food IS a theme park
For years, my Mexican food plan at Disney World was simple: head to EPCOT, duck into the pyramid, and eat enchiladas under that permanent twilight sky.
Calling all taco lovers!
I still love that view. But some of the best tacos, churros, and margaritas on Disney property are in places most guests walk right past on the way to somewhere else. Let’s look outside of the pyramid, and even EPCOT, to find some amazing Mexican food.
If you’re heading to Disneyland Resort soon, there are so many different dining options to try!
Centrico
Especially if you’re heading to Downtown Disney, which is the shopping and dining district located close to the parks. We realized it had been a while since we’d been to Céntrico, a popular table service spot in the area, and figured it was time to try out some new eats. As it turns out, nothing has changed — this restaurant is INCREDIBLE and we need people to stop sleeping on it!
Downtown Disney has been getting quite a bit of an overhaul, including getting MANY new restaurants (oh, yeah, you know we’re excited).
Paseo
Most recently, three of those new restaurants opened: Paseo, Centrico, and Tiendita, with all three restaurants having menus created by Michelin-starred Chef Carlos Gaytán. Okay, so that has us even MORE stoked. Well, we’ve had a chance to eat at Centrico and Tiendita, but we’re now getting a chance to dine at Paseo.
It’s official — the EPCOT International Festival of the Holidays is here!
Festival of the Holidays
In preparation for the festival, we’ve been reading the menus, we created a DFB printable for the booths that you can download for FREE, and we shared our best tips for EPCOT festivals. We’ve been making our way around the festival giving you our full thoughts on each booth and our next stop is the Las Posadas Holiday Kitchen!
If you’re going to be at Disney World over November 2nd, 2022, why not take part in an event celebrating Día de los Muertos?
A lovely day at Disney Springs!
This holiday, also known as Day of the Dead, originated in Mexico but is widely celebrated outside of the country as well. It’s a day for people to remember those they’ve lost as well as celebrate their lives. The festivities, which you may be familiar with from Disney’s animated film Coco, include traditions like building altars or ofrendas to ancestors, creating those famous sugar skulls, and lots and lots of food! Now, a Disney Springs spot is joining in on the celebration.
We’re just going to say it straight: There’s not a ton of awesome options for dining in the Magic Kingdom.
Frontierland Entrance
Compared to other parks (and EPCOT especially), the options for delicious food in this park are a little more limited. But there are definitely still a couple of fan-favorite spots around, and we’re heading to one of them today to try out a few dishes. Yee-haw! We’ll meet you over in Frontierland!
It’s been a hot minute since we last dined at Frontera Cocina at Disney Springs!
Frontera Cocina
But we’re thinking maybe we need to head over soon for some Chipotle Chicken Flautas, or maybe a Specialty Margarita!
EPCOT is a treasure trove of dishes and drinks inspired by countries from around the world. If you’re looking to break away from burgers and chicken tenders of Disney World you can find some really stellar food.
La Hacienda d San Angel
One Pavilion positively brimming with flavorful food and drinks is the Mexico Pavilion. And that’s where we’re headed. But stop! We’re not going in the big pyramid. Nope, we’re headed waterfront to dine at this Pavilion’s SECOND, newer sit-down restaurant. For those of you interested in a little spice with a side of atmosphere, come this way!
Disneyland might not be open yet (and we miss it dearly), but Downtown Disney has still been one of our favorite date night or family getaway spots recently. As restaurants have continued to open in the shopping and dining district, table-service locations have been modifying their experiences with limited capacity, seating, and menus. BUT, they’re just as great as we remember them to be!
Downtown Disney District
Downtown Disney dining has been exclusively offering outdoor seating for guests to relax and enjoy their meals in the nice California weather. For a while, select restaurants started to reintroduce indoor dining again (with limited capacity) once California law permitted it, but they’ve since been pushed back to only outdoor dining, as the county Disneyland resides in has moved to the strictest tier of the state’s Coronavirus protocols. [Read more…]
We’ve been going un poco loco for the Plaza de la Familia in Disney California Adventure and the discounted guac in Downtown Disney!
Tortilla Jo’s
And, now we’re ready for another fiesta for Día de los Muertos with plenty of food, drinks, and fun!
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