San Angel Inn

[FreeTime]

We ate there last summer and had looked so forward to it. It was awful! Our kids would not eat the food from the kids menu, we were crammed in a corner with a big wall in front of us and could see nothing, the waiter didn't even bring us refills. We will not go back!

 

[Ron from Michigan]

We ate there for the first time in many years last month and really liked it. We had not ate here in many years because it was just never very good.

 

[photobob]

I am not a restaurant snob, I promise, you won't read me bashing restaurants on these boards. That being said I gave San Angel Inn two trys and I'll never be back. The food isn't nearly as good as our local $5.75 per plate Mexican Restaurant and the service is honestly the worst I've encountered. Here is an example of the service. It was a hot day so when the drinks and chips and salsa came the drinks went quickly. We asked for refills. Ten minutes later the entrees came and I ask for drinks, still no refills. We started eating and I ate until I simply couldn't because I ad no drink nor did anyone else at the table. I finally went to the hostess and asked if she could have someone bring us drinks. Finally 30 minutes after we requested refills our waiter comes and sits four drinks on the end of our table and walks off. I think my bill was $59.67 and I left $60.00.

 

[ntsammy5]

We've eaten at SAI well over 10 times and the food has always been good and service was friendly - now that it's open and I have reservations for next week it feels like a WDW vacation again.

Everyone's opinions are based on personal experiences. Both of us could be at the same restaurant at exactly the same time and have completely different experiences. That's life.

 

[KELLMILL]

Atmosphere great, food not good, unfriendly staff. Make sure you make reservations, we tried twice last year when we got there and they were always booked.

 

[lsutiggergirl]

We hate the food--but the Mexico counter service is surprisingly much better!

We always stop by during lunch, ride the boat and go outside to eat lunch for our CS.

We would never ever book here for dinner again. Bleh. No me gusta.

 

[avahoneybee]

My family really enjoys San Angel Inn and I especially like the Margaritas.

 

[MightyAlweg]

You can buy the Tostido chips and jar salsa right outside the restaurant (or in your local grocery store). Definitely not authentic. I live in Texas where we have tons of Mexican restaurants on every corner: the chain Mexican restaurants, Tex Mex restaurants, and authentic mom and pop places owned by local immigrants. They do each taste different and we eat at all three types of restaurants frequently. San Angel Inn is not even close to any of them. The last time we ate there our food came out cold, not warm, but cold. Service is extremely slow and tables are so close you can hear every conversation around you. The scene is very pretty and peaceful though.

I live in SoCal and have plenty of really, real authentic Mexican food - so that's not what I'm looking for, I'm more interested in the decor and service than the food I guess LOL

 

[Jasmin1]

I'm planning on eating here for the first time in Aug. You will always see mixed reviews for everything, so I just decided to try it for myself. I read on a lot of the reviews that the little cantina outside (the QS one) was really good and last year we tried it. I didn't like it at all! The food on the menu at San Angel sounds very good to me. I thinks you should go for it.

 

[Gina35]

We have been dining here every trip, and we are so happy that reservations are again being accepted. It is definitely one of our favorites; not for the food (although it is decent) but for its spectacular ambiance. It just doesn't seem like a DW vacation without going to SAI.

 

[TStrickland01]

It's a tough call. The ambience is great if you are overlooking the canal at the pyramid. But to be honest, for those who are looking for Tex-Mex, there are propably 2 dozen better options off site. Those that are familiar with Cal-Mex (90% of West Coast Mexican), will be put off by the spices and "heaviness" of the cuisine. Those who are actually expecting authentic Mexican food, should not even go. While a couple of entrees on the dinner menu are interesting, the service is definitely sub-par. Even speaking Spanish with the wait staff does not improve things. All in all, avoid.

 

[TStrickland01]

MightyAlweg,
By definition you have described yourself as SoCal. You have only Baja versions of traditional Mexican food. You miss the nuances of Jalisco, the spice of Chihuahua, or the freshness of the sea (yes the Gulf, but more in line than the upper Baja) of the Veracruz area. That you would vouch for authenticity from SoCal is amusing. Cal Mex is some of the worst food on the planet.

 

[MightyAlweg]

MightyAlweg,
By definition you have described yourself as SoCal. You have only Baja versions of traditional Mexican food. You miss the nuances of Jalisco, the spice of Chihuahua, or the freshness of the sea (yes the Gulf, but more in line than the upper Baja) of the Veracruz area. That you would vouch for authenticity from SoCal is amusing. Cal Mex is some of the worst food on the planet.

Trust me, I've been to Mexico and Central American and have had the full palate of Mexican food. We have a wonderful mix of Mexican food from every state here in LA.

I'm not vouching for anything and/or anybody!

MA

 

[TheLadyTremain]

My husband, DD and I ate at San Angel Inn in Sept. 2007. By far, it was the worse meal of our trip. This was the restaurant I looked forward to the most and I love Mexican food so maybe I had very high expectations. DH did not like his meal. Mine was ok but nothing to write home about. I almost would say the food seemed to have this frozen entree appearance about it--like they just put in the microwave on High for 3-5 minutes. DD was just 16 months at the time but she only ate grapes!!!

But what really made it awful was the service. The few people we encountered at the restaurant may have been the most miserable people in all of EPCOT. No one had a smile, very unpleasant. And they were slow and seemed annoyed if you asked for anything. And of course, we had to flag our server down as she never seemed to come near the table.

Such a disappointment. DH has reminded me repeatedly in planning our Sept. trip that he will not be eating there again.

 

[aubriee]

I live in SoCal and have plenty of really, real authentic Mexican food - so that's not what I'm looking for, I'm more interested in the decor and service than the food I guess LOL

OK, fine, forget the really bad food. Service also stunk. The waiter brought our drinks, but that was all the drinks we would get. Service was very slow. By the time our appetizers arrived we had finished our chips, hot sauce, and drinks and was sitting there looking around for our waiter. We asked for beverage refills, as well as more chips and hot sauce. We never got them however, and didn't see the waiter again until he brought our entrees. We again mentioned wanting beverage refills, as well as more chips and hot sauce. His response was, "Oh sorry, I forgot". He then disappeared again, until he brought our desserts. The desserts were totally wrong and none of them were what we ordered. The table next to us, who was also getting upset because they couldn't get beverage refills either, spoke up and said they were their desserts and they still wanted drinks too. Well the waiter again disappeared, then finally reappeared with our check. Excuse me, we still hadn't gotten our desserts and we never did get drink refills, much less more chips and salsa. Jut FYI: there were quite a few wait staff standing around talking to each other, but very few paying attention to the customers.

The atmosphere is nice if you are lucky enough to get one of the few tables next to the river.

 

[TIGGERmetoo]

DH and I ate there a few years ago (3, I think) and we were not impressed. The food was just ok and we felt like they were trying to rush us out the door. Main course delivered before finished with appetizer, dessert delivered before finished with main course, check delivered without even asking if we wanted anything else. I doubt we would go there again.

 

[MightyAlweg]

MightyAlweg,
By definition you have described yourself as SoCal. You have only Baja versions of traditional Mexican food. You miss the nuances of Jalisco, the spice of Chihuahua, or the freshness of the sea (yes the Gulf, but more in line than the upper Baja) of the Veracruz area. That you would vouch for authenticity from SoCal is amusing. Cal Mex is some of the worst food on the planet.

I'm curious - how do you know that we have only Baja versions of traditional Mexican food? There are many immigrants from every part of Mexico here that have set up shop. Not to belabor the point, but how could you possible know the dining options where I live, the little hole in the wall places where I've been

Just asking!

 

[Jasmin1]

I'm curious - how do you know that we have only Baja versions of traditional Mexican food? There are many immigrants from every part of Mexico here that have set up shop. Not to belabor the point, but how could you possible know the dining options where I live, the little hole in the wall places where I've been

Just asking!

I totally agree with you. There are so many immigrants who have set up all around with the taste of food from where they are from (whether it be from one part of Mexico or the other). Especially in LA.
It will be authentic (doing the best it can for here in the states), but none of the food here in the USA will ever taste like Mexico's food anyways because you don't get that freshness of the food.

 

[Gator Kate]

We go for the margaritas! The food is mediocre at best and always lukewarm. It's a fun place to hangout though. Here's what we do. Ask for the vegetarian menu. It only has 2 items, a salad or a sampler plate of enchilada, burrito, beans. My sis and I split the plate and fill up on ....you guessed it....margaritas on the rocks, no salt . Glad to hear it'll be open when we go end of May.

 

[frisco]

Only been once (last year), but I really liked it. Atmosphere is top notch. Food was very good. My wife didn't care for hers, but she's not very adventurous when it comes to food.

We're going in August. My only concern is bringing our twin 2 year olds. Seems like a quiet restaurant, and I'd hate to disturb anyone if my kids get antsy.