9.50), traditional Italian Tiramisù ($8.50), and a creative and photo worthy Affogato ($8.00) that looked really interesting as the table next to us ordered it!

Tony’s Town Square Restaurant was designed as a turn-of-the-century trattoria, the first building on the right that you come to as you pass through the Main Street tunnels, and into your view of the Magic Kingdom.  Tony himself is the restauranteur who makes an appearance in Disney’s 1955 Lady and the Tramp movie.  He’s the one who gives the pups their plate of spaghetti and meatballs for the iconic scene.  The restaurant itself is filled with nods to the animated classic, from portraits on the walls, to a fountain paying tribute to the pooches, to the doggie footprints in the cement in front of the restaurant, just like in the movie.

So, will it be another twenty years before we return to Tony’s?  Four out of five forks say we’ll be back, because I’m already thinking about those glorious mozzarella sticks.  Maybe this time we’ll try a different entrée for a bit more pizzazz, though.

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Beth Keating is a theme parks, restaurant and entertainment reporter for DisneyBizJournal.

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