Circle of Parks Podcast: Talking all things Walt Disney World
Because there's far too much to see and do. We're here to help guide you through. We are a married couple with two boys age 9 and 6 talking all things Disney World. This podcast will cover the tips and tricks we've learned along our journey, history of the parks and attractions, and most importantly why and how Disney makes us feel how we do while in the parks and that it's ok to feel that way.
Circle of Parks Podcast: Talking all things Walt Disney World
Episode #206: La Cantina de San Angel Live Dining Review, Kind of!!!
Looking for honest Disney dining advice? We're cutting through the magic to tell you what La Cantina de San Angel in Epcot's Mexico Pavilion is really like. After battling World Showcase crowds for a table (while a medical emergency unfolded nearby), we put this quick-service spot to the test.
Our dining adventure quickly turned complicated when promised customizations created confusion among staff. Despite assurances that modifications were no problem, our simple requests resulted in deconstructed meals – cheese served in cups rather than on tacos, and chicken delivered separately from nachos. The $15.75 Aros bowl with breaded shrimp offered generous portions but questionable value, while the $16.50 Tacos de Barbacoa disappointed with dry meat that couldn't compete with Chipotle's juicier version. Nolan's $15.50 nachos earned the tepid review of being "just all right" – hardly the enthusiastic endorsement you want when spending Disney prices.
The verdict? Skip La Cantina and opt for either San Angel Inn (the sit-down restaurant inside the Mexico Pavilion) or head to Connections Eatery for better quick-service value. We're already eyeing China Pavilion for our next Epcot dining adventure. Whether you're planning your first Disney vacation or your fiftieth, our candid reviews help you maximize both dining credits and out-of-pocket spending. Have you tried La Cantina? We'd love to hear if your experience matched ours or if we caught them on an off day!
Hello and welcome to Circular Parks Podcast, episode number 206. On this episode we are doing a dining review on La Cantina de San Angel in Epcot. There is far too much to see and do. We are here to help guide you through and here's our take on this quick service restaurant.
Speaker 2:No merch this time.
Speaker 1:No merch at the moment.
Speaker 2:Not in the same day.
Speaker 1:Not in the same day. I did one a little while ago.
Speaker 2:So we were going to do this live at the restaurant, but unfortunately there just happened to be a medical emergency going on while we're eating. Everything appeared to be okay.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:But we didn't think it would be appropriate to.
Speaker 1:Be a few tables away doing this and but the person was responsive and everything I'm thinking maybe dehydrated. It was really hot today, so maybe the heat got to them.
Speaker 2:I don't know and they were older, so you don't know exactly what all health, pre-existing conditions they could have had or whatever, right?
Speaker 2:uh? And then if you've been to the world showcase in the evening, you know it can get pretty crazy, yes, and so we just decided, uh, we were going to wait until we got back into the room. We split up, me and ryan went to hollywood studios and y'all came back to resort to relax. But we are back now, and so this is going to be our take on this. Brittany, what did you get?
Speaker 1:I got the Aros bowl with shrimp and it was priced at $15.75. Now this rice bowl, it had shrimp, tomato, salsa, pickled onions, queso fresco, cilantro and corn and some cabbage and shrimp and the shrimp was a breaded shrimp. It was a little different so I was kind of like, ooh, I don't know how breaded versus grilled is going to be, but it was amazingly very delicious.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and Ryan and I both had the tacos de barbacoa, shredded beef on homemade corn tortillas, topped with red salsa and cilantro, served with rice and black beans and queso fresco. So before we walked up, the gentleman I guess the manager that was telling you which station to go to to order, because they do not do mobile ordering here Right.
Speaker 2:I asked if you could customize the stuff and he said, oh yeah, it's all customizable. I said okay. So me and Ryan both wanted the tacos de barbacoa with the beef and shredded cheese, because that's what we always get when we go to Chipotle. And when I went up to the guy to order and he was like, yeah, sure, no problem. And then Nolan had the nachos and instead of the beef he wanted chicken on it, correct. And when I we ordered all this stuff, the the guy taking order was like, okay, got it all, no problem. And then when we went, when you and nolan finally fought, you know, elbow to elbow to get a table, yeah, had to keep an eye on when people immediately stand up for tables.
Speaker 2:We'll talk about that more when we get back on our trip report. But one of the gentlemen I guess one of the expo people that gets all the meals together came back and questioned three times what our order was.
Speaker 1:Oh wow, Didn't they have a receipt?
Speaker 2:They did, and the receipt wasn't very Detailed, accurate, well, not really accurate, but just not. It didn't communicate really well what we wanted, okay, gotcha. So the expo guy came back to us a few times and was like you don't want ground beef on nachos? I said no chicken. He goes well, chicken doesn't come on the nachos. I was like, well, can we get chicken? He's like, yeah, chicken, okay. And then he asked us about the tacos de barbacoa. He was like no cilantro, no red sauce. We're like no, no red beans and no rice and black beans. We're like no, I just want meat and cheese. He said, okay, okay. So he comes back with the food Nachos, chips, cheese, with the chicken in a side bowl.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And then the tacos, just the barbacoa with cheese In a little cup, in little cups. I just kind of looked at them and kind of smiled and we walked away.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Why can't they just put the cheese on the tacos and why can't they just put chicken on the nachos?
Speaker 1:I guess they just have protocols they have to follow and since they normally don't do chicken nachos, I get that.
Speaker 2:but it doesn't Anyway. So for the tacos de barroco they're $16.50 and the nachos were $15.50. Brittany, do you think we got our money's worth here?
Speaker 1:I mean my bowl. It was a lot of food. I couldn't even finish it, to be honest, but we'd been snacking and stuff too prior to this. But I don't know if I would pay $15.75 for it. Again, I mean it was our quick service credit, but I would maybe pay $10 for it $10?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I did like the corn tortillas. I do like corn tortillas over flour tortillas. I think they are better. The barbacoa was dry, it was not. I mean, it was fine.
Speaker 1:I thought you had told Ryan you like this barbacoa better.
Speaker 2:No, I like Chipotle's way better.
Speaker 1:Chipotle just keeps them in the juice. I misunderstood.
Speaker 2:It just sits in the beef juice. They're so moist and tender. I'm sorry, chipotle's better.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:And Nolan, what did you think of your nachos? They were all right. They were just nachos, they were all right. They were just all right, they were all right. So, with this review, brittany, would you recommend coming back here again?
Speaker 1:Probably not. I think I prefer the sit-down, the San Angel Inn that you can see inside the Mexico Pavilion, because when we went there before I think we we thoroughly enjoyed that it. It surprised us where this one. Again, it wasn't bad, but for the price and everything, if we didn't have the quick service dining plan, it wouldn't have been worth the money yeah, I would agree.
Speaker 2:I I think we got much better value for the money at Connections Eatery.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:I would recommend that over this. I know it's not Mexican food, it's different.
Speaker 1:But the amount of food you got and how it tasted and everything we thoroughly enjoyed lunch.
Speaker 2:Yes, I would say that for sure, I think, because we kind of had gone back and forth about maybe going to the China Pavilion and eating there, because the food we stopped by there to take a little bit of a break today it looked really good.
Speaker 1:It did and I just wasn't sure. Nolan's a little bit picky so I wasn't sure if he would do the sweet and sour chicken or not. So if we can get him used to trying that type of chicken, like that type of breading, then you know that might be something when, when we go back to epcot, you know, to try there yeah, I think that's whenever we go back.
Speaker 2:I think the china pavilion is a place that we will go back to eat. Um, and I do. I didn't mention this last episode. I'm sorry, erica, I apologize. This podcast is sponsored by Travel Planner Erica. Go check her out wwwtravelplannerericacom. She's on Instagram and Facebook. At Travel Planner Erica, we don't have the sound stuff here with us. We don't have the jingle, but this podcast is sponsored by her. We appreciate it, thank you.
Speaker 1:Yes, and sorry for our episode episode. Earlier too, there were a lot of things going on around us at the restaurant. Yeah.
Speaker 2:And the audio is horrible. We have cheap microphones that don't do that good of a job, so we apologize for the audio. But again, thank you Erica. We do appreciate everything. She booked everything for us. So thank you so much and we're going to be doing a down and review tomorrow from docking base seven.