San Angel Inn - Passable??

[o2bnoz]

Hi all,
I am trying to decide whether to try San Angel for a lunch. I am so hooked on the interior. It just looks beautiful and I think my son would love that part of it.

Here's the big question... I'm not a Mexican food lover, so for me, I wouldn't be expecting to love it. But, I'm wondering if the food is OK enough for my DH who loves Mexican food. Mind you, we live in Ohio, so it's not as if we're getting the worlds best cuisine where we live (however we do have one really wonderful 5 star restuarant in town!.. not Mexican though... don't want you to think we live in total hickville).

Anyway.... what would you do?

 

[#1hoosierfan]

Have you looked at the menu on allears.net? It is authentic mexican food.... not the "tex-mex" that is so popular here in the United States. We really enjoyed San Angel Inn, but lots of people on this board did not.

 

[MagicalMawMaw]

I love the beauty of the restaurant.

The food isn't near as good as our many local Mexican restaurants here in Tx. but not bad. Dessert was awesome. Killer for us they didn't have unsweet iced tea when we went last year.

Still, I'd like to go back sometime just because I like the way it looks there even if the food doesn't have much of a pull for us.

 

[aanderson5]

We went for lunch in Jan and really enjoyed it. Three of us had the tortilla soup (which was delicious), and then shared sides of plantains, guacamole and the Tostados de Jaiba (the fried tortilla with crab). We had plenty of food, esp. with the chips and salsa they provided. DH had enchiladas, I think, and he seemed happy with them (he cleaned his plate) but he is not a picky eater. DS(4) shared a bit of everything and also loved the soup.

We would definitely go back. The atmosphere was wonderful and the food exceeded my expectations.

 

[SuzieN]

We went to San Angel Inn for lunch last October and it was one of the best meals of our trip!!! We will DEFINITELY go again!!!!

 

[OKW Lover]

If you check the SAI reviews here on the DIS you'll find that it gets pretty low scores.

 

[cuddleworthy]

NO NO NO and NO

I was like you, I took DBF for the atmosphere and expected that the food would be just OK but at least edible. I had been here before and loved sitting by the river from the Gran Fiesta ride and eating while watching people enjoying the ride. And the starry pyramid ... just lovely and romantic right? WRONG

The food was so horrible. I'm not a picky eater, and I also do not like to complain unless there is a serious problem. Like a health problem or the food is not edible.

Anyway, I barely touched the appetizer and thought it was nasty. Then, our entrees came and my DBF was just disgusted, as was I with each of our entrees. I don't remember what I ordered but it reminded me of cleaning my pet rabbit's pee from his cage. Seriously, that's what I immediately thought of when I took the first bite. We both sent back our entrees (which I have NEVER done before!) and decided to leave.

Then what really upset me was that all of the other TS's in Epcot were completely booked. All in all, a really crappy day. The atmosphere is beautiful, but I wouldn't eat there. The food is too disgusting... Some people love it, but I wouldn't take the chance... There are plenty of beautiful restaurants at Epcot where you don't want to vomit from the food.

 

[triplejen]

It is one of our favorite places to eat at EPCOT. I'm frankly startled to see the vehemence of the one or two negative reviews - I can only speculate that perhaps someone totally unfamiliar with what they were ordering could potentially be unhappy with the result?

Even my seven year old loves the food there - and he's not exactly the world's most adventurous eater. There are choices for people that may not love Mexican food, and many choices for those who do.

It was at the top of our list for (re)booking for our upcoming trip. (A list that also included Le Cellier, Rose & Crown, Teppan Edo, and Tutta Italia just in case you wanted some context.)

Oh - and I'll second a PP's recommendation of the tortilla soup - really delicious!

 

[Mamu]

I also love the restaurant, food is OK. My DH hate it.

 

[Kiwini]

This restaurant was always a favorite during our visits 1992-2001, and we chose it to close out our visits in 2008 and 2009. Unfortunately, the menu is now uninspired and the service in 2009 was the worst of our trip. It took nearly 20 minutes from the time we were seated until our waiter showed up, and it was about the same between his visits after that, including after we were all done eating and waiting for the check, and after we paid the check and were waiting for our card back.

 

[tjmw2727]

Unfortunately I am also in the no group. I love the mexico pavilion but the food is barely ok - expensive and we have NEVER gotten even OK service here. We have tried it 3x thinking it was due to the dining program, busy time of year etc but it makes no difference.

IMHO there are so many great restaurants in the WS that this is one I will skip from now on despite the cool pavilion and location of the restaurant.

 

[dismichael]

One of my favorite atmospheres in Epcot, but have yet to try the food lol. We love Le Cellier, Chefs de France, and Nine Dragons so much it's hard to make time for other Epcot delicacies.

 

[bluejasmine]

I also love the interior of the mexican pavillion now we had a bad experience on our honeymoon here in 2008 but I hear good reports since then and I want to go back. Im pretty sure the very rude hostess is no longer there that we had back then anyways..LOL

 

[catne]

but it's not tacos and burritos, no way, no how. If he's used to Taco Bell food this is not that!

San Angel beverages & entrees
Sangria, full of yummy fruit:

Chips & Salsa (served instead of bread)

Mahi-Mahi a la Veracruzana which is mahi-mahi(fish) with olives, peppers, onions, and tomatoes in a white wine sauce over white rice

Churrasco Con Chilaquiles which is grilled flank steak on top of layers of fried corn tortilla, green tomatilla sauce, topped with fresh cheese, onions, and sour cream.

San Angel Desserts
Flan de vanilla (vanilla flan, of course)

Capirotada de Chocolate Blanco which is supposed to be “white chocolate and golden raisin bread pudding” served with Mexican milk caramel.

Don't have the name for this one, but it was a white chocolate mousse served in a fried dessert tortilla with fresh strawberries, blueberries & raspberries...and once again, this dessert also had the Mexican caramel sauce drizzled over it.

 

[Micca]

... I don't remember what I ordered but it reminded me of cleaning my pet rabbit's pee from his cage...

 

[o2bnoz]

Thanks everyone!

I think I'm more confused than ever! Definitely some wide-ranging views!

Maybe we'll stop in for sangria and chips!

I think we'd be fine with the food (unless ours come out like the "animal pee" mentioned..... ). I am much more adventurous and would love something different, and my husband would be OK with the combo platter where he could try a few things. BUT... if the food is truly horrible when we visit, I would probably be a little upset about the money we wasted (not on the dining plan).

Oh so many things to consider!

Thanks again, all!

 

[rie'smom]

Go to this link and read the menu. There are short descriptions of the food. We like it a lot but as others have stated it is true Mexican cuisine, not the Tex Mex we usually get in the states.

http://allears.net/menu/men_mexl.htm

 

[katydidbug1]

I am pretty sure I know why there is such a wide range of opinions on SAI. May people go expecting what they serve at the local "Mexican" restaurant. Where we live there are a couple of great Mexican restaurants, but by no means is it authentic Mexican food.

Its kind of like Chinese food...what we get here isn't want you would get in China. I dare say the Mexican food we get here is nothing like we would get in the different regions in Mexico.

My husband and I are there for the first time in May, and adored it. I had a rib-eye taco, that was cooked perfectly and had healthy sized chunks of avocado in it as well.

The only thing I didn't like was the margarita I ordered, and that was because I was being adventurous and not the restaurant fault by any means.

 

[Sweet Melissa]

I think it's really funny that many people here talk about how the Mexican food at the San Angel Inn is not what we're used to in the USA. Many people say that it's not the "Tex-Mex" that the USA is used to. I'm curious to know the locations of the people for whom "Tex-Mex" is more common than regular Mexican food. I lived in California for 20 years before moving to New Jersey and both places definitely know the difference between "Tex-Mex" and authentic Mexican food. Is it safe to say that most people who automatically think "Tex-Mex" when thinking of Mexican food are from the Midland?

To the OP: please excuse my tangent. To answer your question, I think that the cuisine at the San Angel Inn is more than passable. I quite enjoyed my lunch there. I believe I had the Pollo con Rajas and my boyfriend had the Enchiladas Verde, and we each loved both dishes.

 

[MYD714]

This has become one of my DH's favorite meals in all of WDW, and he's not even a huge Mexican food lover. We've been known to cancel other ADRs so that we can go back to San Angel Inn. The atmosphere is amazing!