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Unlike the other parks, Epcot has a lot of places to eat. All of the World Showcase countries have at least one food service location. These vary greatly in setup, quality of food, and price. In Mexico, you will find La Cantina de San Angel, which is a quick-service restaurant. This is my review of La Cantina de San Angel.
Theme/Decor
La Cantina de San Angel is an open-air restaurant located at the edge of World Showcase Lagoon. All seating in the restaurant is located outdoors under a covered pavilion. While there is not a lot of it, the decor of the restaurant is very characteristic of Mexico. The focal point of the restaurant, however, is the lagoon. So, the decor is minimal to keep your attention focused out towards the water. There is just enough theming at the restaurant to remind you that you are in Mexico.
Location
As mentioned above, La Cantina de San Angel is located in the World Showcase section of Epcot. It is in the Mexico pavilion on the lagoon side of the promenade. You will find the restaurant next door to its sister restaurant, La Hacienda de San Angel. While La Hacienda is a table service restaurant, La Cantina is a quick service location. La Cantina is actually the first restaurant you will encounter when entering World Showcase from the Mexico side. For a relaxing place to sit and enjoy views of the water, you can’t beat this location!
Food
The food at La Cantina de San Angel is typical fast-food style Mexican food. On the menu, you will find options such as tacos, nachos, and empanadas. The children’s menu also features chicken nuggets for those picky eaters. The dessert offerings are churros with caramel sauce or popsicles.
I am not really impressed with the food at La Cantina. We live in Texas where Mexican food restaurants are plentiful. I feel that La Cantina’s food is bland and nothing special. I can get much better Mexican food through a drive-thru at home. This is kinda surprising to me because I love the food next door at La Hacienda. But, I am not a fan of La Cantina, mainly because of the food. There are much better quick-service options in World Showcase.
Entertainment
There is not any true entertainment at La Cantina. This is mostly due to it being a quick-service location versus a table service place. As mentioned above, though, this is a nice spot to relax and take in the beautiful views of the lagoon. You can do some decent people watching from the seating area at La Cantina as well. This is also a pretty good spot to sit and watch Illuminations. The only problem with watching from here is that, at least for me, the roof over the seating area somewhat interferes with the view of the fireworks.
Disney Dining Plan/Cost
La Cantina does participate on the Disney Dining Plan. It will cost you one quick-service credit per person. If you are paying out of pocket for this meal, you can expect to spend less than $15 per adult. From a purely economic perspective, this is a decent use of your dining credits. Plus, if you are already in Epcot, this is a convenient place to stop and grab some lunch or a quick dinner. However, when you factor in the quality of the food, I feel that this is more of a waste of a credit than anything else.
Conclusion
La Cantina de San Angel is a quick-service Mexican food restaurant. It sits on the lagoon side of the promenade in Epcot’s World Showcase. It is in a very convenient location as it is close to the Future World side of the park as well. The restaurant has outdoor seating with beautiful views of the lagoon. You will find that it is one of the few spots around the lagoon to sit and watch Illuminations. However, the views of the fireworks are limited due to the roof over the seating area.
The biggest negative of this place is the quality of the food. It is basic, bland, and nothing to get excited about. You can find much tastier food in other quick-service restaurants in Epcot. Unfortunately, this negative outweighs the positives of this place for me. My family will probably not eat here again anytime soon. I would recommend finding a different place to eat while in Epcot.
I hope this review of La Cantina de San Angel helps you as you plan for your next trip to Disney World. Happy travels and have a magical day!
One of my son’s favorites! He is a picky eater, but likes Mexican, so it is always a must for us. My husband prefers the table service inside the pyramid. But it does not cater to my child’s picky preferences. For a quick service other than chicken nuggets it is a quick and easy meal for us. Of course as an adult, I agree 100% it doesn’t compare to good Mexican food we can get at home!
Thanks for the comment! -Christy