Location: La Cantina de San Angel is located across from the pyramid in the Mexico Pavilion.
Food Type: Mexican.
Dining Plan: One quick service and some items count as snacks.
Menu:
Unique Items: Most.
Advantages:
- Scenic outdoor seating if you can find a table. During lunch hours, you can sit inside the air-conditioned La Hacienda de San Angel restaurant because it only serves dinner.
- The guacamole is very good.
- The chips are colorful.
Disadvantages:
- Small portions.
- Poor food preparation and seasoning.
- Limited menu.
- Outdoor seating area is usually packed and there isn’t much room to move around.
- Chips seem stale, even that’s how they’re supposed to be served.
Value: Low. You’re paying a lot of money for not a lot of food.
Reputation: Low. I don’t think a lot of people are excited to return.
Food Choices:
Tacos de Carne:
Unfortunately, this is the first meal in a while that I’ve been completely dissatisfied with. We all know about the “Disney upcharge” and how we can expect to pay a little extra, just because we’re at Disney World. However, you’re looking at an $12 Tacos De Carne entree. With a Coke and tax, this meal cost $15.64. While it looks pretty, note the lime wedge sitting in front of the three tacos. That isn’t Godzilla’s lime (thanks to Dr. Brian Noble for the phrase). We’re talking three tacos that barely span the length of a small lime wedge. To add insult to injury, the beef was dry and flavorless. While the tacos did have a nice flavor with the addition of the pico de gallo and salsa, it doesn’t make up for the small portion size and lack of quality in what should be the most important part of the dish. Each mini-taco was basically two to three bites. Are there a lot of chips? Sure, you would probably be plenty full if you ate all of the chips. But for $15.64, I want more than chips and a soda. I’ve had a few less than stellar meals at La Cantina recently and it’s dropped near the bottom of my quick service list, at Epcot and in Disney World overall. I just can’t recommend it. It would cost about $60 to feed a family of four here, which is just ludicrous. Add dessert and it’s $75+. Not recommended.
Empanadas de Queso:
This was a better meal than the Tacos de Carne I had last time as seen above.
The Empanadas were better with a crispy crust and satisfying, hot melted cheese interior. The green sauce added moisture, but not a lot of flavor. It wasn’t at all spicy. The Empanada portion of the meal is still small. The Empanadas are maybe three or four small bites each and it’s just cheese inside – no meat, sauce, or anything else. A combination of the chihuahua cheese in the Empanadas and the smoked beef brisket in the tacos would be pretty amazing, but I wouldn’t hold your breath.
I’m not crazy about the chips here either. They are obviously served as intended because they are always the same, but they seem stale and tasteless to my weak American taste buds. There are plenty of them though and the 500+ calories worth of chips are really where you’re going to fill up at La Cantina. On the plus side, the hot salsa really is good and it’s the same as what’s served inside San Angel Inn or La Cava del Tequila. The green salsa verde is also good for those that prefer something less spicy. Overall, I don’t think La Cantina presents much of a value. 99% of you will have better, cheaper alternatives right down the street at home and there is better food for the money in several other Pavilions including Norway right next door. It does smell very good though and remains extremely popular, especially because Mexico is the first or last Pavilion you’ll most likely visit and it has an obvious location.
Seating
La Cantina has a decent number of covered, outdoor tables. Unfortunately, this is one of the most popular World Showcase quick services because it’s so obvious, most people can relate to Mexican food, and it’s near the front of the World Showcase. Luckily, if you dine before about 3:30pm you can take your food into the air-conditioned La Hacienda de San Angel and eat. The seating section for La Cantina is also extremely popular from 7pm – 9pm because it overlooks the Lagoon for IllumiNations. Don’t bet on getting a table after 7pm because people waiting for the show will be squatting.
Condiments
You’ll find two varieties of salsas, one mild and one hot, along with the usual assortment of other stuff.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
It always looks so crowded never had the desire to even look at the menu.
Where can you find a churro in Epcot?
To each their own. With children that are picky eaters, this is pretty much the only counter service country they will eat in. Plus, we are early lunch eaters and usually hit this right around 11ish as we walk into FW. We like it and it is a nice switch from all of the burgers and fries etc.