Dining at Trattoria al Forno - Disney's Boardwalk

I had the opportunity to dine at Trattoria al Forno located at Disney's Boardwalk a few weeks back while at the Capture the Bite photography workshop. If you read my review of Epcot’s Flower and Garden Festival, you saw how much we stuffed our faces before heading to dinner. While my belly was far from rumbling, I was very excited to dine here for the first time! Also - this is a great spot for all my runDisney friends looking to carb-load prior to a race!

The first thing you see when you walk inside the entry way of Trattoria al Forno is a giant wall of wine. This is speaking my language! The extensive wine list found at Trattoria al Forno is 100% Italian, featuring over 60 offerings by the bottle and 25 wines by the glass.

The main restaurant has an open floor plan, including an open air kitchen with a fire burning oven. While I didn't get to try the Neapolitan pizza this time around, I will be back!

We were greeted with a glass of Prosecco and with that, Trattoria al Forno and I were instantly best friends.

We started off with a few of Trattoria al Forno's most popular appetizers served family style.  Everything we tried was great and I would order them again on my own.

Calamari Fritti (Crispy Pepperoncini, Balsamic Agrodolce)

Insalata Salad (House-pulled Mozzarella stretched daily in house, Tomatoes, Aged Balsamic)

Salumi Italiani (Assorted Charcuterie with Seasonal Accoutrements)

Formaggio Artigianale (Assorted Cheese, Olives, Marinated Vegetables, Grissini)

We were offered a variety of entrees to choose from. Being I had steak the night before, I went with the handmade Pasta alla Bolognese with braised short rib, smoked pork belly, tomatoes, mushrooms, pecorino romano. It was absolutely delicious and although not starving, I nearly finished it.

My dining neighbor Lara ordered the Parmigiana di Pollo AKA Chicken Parmesan, breaded chicken breast, pecorino romano, provolone, fresh Pasta topped with Sunday gravy. This is one of Trattoria al Forno’s staple dishes. The even have a chicken pounder machine in the back, allowing them to pound multiple pieces of chicken at one (although pounding chicken is one of my favorite things to do while stressed out). It was a very well executed Chicken Parm.

A few other meals from our table – The daily risotto, which was scallop and asparagus. I am not a fan of scallops but this risotto looked incredible.

Continuing around the table, the Oak-grilled Strip Steak was served, paired with fire-roasted potatoes, seasonal vegetables and a herb-scented beef butter. Yep, I said beef butter.

Later that night, we had the Epcot Dessert Party scheduled, so I was not expecting dessert at Trattoria. Of course that was ignorant thinking on my behalf, an Italian restaurant sending you home without dessert? I had a small bite of each: Zeppoli, Almond Sugar-coated Fried Dough with Dipping Sauces; Dark Chocolate Semolina Torta with Brachetto Raspberry Crema

But the homemade gelato stole my heart. On the menu, it is called Spoonful of Gelato - you get your choice of Hazelnut, Double Dark Chocolate, Strawberry-Basil, or Pistachio-Stracciatella and I couldn’t stop. The pistachio and hazelnut were crazy good. Although we were full and had a Dessert Party to attend, we ended up fighting over the gelato.

We had a really nice dinner at Trattoria al Forno. I would suggest it for a nice sit down dinner outside of the parks. Boardwalks proximity to Epcot makes it an easy place to hop over.

This meal was provided by Walt Disney World as part of Capture the Bite Food Photography Workshop. No monetary compensation was provided. As always, all opinions are my own.