Welcome to L’ Originale Alfredo di Roma Ristorante—or simply Alfredo’s, as almost everyone calls it.

This restaurant traces its lineage back to “the real Alfredo’s restaurant” in Rome, where fettuccine Alfredo was invented. It’s quite a coup for a theme park to have a branch of restaurant that was made famous by globetrotting celebrities through much of the twentieth century.

Alfredo Di Lelio was a young man with a small restaurant in Rome. In 1914, after his wife Ines gave birth to their first son, she was quite weak and refused to eat. Alfredo decided to prepare a plate of food that would be appealing and nourishing. His simple combination of noodles, cheese and butter—essentially the common Italian dish fettuccine al burro—was such a hit with his wife that she asked him to add it to the restaurant’s menu. There are also accounts that this happened while his wife was still pregnant. That’s how fettuccine all’Alfredo (or simply fettuccine Alfredo) and future restaurateur Alfredo II were both born around the same time.

Alfredo’s in Rome might have remained an obscure local eatery if it hadn’t been for Hollywood silent film stars Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford. During their 1927 honeymoon in Rome, they dined at Alfredo’s restaurant frequently. They so enjoyed Alfredo’s simple yet tasty fettuccine dish that they gave Alfredo a golden fork and spoon inscribed with, “To the King of Fettuccine.” (or “To Alfredo, the King of Pasta,” depending on which account you want to believe).

The Hollywood press picked up the story, and suddenly people all over America wanted to try fettuccine Alfredo. Other major and minor celebrities dined at Alfredo’s when in Rome, and tourists followed. Fettuccine Alfredo became one of the most popular Italian dishes, and Alfredo’s became possibly the best known restaurant in Italy—at least for Americans.

You’re now waiting for your name to be called in the theme park version of Alfredo’s. Take a look at the photographs. They’re pictures of celebrities at the original Rome location, usually posing with Alfredo Di Lelio or Alfredo II

The lobby has a big glass window into a room where fresh pasta is prepared from scratch throughout the day.

This restaurant is committed to preserving the original recipe and preparing it for guests as an appetizer or main pasta course. Authentic fettuccine Alfredo is simply a plate of fresh, handmade semolina egg noodles, tossed with plenty of fine Parmesano Reggiano cheese that’s been melted in plenty of high-fat (European style) butter. It’s rich... very rich... very, very rich.

Don’t confuse this authentic fettuccine Alfredo with the fettuccine Alfredo typically served by American restaurants or with pasta topped with grocery store Alfredo sauce. You won’t find milk, cream, water, eggs, garlic, parsley, flavorings, corn starch or other thickeners in the authentic sauce.

Now it’s time to be seated in the dining room. The tables are close together and the noise level is high. Waiters are rushing back and forth, trying not to run into guests or each other.

This Alfredo restaurant is more spectacular than “the real Alfredo’s restaurant” in Rome. The chandeliers here are much bigger, and the walls here are decorated with murals. Renaissance style carpeting covers the floor. This restaurant is far grander than you’d expect from an Italian restaurant in America—or Italy, for that matter.

The trompe l’œil—French for “trick the eye“—murals in the dining room are fun. Painted in the style of Italian Mannerist painter Paolo Veronese (ca. 1528-1588), these murals create an optical illusion of depth through perspective and realistic imagery.

Enjoy your meal. You might love it. You might not. Unfortunately, this restaurant is known for its uneven quality of food and service.

If you ate a plate of rich fettuccine Alfredo, you might be inclined to turn down dessert. But once you see the dessert choices displayed on a table, you might change your mind.

L’ Originale Alfredo di Roma Ristorante opened at EPCOT Center (now Epcot) on October 1, 1982, as one of the original restaurants of World Showcase. Five years earlier, Alfredo II and Mr. Guido Bellanca had opened an outpost of Alfredo’s in New York City.

Alfredo’s at Epcot was the huge success from day one. Due to its famous name and the general popularity of Italian food, guests packed the restaurant at lunch and dinner.

With its popularity and its large dining room, Alfredo’s was said to have the highest revenue of any Epcot restaurant year after year. According to the “R&I Top 100 Independent Restaurants-2007” list in the restaurant industry trade publication Restaurants & Institutions (R&I), Alfredo’s at Epcot was the number twelve independent restaurant in annual dollar volume in the entire United States.

The original 25-year contract with the company operating L’Originale Alfredo di Roma Ristorante ran through August 31, 2007. Alfredo’s at Epcot closed permanently after dinner on the final day of the contract. “Regulars” of the restaurant packed Alfredo’s, with some flying in just for the occasion.

Several other Epcot restaurants are also operated by outside companies—the restaurants in France (operated by famed French chefs Paul Bocuse, Gaston Lenôtre and Roger Vergé), the restaurants in Japan (operated by Japanese department store chain Mitsukoshi), and the restaurants in Mexico (operated by the Debler family of the San Angel Inn of Mexico City). Disney and these restaurant operators negotiated new contracts.

Disney and the company that ran Alfredo’s ended their relationship rather than coming up with a new contract. An internal Walt Disney World document said, “While we have enjoyed working with the Alfredo’s Group since Epcot opened, we are finalizing plans to develop a new Italian restaurant concept.”

What was the reason? Why would either side want to end the business relationship? Internet bulletin boards had speculation ranging from dissatisfaction with the Disney Dining Plan by the Alfredo’s side to dissatisfaction with the quality of the restaurant by the Disney side.

On April 20, 2007, a press release said, “The Patina Restaurant Group announced today that Walt Disney Parks and Resorts has selected it to be the operating participant for the restaurant at the Italy Pavilion at Epcot in Orlando, Fla. The new operation will begin September 1, 2007. Notably, the Patina Restaurant Group was also one of the original operating participants at the Disneyland Resort’s Downtown Disney District in Anaheim, starting in 2001.”

Patina not only operates restaurants at the Disneyland Resort—the Naples Ristorante e Pizzeria, Tortilla Jo’s, and the Catel Restaurant and Uva Bar—they also operates a portfolio of several dozen other “premium segment” restaurants in California, Nevada, New York, New Jersey, and Massachusetts.

Although the Patina Restaurant Group officially took over the former Alfredo’s at Epcot the morning after it served its last meal, Patina didn’t open a new restaurant operation overnight—it took a little over two weeks. On September 17, 2007, Patina reopened the former Alfredo’s as a Tutto Italia, which means “All Italy.” As its name suggests, Tutto Italia serves specialties from throughout Italy rather than concentrating on a particular region. Tutto Italia’s menu isn’t a clone of any existing restaurant in the Patia portfolio, but it draws upon the recipes and experience of other Patina locations. The trompe l’œil murals are still there. The tables and chairs have been rearranged to make the room less crowded.

Meanwhile, the Alfredo’s Group continues to operate an Alfredo of Rome in New York; they’re planning to open a new location at the Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino in Las Vegas (which is the former Aladdin); and there a rumors that Orlando might be next. Alfredo III, the grandson of founder Alfredo Di Lelio, runs “The Real Alfredo” in Rome, Italy.

Tutto Italia is just a “temporary restaurant.” At some point in 2008, Tutto Italia will close for an extended period. Patina is planning to open a new restaurant concept in Fall 2008; at least that’s what they announced in April 2007.

It remains to be seen what happens to the trompe l’œil murals that were in Alfredo’s. These murals are a good example of the wonderful details that Disney Imagineering put into Epcot’s World Showcase pavilions a quarter century ago.

And it remains to be seen if there will be any fettuccine Alfredo on future menus in Epcot’s Italy.

Click here to discuss this page on the Yesterland Discussion Forum at MiceChat!

Disney-MGM: Beginning Epcot’s Icon Tower Home

© 2007-2008 Werner Weiss — Disclaimers, Copyright, and Trademarks

Updated April 11, 2008.

Photo of Ristorante Alfredo exterior: Werner Weiss, 2007
Photo of Ristorante Alfredo sign: Werner Weiss, 2007
Photo of caricature of Alfredo di Lelio: Werner Weiss, 2007
Photo of Alfredo’s waiting area: Werner Weiss, 2007
Photo of preparation of fresh fettuccine: Werner Weiss, 2007
Photo of Alfredo’s main dining room: Werner Weiss, 2007
Photo of trompe l’œil mural of court musicians in Alfredo’s: Werner Weiss, 2007
Photo of trompe l’œil mural of waiter carrying dishes in Alfredo’s: Werner Weiss, 2007
Photo of desserts at Ristorante Alfredo: Werner Weiss, 2007
Photo of Naples Ristorante at Downtown Disney at the Disneyland Resort: Werner Weiss, 2007
Photo of Tutto Italia Ristorante sign at Epcot: Werner Weiss, 2007