During our families recent trip to Disney World, my wife and I disagreed on one of our dining reservations. She was all for eating at Tony’s Town Square Restaurant, located right at the entrance into the park, because of the Lady and the Tramp theme and because we had never eaten there before. I was a little more apprehensive since the limited reviews I had read of the restaurant were not all that enticing.
However, our friend Tonya had visited Tony’s Town Square right before our trip, and wrote a review on Traveling Mom, which had me a little more interested in having a good meal. Noise…I can deal with, after all I have three young kids. Good quality food and the Disney experience was what I was there to enjoy.
On one of our last days in the parks, and with very few sit down table service restaurants in the park, we elected to have dinner at Tony’s Town Square.
My wife had prearranged via Disney Dining reservations out table for eight people at 8:00 PM, since the Main Street Electrical Light Parade started at 9:00. I however, had a plan to try and arrive there early and request a patio table with direct views of the parade. So I rushed ahead of our party as fast as I could and got to the front desk approximately 45 minutes prior to our reservation to see if I could get the special request. While I was worried I made my party wait a really long time for a table, I had hopes that it would all be worth it.
Fortunately, the staff was great, and while they could not promise anything, said they would let us know what they could do. By around 8:15-8:30, we were called to our tables on the front porch. Due to the size of our party, they could not seat us together, but we were at adjacent tables overlooking the parade route.
Long before we even got seated, guests were already lining Main Street for their favorite view. I was just so excited that I could play a minor part in providing a little surprise to make my father-in-laws 60th birthday just a little more special. We could have sat anywhere in the restaurant and been seated much sooner, but how cool is it to have a patio table view of the parade?
Unfortunately, we happen to get a cast member that must not have been having the most magical day, as she was not the most friendly. It was not till the end of the dinner, where I was finally able to joke around with her enough to get her to loosen up.
For dinner, I opted to order Chicken Parmigiana (a lightly breaded chicken breast with marinara sauce, topped with melted mozzarella over spaghetti- $20.99)
This is one of the few restaurants my wife and I elected not to share a meal, and thank goodness we ordered our own. She opted to order the Seasonal Ravioli, which was a chicken marsala style for $17.99.
While my wife’s entree was good, my chicken parmigiana was ok, but nothing notable. The portion size was acceptable, but smaller than I expected. I like a big bowl of pasta, and I found myself still hungry from the experience. Let alone, my chicken and sauce really did not have much flavor, and I found it rather bland.
The real gem came in the form of the Main Street Electrical parade. We could not have timed it any more perfect. We were actually eating during the parade, so it is not like we were sitting around wasting time for it to start. The staff prevented people from walking around on the patio during the parade too, which was an excellent touch.
My only complaints were I think the lights of the restaurant should have been dimmed during the parade. Sitting under a bright porch kind of lost the impact of the parade. I understand people are eating, but the lights could have at least dimmed to be a little more ambient. Also, the area directly in front of the restaurant was under construction with perimeter walls. While they were low walls, the angle of the porch to the parade was slightly obstructed.
Regardless, I think everyone enjoyed the experience at Tony’s Town Square Restaurant, and the waitress even brightened all of our day by bringing a happy birthday card over for my father-in-law with Lady and the Tramps footprints, a cute touch.
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Source: InACents
