The Tuscany Holiday Kitchen in the Italy Pavilion of Epcot’s World Showcase returns this year with four new food items for the Festival of the Holidays. We tried them all, so you might know if they are worth your theme park dining budget.

Experienced visitors to the festivals at Epcot should have some idea of the reputation of the Epcot festival food and beverage booths in the Italy Pavilion. Based on that reputation, we felt concerned about trying four new items from the festival location. The four new food items consist of:

• Montanara: Fried house-made pizza dough with Pomodoro sauce, parmesan, and fresh basil
• Farfalle Salmone Affumicato: Farfalle pasta with smoked salmon and cream sauce
• Torta Caprese: Flourless chocolate torta with chocolate sauce and vanilla cream
• Dolce Pizza: Fried house-made pizza dough with sugar and cinnamon.

After glancing over this list, we saw several items that sounded simple. Now, that does not mean these items will not be good. A simple recipe or product prepared well can taste excellent. Would that be true of the four new things at the Tuscany Holiday Kitchen? Our taste buds prepared to engage with this Italian-themed cuisine. We did receive a large amount of help from GooToYou on this first day of the Festival of the Holiday, so feel free to check out their channel.

(Editors Note: I fully appreciate the turn table mechanism to present the food in the video. Very innovative.)

Farfalle Salmone Affumicato at Tuscany Holiday Kitchen – $10.00

The Faralle Salmone Affumicato is the most expensive item on the Tuscany Holiday Kitchen menu. Thus, we will start with this option. The pasta with this dish tasted below average for a Walt Disney World festival item. This can happen with quick-service pasta. As a result, we would not downgrade an item based on just that.

However, the sauce tasted below average. This leads us to recommend skipping this festival food item.

In addition, the salmon tasted below average for a festival food item. Sure, we understand that salmon can be inconsistent at food booths. However, the salmon at the Yukon Holiday Kitchen tasted far better. Based on the price point, we suggest ordering another food item at the Epcot International Festival of the Holidays instead of this one.

Torta Caprese – $8.50

We enjoyed this dessert. Still, the flourless chocolate torta with chocolate sauce and vanilla cream tasted like a standard dessert one could find at many restaurants. However, the price point over eight dollars causes us to be hesitant to recommend this sweet treat. With so many better dessert options at the Festival of the Holidays to choose from, we would go with something else to satisfy your sweet tooth.

Two Fried House-Made Pizza Dough Items at Tuscany Holiday Kitchen

The Tuscany Holiday Kitchen offers two different fried pizza dough options. One counts as savory, Montanara ($9.00), and the other as sweet, Dolce Pizza ($7.50). We preferred the Dolce Pizza. It reminded us of some other fried dough sweet treats previously sold at Walt Disney World.

However, our main complaint about these two fried dough options relates to texture. Both were a bit chewier than desired. We think the biggest complaint most guests will have about these two items connects to the texture issue. Also, our group failed to appreciate the pasta sauce with the Montanara item.

Conclusions About the Tuscany Holiday Kitchen

The Epcot festival food options in the Italy section tend to receive low grades. This year, based on higher price points and the overall food quality, we would rate this as the weakest Festival of the Holidays food and beverage locations. Besides the pasta dish, the food options taste okay. However, we would not prioritize the Tuscany Holiday Kitchen.

If interested, we published reviews of the Seared Salmon and the Rugalach at this year’s Festival of the Holidays. As always, eat like you mean it!