La Hacienda de San Angel
As of late September 2010, the Mexico pavilion in
Epcot World Showcase hailed the opening of a second table service
restaurant, known as La Hacienda de San Angel. This new table
service eatery opened along with La
Cantina de San Angel, a counter service restaurant, in the same
building, and joins the longstanding San
Angel Inn table service restaurant, located inside the large
Aztec pyramid in the pavilion.
The new restaurant building is constructed on the
site of the earlier version of Cantina de San Angel (check out what
it looked like and its menu by clicking here.
Note that the restaurant in this link is now closed and the building
removed). The building is located on the "water" side of
World Showcase Promenade, extending out over the waters of World
Showcase Lagoon. There are lots of tall windows which afford
terrific views of World Showcase. During daylight hours, most of the
lighting is from these windows. To keep the bright sun from
bothering Guests, however, electrically-operated blinds can be
lowered over windows which are currently facing the sun. The blinds
are designed so you can still enjoy the view by looking through
them; but they really take the "edge" off the bright
sunlight!!
The exterior of the building looks just like a grand
old adobe structure you might find in Mexico--and inside you'll find
the decor to be very authentic. Perhaps unlike an old building in
Mexico, this one has all the conveniences of modernity! The interior
is nicely air conditioned, and the lighting can be adjusted (both
the sunlight by way of the blinds as well as the electric lighting)
to provide the very best ambience.
Looking out of a window in La
Hacienda de San Angel reveals the back of the Ring Carvers gift shop
The food here is terrific! Frequent visitors to
Aronda's website might recall that she isn't impressed with San
Angel Inn, but La Hacienda (as well as its companion Cantina)
is well-prepared and quite tasty. This one is supposed to be more
upscale than San Angel Inn, and we believe that it is. Of course,
with San Angel Inn, a major problem is the yukky soda fountain iced
tea (Nestea or "Peak" or whatever they insist on serving
instead of real, fresh-brewed iced tea). La Hacienda serves fresh
brewed tea, which really makes the meal complete!
As seems to be the trend at Walt Disney World, with
a new restaurant comes obscenely inflated menu pricing (Via
Napoli, the new pizza shop in Italy, comes to mind, along with Yak
& Yeti in Animal Kingdom and many others). La Hacienda (and
La Cantina, the counter service option, for that matter) is no
exception. Check out the menu
for details.
This new restaurant has, in our opinion, really
breathed much needed new life into the dining opportunities in the
Mexico pavilion in World Showcase--and, noting the paucity of
Mexican fare all over property, provides long-awaited availability
of good-quality food of this cuisine to all Guests of the Walt
Disney World Resort. Don't hesitate to dine here on your next visit
to Epcot!
Approaching La Hacienda de San
Angel from Norway
The outside reception area
courtyard. The doors in background lead into a large lobby area
where you meet a "seater" to be taken to your table
Pleasant decor and plenty of
potted plants make the outside of the restaurant a nice place to
relax
Classic Mexican decor. An alcove
seating area features a number of gilt wallhangings
One of Aronda's staffers checks
out the menu
The restaurant creates a
"cozy" feeling even in its grand space
The pair of windows to the left
of Ring Carvers are shown from the inside in the photo below
Looking out over the waters of
World Showcase Lagoon from La Hacienda's dining area
For the menu
at La Hacienda de San Angel, click here.
Last updated Saturday, October 2, 2010 |
