Hacienda or San Angel?

[delgrec]

We love San Angel Inn for the atmosphere and a love of Mexican food. We almost always go there when we visit. We haven't tried Hacienda yet. For those that have tried both, which do you prefer and why? Thanks! Oh and we will have a 4 and 6 year old with us who love Mexican and are well behaved when dining. Thanks for any opinions!

 

[fredtom]

SAI has been on our must-do list for 12 successive years. Last year we also tried La Hacienda for the first time and very much enjoyed it. It's certainly worth trying if you've never been.

 

[minnie mum]

We much preferred dining at La Hacienda over San Angel Inn. The menu may not be as extensive, but the food was very well prepared. We also found the service to be much better, and liked that we didn't feel as crowded. At SAI (besides finding it WAY too dark) we hated the way the tables were jammed so close together. Might as well have just had communal tables.

 

[everythingALICE]

I very much prefer La Hacienda (have another ADR there for my upcoming trip!). I wasn't very impressed with San Angel Inn, but may give it another try at some point as it seems to be getting better reviews recently.

 

[delgrec]

Hmmmmm.....interesting. Thanks for the feedback. I will have to give this some thought! I asked DH about it and he thought I was crazy for even considering Hacienda over San Angel.

 

[amberpi]

I prefer SAI, the food is more interesting (honestly, our last meal at Hacienda was horrible, like chain restaurant food) and the atmosphere is pretty great being so close the ride. That said, we like darker, more intimate settings and don't mind the tables being close as its less noisy than La Hacienda, but DH and I are both in NYC a week a month so we're very used to tables being close together. For us, the noise is much more bothersome than closeness if everyone is using their inside voices I will say our first 2 visits to a Hacienda were 1) fantastic and 2) fine, but it does NOT have the atmosphere of SAI (my DH now refers to it as WDW Chili's) and we were sorely disappointed in the food the third time. We didn't bother really eating the food the third time it was so bad and headed to La Cava for tequila and guac The night was still a success if you ask me!

In full disclosure, my DDad always has a reading light for menus in poorly lit restaurants and he uses it at SAI, but he uses it a LOT of places, I think he may just need the magnifying glass that's also attached!

 

[jennylyn_b]

We like SAI but we LOVE Hacienda! From the beautiful decor to great service and delicious food and margaritas. Our two year ok has been three times and she loves the food and the staff are very good to her. We will leave SAI off our list but we don't have any complaints with it other than its dark and feels too romantic for a little one. She's well behaved and we don't allow her to disrupt others but still we like the family aspect of Hacienda better.

 

[dotnang]

went to sai last year and found hair in my food twice, after sending it back! Manager tried to but you me with a drink at 1pm... dispicable! Never ever going back!

 

[Polydweller]

We used to like La Hacienda but after our last meal there we won't be going back for a long time. We checked in and waited for a lengthy period of time with our pager. So, after 15 minutes past our adr time I first asked how long it would be and was told a few minutes. Forty minutes past the ADR I asked again. I was told we were not showing as waiting by the same person. I showed him the pager and said it hadn't gone off (we had sat within 6 ft of him the entire time). His reply, sorry you are now too late for your ADR so we'd have to wait for the next free table which would be an hour.

Went in to the main desk with pager. After getting a manager we were finally sat. There were at least twelve tables that were empty and half of those hadn't been bussed. This despite having just left the scene at the front where there at least 10 parties who also had waited excessive periods of time.

Our meal was just ok while in the past it had been great. At the end, there were still many tables that had never been cleared and/or never filled. When we exited the restaurant there were several couples waiting. The operation of that restaurant that night was among the worst we've ever encountered.

 

[partigus]

just as different parts of the states have different cuisines so does mexico. The old mexico restaurant was always getting flack because it wasn't Tex Mex, so the new Hacienda takes Tex Mex to the extreme....so we still don't have a mexico Tex mex (thank god) we have two different TS venues inspired by different regional quinines, It's important to read the menu, and maybe even find some pictures to make sure what you think you are gtting is what you are served. We live in texas and have access to several types of mexican cuisine and we typically enjoy it, but my wife and kids can't eat wheat, so must have corn shells. Now my wife has grown to like authentic soft corn shells, the kids still like the the traditional crispy corn shell- which is oddly not offered at the mexican TS venues......

 

[jimandami]

We really enjoy SAI for both food and atmosphere, but when we tried La Hacienda, my DS8 was the only one of 7 that enjoyed his food...we just didn't care for it.