Tell me about San Angel Inn

[bangzoom6877]

I just read on the All Ears site that Cantina de San Angel (Mexico CS in Epcot) will be closed until Fall 2010 for a huge refurb. We had planned on possibly going there for lunch one day at Epcot on our July trip but now we can't. A friend of mine had dinner at San Angel Inn a couple of years back and recommended it to us for dinner.

How is the food at San Angel Inn now? We are from NYC so we are not used to very authentic Mexican food. I would imagine that maybe people from places like Texas or California would be disappointed in a Mexican restaurant at WDW, but like I said we have more "amateur" Mexican places here!

I saw some pics of San Angel and the atmosphere looks beautiful. I would like some opinions on the food there. Thanks!

 

[Nadjalu]

We had a very good meal at San Angel Inn. The food was great, not tex mex style. It is more traditional mexican food, so read the menu and prepare for it to not be like what you are use to. That said, it was wonderful!
DH had the chicken mole, it has a chocolate sauce. I tried it and it was good, but not my taste. I couldn't wrap my brain around the taste of dessert while eating my entree....lol
I had the sirloin with black beans and plantains....oh my was that good. The steak was cooked perfect, nice and tender as well as tasty. The plantains were fabulous! I am not a big bean eater, so DH ate them.

As for the atmosphere, you can't beat San Angel Inn. Seriously, it is very romantic. It makes you believe you are along a river in Mexico! It is a wonderful experience. Make sure to ride the boat ride in the building, it adds to the experience.

 

[44Majestic]

We ate lunch at San Angle on New Years Day. It was a rainy day and the park was not crowded. We walked up without ADRs and were seated right away. The meal was very good. We tried different entrees and everyone was happy. My DD is a vegitarien and she was satisfied too. The Magarita's were excellent!

 

[MickeyNicki]

We have had lunch there twice and both times we loved it, were even seated at the same table right along the water. We will continue to do lunch here because the dinner menu doesnt wow us

 

[OKW Lover]

SAI has gotten some very bad reviews here on the DIS. You may want to read the dining reviews here when trying to decide.

 

[bangzoom6877]

Thank you everyone!

I have read some negative reviews about San Angel Inn so I was a bit skeptical. However, I do trust my friend's judgment and seeing as there have been some positive comments on this thread, I think we are going to give it a try. We had been trying to decide for the longest time if we should go back to Biergarten (which we loved) or try a different country this time. Since we go to WDW every other year we decided to try a different country, since we can always go back to Biergarten next time if we want. We have 3 days at Epcot, and we are going to Akershus for lunch and Chefs de France for dinner already. We were considering trying Le Cellier, but San Angel Inn sounds more unique since we don't have *real* Mexican food in NYC.

Perhaps some of the people who were disappointed with SAI were expecting more tex-mex style food like tacos or burritos, as opposed to more authentic Mexican. We would like to try some more authentic food, so I think we will go there! The margaritas sound great too, but I may have to try one at Cava del Tequila first!!

One other question...the only thing that really doesn't "wow" me on the SAI menu is the dessert. We'll be on the DDP and there are only 3 choices. I like flan, but it has to be very good flan. I don't like the kind of flan that is extremely jiggly with no taste...I like it slightly creamy with a good caramel flavor. Bread pudding is great as far as I'm concerned, but theirs has raisins and I am not crazy about that. Anything you can say about the desserts or recommend? Thanks everyone!

 

[Pygoplites]

My worst WDW meal ever was at San Angel Inn and it had nothing to do with expecting Tex-Mex instead of authentic Mexican. It was because the food was horribly prepared, including a grossly overcooked, curdled flan.

However, that was more than a year ago and I've heard that the food has improved significantly. I hope that's true! I read somewhere that SAI was given the ultimatum to get their act together and that it actually worked. After my last meal, I said "never again," but I decided to give it another shot and just made a reservation. *Fingers crossed*

 

[JerseyJanice]

We had dinner there during free dining last September. Based on the bad reviews I'd read here over the years, I wasn't expecting much, but I really wanted to go for the atmosphere.

Well, it was excellent. Our server was very nice and attentive. Three of us had the tenderloin dish and we liked it, but the most awesome meal was the crispy shrimp dish my son choose. The coating on the shrimp was beyond delicious, and it was served on top of some very tasty potatoes.

The dessert I got was fantastic. I don't remember what it was called, but it consisted of white chocolate mousse in a fried tortilla shell and was garnished with fresh berries. The mousse itself was heavenly--a food for the gods.

Our cocktails were quite good too--sangria for DH, Dos Equis for me and a yummy margarita for my bro. We also liked the chips and salsa that are served in place of bread.

 

[jess20k]

We really enjoy San Angel Inn. We love the atmosphere, especially if you could snag a table by the water. I usually order the Filete Motuleno, which is out of this world. Service has been so so at times, but nothing really major. We tend to go every other trip, and we will be going there in March.

 

[pixiedustaholic]

I have to laugh when I think of SAI! It was so dark in there, we had to break out the camcorder and shine it on the menu so DFather-in-law and I could read it. LOL! Yes, we know how redneck it must have looked.

 

[Nadjalu]

Oh I forgot to comment on the desserts in my first reply....duh!

The carmel sauce they use is absolutely the very best I have every had anywhere. I am not saying that just because I like SAI.
Seriously, it tasted like no other I had ever had. It was so creamy and sweet but not overly sweet.

I had the flan and wasn't greatly impressed but I don't really care for flan, I was "stretching" for dessert, but that carmel sauce.....was worth it.

I was even stealing DH's off his ice cream!!!

 

[disdrmg]

I go to every resturant in Disney with an open mind. I am much more interested in the overall experience and atmosphere wanting something we can't get at home. So I could not wait to try San Angel because of this very reason. I had read a lot of bad reviews and was prepared not to expect much from the food. The atmosphere was phenominal but the food was really bad. To the point that we will not go back. We ate there for dinner. Even with the wonderful atmosphere, I hardly ate any dinner and I think there are enough places in Disney that we can live without this one.

BUT, I would try anything once and see for yourself. Everyone has a different opinion and you may love it. The atmosphere alone is worth eating there once.

 

[SuzieN]

We had a fantastic lunch at San Angel Inn in October!!! I enjoyed the flan for dessert and my cousins both had ice cream with the homemade milk caramel sauce and the sauce was heavenly!!!!

 

[suebedo]

We were just there in Dec and had dinner at SAI for the CPP. It was OK. Not great but OK. I didn't hate it but I didn't love it. The atmosphere is great. It is beautiful in there so that was nice. I have to been to some awesome authentic Mexican places but this was not one of them.
I LOVED Le Cellier. The filet was awesome! Le Cellier gets my vote!

 

[TheBacklot]

Dear Lord, I don't want to be a 'Negative Nancy' but is it really that much work to type out the name of a place, SAI? For a second I thought people were talking about a completely different place! I cringe when I see; "When I am going to WDW I'm staying at SSR and taking a bus to the TTC over to EP to eat at SAI.'' I'm like....really?? Just an observation!

 

[ctnurse]

have eaten there 2 or 3 times and loved it...and the drinks are yummy....oh and I am a food snob

 

[perdidobay]

DH and I really like San Angel Inn. The last time I had the flan it was very good. My favorite thing on the menu is the Pollo A Las Rajas.
The passion Fruit Margarita is my favorite drink there.

 

[annnewjerz]

We have eaten at San Angel Inn a few times now and each time it has been excellent. On our trip in December, we went for lunch and enjoyed it just as much as years past.

The atmosphere can't be beat. It is dark, so make sure to have a cell phone handy for anyone that might be older traveling in your group. They changed the chips since our last trip and don't seem to be the straight out of the bag type anymore.

The drinks were awesome, we got Blood Orange Margaritas and they were very tasty and had very generous amounts of alcohol in them. The food was also very yummy. I had the chicken tostados for my appetizer and liked them so much I chose them for my entree also. Nice crisp tortilla shells, fresh ingredients and tasty shredded chicken. My Mother had some sort of tacos with duck meat, although I can't find them on the Allears menu. My Husband had enchiladas for his entree and thought they were very good.

If you are big on sweets, the only thing that we find lacking is the dessert selection. Typically if we want something for dessert, we'll go grab some churros from the Cantina de San Angel.

We love Mexican and will continue to go here for lunch every trip if we can.

 

[Hopefully]

We ate at San Angel Inn on our last trip. I was very skeptical based on the multitude of bad reviews here on the DIS and I nearly cancelled the ADR on several occasions, but DH and DS wanted to go.
It was the surprise of the trip. We went on our arrival night. The food was very good, the atmosphere is great and our service was perfect - attentive but not hovering. I did not find it to be too dark and I did not feel the tables were any closer together than in many other TS in WS.
We will go again.

 

[njsmama]

I booked San Angel for the first time in 9/08. It was the surprise of the trip! I had read so many negative reviews that I was afraid to try it, but the location of the restaurant made me try it. I am so glad I did. I got the Pollo A Las Rajas, and it was great...hot and full of flavor. My brother got some steak entree which was nice as well. I also had the appetizer tostada de jaiba and it was YUMMO! The flan was really good. I hate overcooked flan, but this was made to perfection. No curdled, bubbly, dry areas.
We dined there again in 6/09 and DH had the steak and enjoyed it, DS got another kind of steak and did not like his...too spicy. Kids had nuggets and were happy. DN had the quesadilla and liked it well enough. I stuck to my previous trips choices and was thrilled again! Perfect! I don't remember what DM got, but I don't remember her being displeased...and believe me I would remember if she had been, lol...
It is kind of dark in there....but I like that atmosphere.
I hope you have a good experience if you go!