Spotlight on La Cantina de San Angel in Epcot (Quick Service)

by: Brook W. - agent at Mouse World Travel

Earlier this year, my family and I had the opportunity to visit the newest addition to Epcot's awesome variety of Quick Service Restaurants - the La Cantina de San Angel, which is part of the Mexico pavilion in the World Showcase.

La Cantina is nestled right along the waterfront of the World Showcase Lagoon.  It is open for lunch and dinner.  During the lunch period there is both outdoor and indoor seating, but during dinner hours, the inside portion of the restaurant is turned into a sit-down Table Service.  We arrived at 8:00 pm for a late dinner.
 

Illuminations was just one hour away and this place was BUSY!  Many people were coming into this restaurant, ordering a drink or two, in hopes of snagging a table along the water for a great Illuminations view.  So, if you'd like to take advantage of that - arrive early and enjoy your food and drinks slowly!

That was not on our agenda for the evening, so we determined we would take any table that happened to open up.

But, first things first, let's figure out what to eat!

The menus is not vast.  Beef tacos, chicken tacos, cheese empanadas, "loaded" nachos, or nachos and guacamole.  The tacos and empanadas come with a side of pico de gallo and tortilla chips.  During my visit the guest in front of me asked about getting Spanish rice instead of the tortilla chips and the Cast Member affirmed that he could - but he changed his mind at the last moment and went with the chips, so I cannot completely confirm that this is an option...but it doesn't hurt to ask!  It is not listed on the menu.  The corn tortillas and guacamole are both handmade.

Desserts are churros with a caramel sauce, or Paletas - which are traditional Mexican fruit popsicles.

For Kid's Picks the choices are chicken tenders or a cheese empanada.  They come with tortilla chips, fruit and a beverage.

There are a few alcoholic drinks, the typical Coke products, bottled water, hot cocoa and Jarritos and Sidral - which are two traditional Mexican sodas.

After we ordered, I waited for my food and started to take in the details of this beautiful restaurant.

Food in hand, I navigated the crowds to my waiting child and husband.  We had found a table fairly quickly despite the number of people at the eatery.

 This is not a great picture, but it shows the seating over the waterfront.  The little cart on the right has napkins, straws, all that sort of thing.  It also has two types of salsa-a red and a green.

My 3-year old's choice for this meal were the chicken tenders. Many of the Quick Service restaurants serve basic chicken nuggets for the kids; however, these were full, white-meat chicken strips that you find generally in the adult meals (they taste much better than the kids nuggets!).

My husbands choice was the cheese empandas.  

And mine, the beef tacos.

We also received one cup of nacho cheese sauce.  This wasn't anything special, or spicy - just your basic nacho cheese sauce.  Standard is good sometimes...why fix what isn't broken?!

All three of us enjoyed our food!  My husband said the cheese empanadas were "good, not great", but he didn't leave one morsel behind either.  My beef tacos were DELISH!  I have nothing bad to say about them!

For dessert, both my husband and I chose the churros with caramel sauce.  The picture shows one portion.  They were hot and fresh.  The caramel dipping sauce isn't your traditional thick caramel, but is much thinner and an awesome compliment to the churro.

The churros are not only delicious, but they also make an excellent sword!

After our meal our bellies were full.  We were happy.  La Cantina was a hit.  We enjoyed it immensely despite the crowded status.  It was worth dealing with the crowds for!!

Matter of a fact...we liked it so much...we ate there again in our trip!

This time around, my husband chose the beef tacos that I raved over.  He agreed with me, they were a clear winner!

I chose the chicken tacos.  They were good...but not as good as the beef, in my opinion!

And the little dude chose the cheese empanada this time.  Which, as you can see, comes plain-unlike the cheese-loaded adult portion.  It's similar to what a deep fried grilled cheese would be, so naturally, my son really liked it!

And dessert....we couldn't resist...more churros!

All three of us agree that this is an excellent addition to the World Showcase options.  If you enjoy Mexican food, don't pass this one up!

Watch for my future review of the La Hacienda de San Angel, which is the Table Service portion of this restaurant.  I'm already drooling in anticipation of my meal!