How is the quality at San Angels?

[sportears]

Our family absolutely loves Mexican food. Though after eating at San Angels every year for the past 10 years, we finally had to say enough is enough, and skipped it for the first time on our last trip. The food quality kept dropping year after year to the point where the atmosphere just wasn't worth the bad food and service. Can anyone tell me if they have noticeable improvement in quality here?

 

[Mackey Mouse]

I think that is what I have read here on the Dis that the quality is not good.. I have not gone back since the last meal we had which was not good..

 

[tinkandpan]

We gave it up about 3 years ago after Dh and I felt ill after eating.

 

[MouseDogMom]

We ate there in June after giving it up for a couple of years, and have now taken it off our list permanently. The food was barely mediocre and the service was lousy. The restaurant feels so incredibly crowded that we were miserable. Even on the dining plan I felt like I'd paid too much!

 

[mickeymouse1017]

Same here. We gave it one more try this past July after not going for several years. It reaffirmed our decision and we will NEVER be going back.

 

[Evi]

The last time I went was in 03. We were staying at the Contemporary wich was also disapointing but thats another subject.

Our seats were fabulous we had the table that sits on edge of river dirrectly in front of the volcano. Sadly the food was not as magical. All in all we spent about 130$ for a meal that didnt seem all that authentic and was badly prepared. The service was terrible, we sat for over 30 minutes before they took our drink order and waited a good 45 mins between appatizers and entrees.

Would I go back? Probably not I honestly think that the experience as about sitting in the spot we sat in and beyond that I can get excellent mexican food thats authentic for much much less back here.

But if you want killer river seats infront of a volcano it may be worth it hehe.

Honestly my favorite is Marakesh, go with what the servers recomend you the food is good and though mildley spiced you can ask them to make ir more traditionally seasoned. I think the staff there is truly happy to see customers happy and I like the food. But then again I'm a bit of a foody and I like ethnic food Im not put of by it and im always willing to try something once.

Im sure you could find an ethnic mexican restaurant somewhere in dt orlando. Theres a prettt good tapas joint can't remember name of it but I'll find it this time hehe or atleast I'll try.

Good Luck and have a wonderfull vacation.

 

[lucas]

I think I would rather try Mexico's Counter Service: Cantina de San Angel.

 

[kmbound]

We much prefer the cantina on the lagoon to San Angel. So much so that we mark down the cantina as a "must do" every time we go. San Angel is less than impressive to say the least and imho the worst ts in epcot.

 

[Kovu_and_Kiara]

The food was mediocre, in my opinion. My family also preferred Cantina de San Angel.

 

[OKW Lover]

In our experience the food was "OK". Not great. Not bad. Just OK.

Its a nice surrounding and makes for an interesting meal. But overall I wouldn't rate it very high.

 

[scrump]

The last time we ate here was 2005. Food was not bad, service ok, we always love the atmosphere. Since then, I have read increasingly declining reviews, but would try it again. We did not go on our last couple of trips because of the ride rehab that was going on. We heard it killed the atmosphere.

 

[disneysuncat]

We just got back from vacation, and one day while it was raining in Epcot, my little girl said she wanted to eat "in Mexico". It was raining pretty hard, and I doubted they were taking any walk-ups (lunchtime) but I gave it a shot. They seated us immediately, RIGHT by the bathrooms, which was a very high-traffic area. (I didn't really mind that particular seating, as we WERE walkups, after all.) The tables were crammed together very tightly. Our server was efficient, but that's the best I can give him. Not friendly at all, extremely robot-like. He hit me in the head with serving trays (for other tables) three times. I thought I was going to have a concussion by the time the meal was over. The food was very, very average. I got some combination plate (around $30) that had steak on it, and shrimp I think. It was just "okay", but really lacked any seasoning. My little girl had some sort of shrimp, and so did my Mom. I was glad to be out of the rain, but I wouldn't eat there again.

 

[Rudy6]

I like the restaurant. I think that Mexico is my favorite pavillion. I just think that it is very neat. The Kidcot area is neat. The attraction is neat. The shopping is neat. I guess the place is neat. The atmosphere in the restaurant is something that is not in too many other WDW restaurants. I guess I would put the atmosphere on par with Sci Fi Dine In Theater Restaurant's atmosphere, which I also like

To be fair, however, we only ate one time at San Angels. I do plan to go back. The food is good. I would not call it great, but then I would not call any Mexican food great. I had the tacos, which were good. I like tacos. I like corn chips. I even like refried beans. I like Mexican food, just as I like hamburgers or pizza. This is good food, but not outstanding food. It is food most of us can cook ourselves, which is why we probably eat a lot of it. I know that I am rambling, but my point is that I think San Angel gets a bad rap for serving average food, when people have higher expectations.

As others have posted, the tables are close. The lighting is very low, which helps to reduce the feel of being right on top of each other.

 

[Hopefully]

We ate dinner here on 10/21 and I was very surprised and pleased. I only made the ADR because DH and DS wanted to eat here again, after about a 10 year gap. Even then I almost changed it several times based on the reviews here.
Our meals were very good. DH and DS started with the "Ensalada de la Casa - Selected mixed greens, house dressing". It was large and very fresh and they declared it was very good. I started with the "Nachos - border creation of tortilla chips topped with red sauce, melted cheese, chorizo, jalapenos, tomatoes and sour cream", They were okay, not great. For dinner DH and DS had "Combinacion Cozumel - Grilled beef tenderloin, marinated shrimp and roasted chayote served with spicy ranchero sauce, poblano pepper mashed potatoes and grilled vegetables". They both enjoyed it comnpletely. The tenderloin was tender, tasty and cooked exactly as ordered. I had "Plato Mexicano - Beef Tenderloin Tampiquena, chicken enchilada, and beef flauta, served with sour cream, black refried beans and Mexican rice" minus the beans. I do not like beans. This was delicious. My tenderloin was also tenderm, tasty and cooked exactly as ordeded, the chicken enchilada was delicious and the beef fluata was different but good. The rice was okay, but not special, but I was very full.
Our server was attentive, but not hovering. He was friendly and did a good job.
The setting is nice. I did not find it too dark. With the lamp on the table I was able to see my menu easily and I liked that the "room" was darker.
All in all it was a good meal. It was the surprise of the week.
We will go again.

 

[DumboDash2006]

I've only been there once in 06 and loved it! Great atmosphere and food. The service was not great, but not horrible either. I was worried because I'd read the bad reviews here, but my mom and sister wanted to eat there as they had once years before and loved it. Well, we all thought it was great! Yes, different from the normal "mexican" food we have here in MI, but much tastier.

We would definitely go back.