Sunday, August 12, 2018

Trattoria al Forno Dinner - Disney's BoardWalk

Last updated May 26, 2019 

In July, my family had dinner at Trattoria al Forno, a table service restaurant on Disney's BoardWalk. Trattoria al Forno, which serves Italian cuisine, has been one of our favorite restaurants at Disney World since it opened. It is a short walk from the back entrance of Epcot, which is located between the United Kingdom and France pavilions.


Trattoria al Forno uses gluten free breadcrumbs in all of their dishes, which means that fried calamari, meatballs, and chicken Parmesan are all safe options. Most allergy-friendly menus at Disney World will only include dishes that meet the standard of being safe for at least four allergies. If you see a dish you are interested in on the regular menu, and it is not on the allergy-friendly menu, have your server check for you or ask to speak to a chef.


Gluten-friendly dishes on Trattoria al Forno's allergy-friendly menu include calamari fritti, insalata caprese, insalate di stagione (seasonal salad), wood-grilled strip steak, parmigiana di pollo (chicken parmesan) pasta alla bolognese, pasta alla carbonara, pesce al cartoccio (whole fish), and polpette (pasta and meatballs). You can see pictures of the insalata caprese, the whole fish, and Trattoria al Forno's kids menu in my dinner review from November.


Trattoria al Forno serves Deanna's Gluten Free dinner rolls, my favorite gluten free rolls at Disney World. They are served with olive oil, but I also requested some butter.


I decided to try the seasonal salad with peaches, watercress, arugula, macadamia nut gremolata, and vanilla vinaigrette. It was delicious, and I enjoyed the creative combination of flavors, textures, and ingredients.


Trattoria al Forno's fried calamari with cripy perreroncini and balsamic agrodolce is my favorite gluten free calamari at Disney World. In the past year, they started serving it with garlic aioli, which we ask to be left off. The presentation has changed a bit, and our balsamic agrodolce was served on the side, but the calamari was as delicious as it has always has been. The breading is nicely seasoned, and we like the sweetness of the balsamic agrodolce.


My girls could not agree on an entree to share, so I offered to split the parmigiana di polla with allergy-friendly pasta and Sunday gravy with my daughter Emma. We did not request it, but the chefs split our entree in the kitchen, which I was thankful for. I usually do not like chicken parmesan, because I do not enjoy acidic red sauces, but Trattoria al Forno's Sunday gravy is sweet, and reminded me of my quick cook tomato sauce. The pasta and chicken were so good, I could have eaten an entire portion by myself, even after all the bread and appetizers I ate.


On our last visit in November, which you can read about here, my husband and I shared the oak-grilled strip steak with fire-roasted potatoes and seasonal vegetables. It was one of the best entrees I have ever had at Disney World, so I was disappointed to read on the regular menu that it was now being served with a red pepper sauce instead of the sauce we had over Thanksgiving Break. We had eaten steak every day of our trip up to this point, and my husband told me he felt like we had eaten three cows since we arrived at Disney World, so we passed it up, which I definitely regretted after seeing Pixie Lizzie's picture and review on her Facebook page. She said it was the best steak of her entire life. I guess it just gives us something to look forward to when we go back in November.



Gluten-friendly desserts on the allergy-friendly menu include chocolate or vanilla gelato, strawberry-basil sorbetto, and vanilla bean cheesecake and seasonal fruit (a no sugar added dessert). I finished my meal with my favorite gluten free dessert, the pistachio-stracciatella gelato, which is not on the allergy-friendly menu, because it does not meet the standard of being safe for at least four allergies. No matter how full I am after eating at Trattoria al Forno, I always enjoy this small bowl of gelato.


Overall, we all loved our meals at Trattoria al Forno, and look forward to having dinner there again in November. My daughter Katie, who can eat gluten, had a margherita pizza, and my husband shared with everyone else.

May 26, 2019 Update


Over Thanksgiving Break, we had dinner at Trattoria al Forno, and we will be dining there again in less than a week.


I started my meal with a white wine sangria, which I really enjoyed.



My Deanna's Gluten Free dinner rolls were not heated well, so I sent them back.


The second batch was heated perfectly, and they were amazing topped with extra virgin olive oil and butter. The rolls are very dry inside if not heated well, so definitely request new ones if they are not warm enough. 


I did not order the calamari on this visit, because we had fried calamari earlier in the day at Coral Reef in Epcot. You can read my Coral Reef review here.


I shared two entrees with my family. The parmigiana di polla was good, but I was a little disappointed that the tomato sauce was not as sweet as on our last visit. We enjoyed our oak grilled strip steak, but it could not compare to the steak we had at Trattoria al Forno last Thanksgiving Break, or the steaks we had at STK earlier in the week.


You can read more about Trattoria al Forno, view their menus and hours, and make advance dining reservations on Disney's website here.

What are your favorite gluten free options at Trattoria al Forno?

0 comments:

Post a Comment