Mangino's — Restaurant in Bay Lake

Where to start?! I will start out by saying I am very selective on my Italian food. I am mostly Italian, so I'm somewhat of an expert. My dad ruined my cool Italian last name with his instead of my Mom's. Back to this review....AMAZING! I'm going to be honest and say I wasn't expecting much. Boy was I wrong. Walking in, I noticed the special for tonight. A 16oz. T-Bone with mashed potatoes and fresh vegetables. I was sold. Seeing is believing. So I ordered the Steak. The most amazing Wife in the world had some pasta with all I can call a magical blend of hand crafted cheese sauce, dug out by hand and prepared by torch at the table, accompanied with chicken. The kids had a grilled cheese and a cheeseburger with fresh fruit. I cut into the first piece of steak and took a bite. On everything that is Holy, WOW! OH MY GOD is all I could tell my wife. I never share my food. I instantly cut her a piece and told her to try it. She took the savory bite, and her eyes got big and she had the same response of, OMG! I forgot to mention the two grilled shrimp they had on top of the steak. I even gave her a bite of my only two shrimp. Man, that's love right there. We both had the same responses of, OMG! I ate the whole steak, all the potatoes, and some of the veggies. The wife couldn't finish all of hers, so I decided to have a taste. Man, oh man! I ate everything she didn't. Listen, I didn't want this. I didn't go eat and imagine I wanted to feel full as a tic. But there I was, almost ashamed of myself, but I wasn't because it was just so good. This is not where the story stops. I looked over at my kids plates and noticed they barely touched their fruit cups. I decided to give it a go. You know, fruit is always good and juicy. Boy boy boy, was I wrong! I think it was picked from the Garden of Eden. It was tasty, juicy, and fresh. We paid the bill, and it was surprisingly not as much as I thought it would be. On the way out, I stopped by the food window. One of the chefs asked if he could help me. I told him, I don't know who prepared my food tonight, but it was truly amazing. I put a smile on all their faces and even told them they needed a raise for that meal, that seems it was prepared by angels. One of the best Italian restaurants I have been to. I know what yall thinking......this guy must be huge to eat all that. I'm 5'10 and 175 lbs. (Probably 180 after tonight). When food is that good, I'm eating it! Just try it! I told my wife I was upset with her. She asked why. I told her that we had been here for 6 days and we just went there for the first time. I'm upset that I only get one more night to eat there before we have to leave. We going back...

I ate at Mangino’s as a guest of some family staying at the Disney Shades of Green resort.

The decor and ambience of the restaurant is pleasant, although the lack of a dress code leads to an odd mix of diners who are ‘dressed for dinner’ and ‘taking a break from the pool’.

Sneaking glances at other diner’s meals while walking to your table leaves you with a great sense of anticipation.

Service is prompt and in keeping with the slightly upscale ambience and pricing. The menu is not large, but is varied enough that I was interested in several entrees.

The food is plated very nicely, but isn’t snobby or pretentious. Unfortunately, from there the experience falters as the food flavor doesn’t match its appearance. Ingredients seem to be good quality, and the dishes try very hard but ultimately fail to deliver anything beyond ‘okay’.

I didn’t pay, but I couldn’t help but think the slightly higher pricing is based on the Disney name and the resorts proximity to the parks, rather than as a nod to the food itself.

Overall, it’s hard to recommend Mangino’s and I can’t imagine driving there as a local (although I’m not even sure if you can get in due to the Shade’s of Green military restrictions). Those staying in the resort are likely to try Mangino’s due to its visual appeal, but are...

Mangino's is like a 90's era Olive Garden without the bottomless salad and breadsticks. The service was decent and the atmosphere is cozy. Food is pretty standard - some good items, some not.

Positive: -Friendly service, seated right away. Calamari, Caprese salad and the mahi were all excellent. They served the calamari with a tangy sauce rather than marinara which was quite good. Mahi was cooked well. Crab legs from the sirloin/crab legs combo were cooked well

Negative: Sticky table that still had crumbs on it. Plates weren't always taken away after we were done, so they kind of accumulated. The sirloin from the sirloin/crab legs combo was paper thin and yet somehow still came out rare (asked for medium well). They did prepare a new one for us. My wife's chicken carbonara over tortellini was essentially pre-packaged tortellini covered in a jar of alfredo with peas then covered with cheese and baked. Not like any carbonara I have ever seen.

I wouldn't call this fine dining, but as the Garden Gallery is still not open for dinner, its the only sit down option at the resort. Probably better off ordering take out or room service or walking across to the Poly and...