Anything good about San Angel Inn?

[yankeesfan123]

I read a lot of negative stuff about the restaurant.

I love Mexicam food and the ambiance looks great. I'll be eating there for my first time in a few months. I know it's not traditional, chain, burritos and tacos type food...

But what GOOD experiences have you had there?

[DKA041177]

Can't wait to see the responses. We are going for the first time in September so we hope it is good. What are the negatives folks have heard?

[faline]

Although I've read a lot of comments indicating folks have had bad service here and have not liked the food, I can honestly say this spot is a favorite of mine. I've enjoyed the food and have not had any bad service issues.

[Mickey'sGirl]

Once upon a time we ate here regularly .... and quite enjoyed it. We have never been with our sons (aged 16 and 10) for no real reason, but have scheduled an ADR in August. We are looking forward to trying it again! You sure can't beat it for ambience. I hope to try their Mole.

[mickeyman42]

I read a lot of negative stuff about the restaurant.

I love Mexican food and the ambiance looks great. I'll be eating there for my first time in a few months. I know it's not traditional, chain, burritos and tacos type food...

But what GOOD experiences have you had there?

I ate here 2 years ago, never read a review before hand, just thought that it looked like an interesting spot to eat and ate with no expectations of how it would/could go. I enjoy Mexican food, have gone to Mexico, embrace the culture and all that, I can honestly say that San Angel Inn was, and to this day has still been, the worst meal I have ever had in a restaurant, anywhere, ever. Service was ok, nothing amazing or terrible, but the food was horrible. tables were too close together and it was way too dark, which once we started eating was fine because I didn't want to see my food after I started tasting it anyway. most places I will give a second or even third chance because you never know, maybe it was just an off night for someone, but San angel Inn? never, ever again, never, not even for free.

[lawgirl]

This is one of our favorite places. I LOVE the atmosphere. We've been many times, and never had bad service or bad food. In fact, we have had great service several times. I love their caesar salad and margaritas. The atmosphere is so magical. I love the dark sky and the lights...and love the volcano. I don't know why it gets such negative reviews, but we love it!

[Crow]

atmosphere is the best in WS..
ive eaten the last few trips after skipping it for a few. it was good, the chips are better than they used to be. :marg: I might eat here again next wk

[yankeesfan123]

I ate here 2 years ago, never read a review before hand, just thought that it looked like an interesting spot to eat and ate with no expectations of how it would/could go. I enjoy Mexican food, have gone to Mexico, embrace the culture and all that, I can honestly say that San Angel Inn was, and to this day has still been, the worst meal I have ever had in a restaurant, anywhere, ever. Service was ok, nothing amazing or terrible, but the food was horrible. tables were too close together and it was way too dark, which once we started eating was fine because I didn't want to see my food after I started tasting it anyway. most places I will give a second or even third chance because you never know, maybe it was just an off night for someone, but San angel Inn? never, ever again, never, not even for free.

Yup, I've heard all that which is why I tried to make a thread where people can say GOOD things.

[SBETigg]

I've had good and bad there, mostly good. Good enough that we've gone back and never bad enough to chase us away. We like the atmosphere. They've improved the chips and salsa more recently and the margaritas are good. Service can be up and down and you're usually seated close to the next table. I can't say that anything in particular on the menu is the thing to get because the menu and quality fluctuates, and I think it's the tendency toward inconsistency here that brings out the bad reviews. But it can be good, too, and I hope you go and enjoy it.

[Jillirose]

We have enjoyed it several times. The atmosphere is awesome! Love the three amigos ride too.

[1DisneyNut]

This has always been our favorite restaurant. The fact that it is rarely completely booked with ADR's and we can walk up is nice. We tried doing the dining plan and ADR's once and absolutely hated being tied to them every day and will never do that again so having a place like this that we can get in is nice. I actually wish they had a couple of nice restaurants in each park and throughout the resort that do not accept ADR's but that is a different topic.

We have had many good meals at San Angel. I will say the quality has slipped a bit over the past 5 years or so as it has at most of the sit down restaurants. As with most others, the menu has been changed to work with the dining plans and "family style" dining as they like to call it which is marketing code for attempting to herd everyone into picking a couple of selections prominently displayed on the menu so they can mass produce them cheaply and have piles of it on hand in the back ready to serve instead of preparing on demand as a restaurant in this price category should. I believe that is what leads to the hit and miss reviews. The bad days are probably when they don't expect much of a crowd because of low ADR's but they get a large walk in crowd for which they are ill-prepared. That is WDW's fault for heavily weighting the Dining Plan system.

I actually hope it doesn't get real popular again because if it reaches the point it requires ADR's, we will never experience it again. It is the only sit down restaurant left that we eat at inside WDW.

As for the ambiance, we absolutely love everything about the place that some people complain about. In particular, we love the way it is dark. It is part of the theming with it being night time, the stars are out and you are about to see a volcano erupt off in the distance.......cool stuff!

They ruined the ride with the "makeover" a few years ago though which does take away from the whole experience a little.

[DizneyFreak2002]

Been wanting to try San Angel... I had lunch booked one year... My friend and I looked at the menu, saw the prices, and walked away so I never got to try the place...


*** full disclosure, I would have stayed but my friend was the one who made the fuss about the prices...

[VacationDisney]

We LOVE this restaurant:number1: We love that the lights are down low as it makes for a romantic dinner experience. After being out in the bright sun ALL day the atmosphere here is wonderful.

The food has never disappointed us in all the years we have eaten here.

I think you should try it and judge for yourself. Everyone has an opinion but ours is on the very positive side:mickey:

[Dulcee]

We've been many times and have always enjoyed it. The food is good, not spectacular but good (full disclosure we're more signature dining folks). The atmosphere is great. The sopa azteca is one of my favorites.

I don't think you'll be disappointed.

[Arielfan98]

I went there this past August. It wasn't bad, but wasn't anything special. I don't go to Mexican restaurants often so it was somewhat special to my family. I ordered a really good fish dish (can't remember what it is). It was really garlicy, just the way I like it and came with rice. The ambiance there is probably one of the best in WDW, love the darkness. My only complaint is how packed tight it is. My particular table was practically shoulder to shoulder with the couple next to us. Other than that the service was good as well as the food. Definitely worth a try and their prices are reasonable.

[AgentC]

I went there a few years ago and it wasn't my favorite, but I went back this January and really enjoyed it.

We went for lunch and it was very quiet. The service was very good but the restaurant was not busy at all. It might be different if it was busy. The food was very good. My only really complaint was it was quite dark. I would go again.

[GoldenDreams]

We have eaten here a couple of times and love the atmosphere, of course. We enjoyed it more when we ordered items less familiar to us. The NY Steak and the cheese enchilada is only so-so and you can get that at home. The better dishes are the ones that are more complex. I hope that helps.

[MississippiDisneyFreak]

Its been awhile since we ate there but here is my assessment:

Atmosphere-A
Service-C
Food-C

The food was a little bland to us, but it wasn't a bad meal.

[#1donaldfan]

:sick:We have eaten there 2 times. Once bitten, twice shy. Never eat there again:sick:. The atmosphere is incredible and I still go in to just "cool off". (We love Mexican food) The service and food was terrible:sick:. Twice in non-consecutive years told me everything I needed to know and will not return. :sick: So the good is the atmosphere !!

[ajwgroomer]

We love it! Go every time. My favorite is the nachos:thumbsup:

[TheVBs]

We've eaten there twice and had great experiences both times. Good food, good service, cool atmosphere.