You got the dough, we got the cheese.
On a recent DIS Unlimited adventure, I “tricked” Ryno into eating rat pizza. Let me explain myself:
PizzeRizzo is a Muppet-themed quick service venue serving pizza, pasta, subs, and salads, located in the Grand Avenue section of Disney’s Hollywood Studios. It’s run by Rizzo, everyone’s favorite wise-cracking rat from the Muppet*Vision 3D preshow across the way (and films Muppet Treasure Island and The Muppet Christmas Carol, among others, but I digress).
Important to note: PizzeRizzo closes at 5pm daily – which is a bit of a bummer for being one of the few quick-service dining locations at the park.
Also important to note: Rizzo is my favorite Muppet.
PizzeRizzo: The Food
Antipasto Salad | $11.49
Chopped romaine, ham, salami, pepperoni, kalamata olives, mozzarella, tomatoes, pepperonchini peppers, and red onion with house vinaigrette. This was alright. I wish there were more snappy grape tomatoes and creamy mozzarella as these were the best parts, and there were far too few. I’m also wondering why there were diced tomatoes in addition to the grape tomatoes? I found myself picking around a lot of ingredients instead of enjoying the flavors together. Plus, the crostini on top needed more seasoning, it didn’t taste like much, and lacked that satisfying crunch. Give me that oregano! Give me that basil! Overall, this is just an okay option for a quick-service salad.
Pepperoni & Sausage Pizza with side Caesar Salad | $12.29
We obviously had to get a pizza. Or pizza “bread” as we’ve dubbed it. There’s a lot of dough, too much tomato sauce vs. cheese, (…not enough cheese, go figure!). The dough itself could have been baked a little longer, as there was a lot of it, and very chewy. We crave that crisp crust! The meat toppings were okay; it’s tough to mess up salty pepperoni, but the sausage bits were a little too dried out and lacked flavor.
Spicy Italian “Sausage” Sub (plant-based) with side Caesar Salad | $10.79
One bite of this and we didn’t pick it back up. The plant-based sausage is not IMPOSSIBLE or Beyond, but that doesn’t necessarily set it up for failure. However, this “sausage” didn’t have any spice… or really any flavor to it… and the consistency was not pleasant. The hoagie roll was fresh, and the peppers were fine, but I honestly cannot recommend this plant-based option.
Cannoli | $5.29
As compared to the rest of the food offered up here, I’m continually surprised by the quality of the cannoli. I’m a self-proclaimed cannoli connoisseur – one who’s determined to find the best on WDW property (so far, Via Napoli wins by a landslide). While the shell was a little too soggy on this PizzeRizzo visit, the ricotta wasn’t overly sweet, possessing just the right amount orange essence. I’ll be back for this again.
Pizza Cookie | $4.79
Described as a sugar cookie topped with strawberry jam, white chocolate and sprinkles. To our surprise, this was a super-cute, yummy sugar cookie we’d probably grab again on a future snack visit. The cookie itself was soft and buttery, while the white chocolate topping offered a tasty crunch. Plus, Hidden Mickey pepperoni?!
Based on past experiences, we weren’t expecting stellar food here. Heck, I wasn’t expecting the pizza offerings to beat out my undying love for a nice, mediocre cheese flatbread pizza from Contempo Café or Pinocchio’s Village Haus. But, I just need… more. More from a Disney theme park dining location. Especially coming from A) one of few quick-service locales at Hollywood Studios, and B) a space devoted to our precious Muppets. Maybe an aluminum container of freshly-baked Big Apple-style garlic knots, a punchy bruschetta appetizer, Disney Value Resort-quality pizza sold by the slice… or perhaps converting over to those Disney flatbread pizzas? I could fix her.
My favorite part of PizzeRizzo is the “Super Deluxe Banquet Room” seating area upstairs. It feels like you’re interrupting a wedding reception or graduation party with a fun and cheesy (see what I did there?) playlist of songs to set the ambience; think Dolly Parton, NSYNC, Whitney Houston, MC Hammer, and the like. There’s even a dance floor. Come on.
Sadly, we discovered this room closes at 4PM (!!), or one hour before the restaurant’s posted closing time. Since we rolled up right at 4PM on our visit, we missed out on experiencing this mostly-hidden gem.
Despite our overall disappointment on this visit, and our many wishes for a better menu to properly honor our felt friends, I shall keep returning to PizzeRizzo… even if it’s just for the cannolis, enjoying myself inside the SUPER DELUXE BANQUET HALL before 4PM, and offering my enduring support to any ounce of Muppet theme park presence I’m completely terrified of losing.
Watch more from our recent visit to PizzeRizzo here –
Theme Park Correspondent for The DIS | Chloé loves kitschy dark rides, roller coasters, a good background area music loop, hot Butterbeer, and all things Halloween. You’ll mostly find her wandering around Orlando’s biggest theme parks snapping pics and sharing tips… or probably talking about The Great Movie Ride.
