Eaten at La Hacienda recently? Tell me about it.

[OchreHand]

I decided to book a couple of ADRs as a treat for returning back to WDW after 12 years. I decided on La Hacienda at 8:30pm, since I really enjoy Mexican food (and the possible chance of an Illuminations viewing.) Did a couple of searches and found that early reviews were really not good..at all. Quality of food, especially, seemed to get the biggest criticism.

Has any of that changed if you've eaten there recently?

 

[theguda]

My wife and I went in September and it was great. It was the 2nd time we've been and both times have been highlights of the trip. If you can get a window seat to watch Illuminations....you will not be disappointed. We're going back again in February and this place is now on our "must do" list.

 

[WolverineQ]

We went in August and thought it was one of the best meals we've had on property. I think a lot of the criticism is born out of the fact that La Hacienda is serving more traditional mexican cuisine than tex-mex. This is not the place to get a ground beef burrito, but if you like authentic mexican La Hacienda is pretty good.

 

[OchreHand]

theguda and WolverineQ, thanks for the responses! Good to know you've had positive experiences.

Any tips on grabbing an Illuminations table? I'm going second week of Jan. so I'm hoping table competition won't be so bad

 

[Polydweller]

We went in August and thought it was one of the best meals we've had on property. I think a lot of the criticism is born out of the fact that La Hacienda is serving more traditional mexican cuisine than tex-mex. This is not the place to get a ground beef burrito, but if you like authentic mexican La Hacienda is pretty good.

Agree totally with this. In October we had a spectacular meal here. It was as you say one of the best we've had at Disney. Everything was cooked abolutely perfectly with wonderful flavor. It's not tex-mex and its better. Highly recommend it.

Everyone wants a window table at Illuminations time so all you can do is ask and hope.

 

[OhThePain]

We ate there the last week of October and had an OK experience. My fiance and I shared the La Hacienda. Some parts of the dish were pretty good, other parts were pretty awful. We are in no rush to go back.

This is not the restaurant to go to if you want to watch IllumiNations. There are very few tables with a view of the WS Lagoon and I can imagine that what you can see of IllumiNations is pretty limited with most of those seats. If that is your only chance of seeing IllumiNations, your much better off getting an earlier ADR, for say 6:30 or 7 and then finding a spot for IllumiNations after your meal.

 

[Hopefully]

theguda and WolverineQ, thanks for the responses! Good to know you've had positive experiences.

Any tips on grabbing an Illuminations table? I'm going second week of Jan. so I'm hoping table competition won't be so bad

I disagree with OnthePain's assessment of both the food and the view.
We went the third week in October and shared the La Hacienda and it was terrific. The rice was excellent and I like the new chips. We shared the taco trio for an appetizer and loved it.
I stood at the back of the Main seating area for Illuminations and the view was awesome!!!! I saw things on the Globe I have never seen outside.
I do agree that Illuminations should be viewed from Lagoon side at some point, to get the full experience.
There is no trick to getting a table with a view. Most tables do not have the best view. Everyone wants the same thing and everyone asks for it. I think it is simply the luck of the draw.
Enjoy

 

[pigby]

If you aren't lucky enough to get a good table to view Illuminations is there a standing area for La Hacienda guests to move to outside as at Rose and Crown?

 

[Tony-NJ]

Don't go for the view - the majority of the tables do not have a good view. We ate there in October and we were pleasantly surprised at how good it was. But if you are going with high hopes to get a view of Illuminations - don't.

 

[Allison]

I was just there last night and really enjoyed it.

 

[OchreHand]

Thanks for all the feedback! I'm still psyched about going, even if I don't get a great view. I made sure to allow two days at Epcot so if I miss Illuminations one night, I'll work it out on the second night.

 

[tndisneyfan]

This may not be as recent as what you were asking about, but we ate there in June and loved it. I was worried about our ADR because I didn't know how the family would like it. We live in east TN so there's really no authentic Mexican places around. Our local Mexican cuisine consists of Taco Bell and a couple of local cheap Mexican restaurants. That being said, we loved the food and have another ADR set for May.

 

[Hopefully]

If you aren't lucky enough to get a good table to view Illuminations is there a standing area for La Hacienda guests to move to outside as at Rose and Crown?

No,
There is no outside viewing and there is no standing area like at Rose & Crown.
A very small number of inside tables have a terrific view of the Lagoon.
The others are basically out of luck.
I agree, don't go here for the view of Illuminations. If you get a good view, consider it a bonus.

 

[Sweet Melissa]

We ate at La Hacienda in October and thought that it was pretty good. We both agreed that the San Angel Inn has a better menu, but we enjoyed everything we had at La Hacienda. The restaurant is very pretty and the staff are friendly and capable. Our margaritas were just as good as the ones served at La Cava del Tequila. The sopa de frijol was an outstanding starter. I think my partner had the pollo al pastor and liked it very much. I thought my arrachera (a flank steak dish) was a little under-seasoned but still tasty.

Although we were seated in an area with a view of the lagoon, there were several tables between us and the windows. We were sorely disappointed when people at the window tables stood up for IllumiNations. They pretty effectively blocked the view for the rest of us. There was also a column between the windows that was directly in our line of sight and blocked the globe completely. All we were able to see from our seats were some of the peripheral fireworks.

 

[Maryrn11168]

I'm glad I found this thread. We are doing an extended family trip and my sister loves Mexican food. We will have to try it!