World Showcase Italy  FIFTH COUNTRY IF TRAVELING CLOCKWISE UPON ENTERING
A showcase of Italy featuring Italian architecture of including statues, Roman ruins, grapevines, olive trees, container gardens, gondolas, a great restaurant, and more...
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“One of the most interesting parts of this area is the forced perspective that is created,” Darden explains. “While most of the others are closed in a horseshoe shape, the Italy pavilion is open in the rear, drawing your eyes to the trees in the background.” This architectural sleight of hand, along with the help of carefully planned landscaping, tricks the eye into believing the area is larger than it really is. Container gardens bring the architecture to life here. Grapevines on the trellis and near the statue in the rear further enhance the Italy theme. Olive trees also can be found just outside of the Delizie Italiane, but no fruit is produced by these trees because of Florida’s humidity. Near the gondolas, rows of navel oranges and kumquats are planted to represent the Mediterranean region of Italy.
"I can make peace between nations, just with my fettuccine," insisted Alfredo DiLelio. L'Originale Alfredo di Roma Ristorante at Epcot, under the supervision of longtime DiLelio family associate Guido Bellanca, serves le originali fettuccine all'Alfredo according to the family recipe.
"We're using fresh pasta made on the premises and the same brand of Parmesan cheese imported from Reggio Emillia we've used for more than 50 years," says Bellanca. The pasta-making process is on view behind large windows looking into an area of the restaurant's Italian-tiled kitchen.
Decorated in the warm earth tones characteristic of Florence and Siena, Alfredo's red-brown walls and deeply upholstered armchairs create an inviting atmosphere in which to sample pasta specialties such as trenette al pesto Genovese (imported linguine with Alfredo's pesto sauce), scaloppine con funghi selvatici (veal sautéed with demiglace, wine sauce and wild mushrooms) and ziti alla Mediterranean (ziti with fresh mozzarella, Sicilian olives and fresh tomatoes).

   Perhaps World Showcase's weakest pavilion, Italy has little in the way of attractions or entertainment value.  Aw heck, it is World Showcase's weakest pavilion.  With the thousands of years of Italian history and art, they couldn't think of anything to put here?
   To be fair, I'm sure the creative guys did think of several things they could do.  Tattered historical documents refer to upcoming 'Roman Ruins' and representation for southern Italy (the pavilion as it is remains strictly northern).  Unfortunately when EPCOT was built these were relegated to "Phase II" status and we know what happens to those things.
   With today's management, you can be darn well guaranteed they aren't going to put any money into the pavilion for the sole reason of actually improving the guest experience.  No, if anything appears in the Italy pavilion anytime soon it'll probably be "Herc's Wacky Ferrari Test-Drive Spin".  Pull G-forces, hurl, and experience poor attempts at contemporary self-referential anachronistic humor at the same time!
   So, while there isn't much to do in EPCOT's Italy, it does feature one of the park's most popular restaurants...

L'Originale Alfredo's di Roma Ristorante
   ...but you can call me Alfredo's.  When I was a lil' kid this was my favorite restaurant in World Showcase.  The food was familiar and accessible, and just exotic enough to be interesting.  Today I still love to drop by every few years or so but it's no longer a must do.  It's very pricey for what you get, and while it is very good there's nothing here you probably can't find at an Italian restaurant in any medium-sized urban area.  But... fettuccini and tiramisu... mmmmmm......
   The restaurant features large rooms that can be somewhat crowded, as this is one of EPCOT's most visited restaurants. The walls are painted with trompe l'oeil; these are ultra-realistic paintings that create the illusion of various vistas and scenes through nonexistent windows and doors.  Dinner entertainment can include wandering musicians and singers.