Check out all of the wonderfull vegan options available at the waterfront eatery La Hacienda de San Angel in Epcot’s Mexico pavilion.
Love Disney? Equally love Mexican food? Then get ready to be wowed by what I’m about to show you!
Vegan Disney Food Review: La Hacienda de San Angel in Epcot’s Mexico Pavilion
You can find La Hacienda de San Angel in Epcot’s Mexico Pavilion nestled on the shores of The World Showcase Lagoon.
The restaurant opened back in the fall of 2010 after an extensive expansion and now shares a space with sister fast-casual restaurant La Cantina.
Guests dining at quick-service La Cantina for lunch are able to sit outside on the over water terrace or inside the dining room of La Hacienda de San Angel. After lunch, the dining room closes down so that full-service La Hacienda de San Angel can open exclusively for dinner guests.
The History Behind the Restaurant
A little history on the space, because all Disney spaces have a story right?.
La Hacienda de San Angel’s design is inspired by the original San Angel Inn in Mexico City and can be traced back to 1692, when a beautiful hacienda was built near the town. For years the hacienda was a retreat for Spanish aristocracy. After Mexican Independence it continued to host some of the country’s most famous figures. In 1915, the hacienda became a popular restaurant, and in 1962, the Debler family took it over and made the restaurant, San Angel Inn.
What exactly IS a hacienda?
A hacienda can be described as a large palatial plantation or ranch with living quarters. So when you dine at La Hacienda de San Angel, you’re basically dining inside someone’s home.
La Hacienda de San Angel Atmosphere
The entry into La Hacienda de San Angel is through two massive ornate wooden double doors. Note the address tiles to the left of the doors giving the space that residential feel.
Guests check in at a podium outside and enter into a receiving area while waiting for their table to become available.
The restaurant’s interior is fashioned from brick and stucco with colorful wooden accents and pottery.
The dining room is divided into several sections with configurations that include booths, tables and banquette seating.
We made our advance dining reservation for 5:30 p.m. and requested a table by the large picture windows overlooking World Showcase Lagoon to take advantage of the sunset views.
If you’d like, you can also make your reservation later in the evening so it coincides with Epcot’s nighttime spectacular IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth.
Vegan Food Options
Dinner service starts out with a huge bowl of complementary chips and salsa.
The chips were delectable. Both myself and my dining companion felt the salsa to be a little underwhelming. The guacamole on the other hand….
Do not skip this step when ordering at La Hacienda de San Angel. Guacamole is a must! The guacamole is going to run you ($12) and you have the option of ordering it plain, topped with mango and pomegranate (skip the cheese) or topped with corn, peppers and pumpkin seeds.
Side Note: For our guide to guacamole at Walt Disney World check out this post – The Complete Guide to Guacamole: Where to Find it at Walt Disney World
As far as entrees go, there are two options that are easily modified vegan and we ordered them both.
I love enchiladas so I went with the Enchiladas de Vegetales ($19) which come with two corn tortillas filled with grilled zucchini, yellow squash, onions and peppers topped with salsa ranchera and garnished with shaved purple cabbage and finely diced red onion. Omit the cheese to make it vegan.
This dish was an absolute flavor bomb and I would definitely order it again.
My dining companion ordered the Tacos de Vegetales ($19). With this offering you get three corn or flour tortillas filled with the same grilled vegetables and black beans. The tacos are topped with shaved purple cabbage. Omit the queso fresco and chipotle aïoli to make them vegan.
Oh…and that little cup of corn you see there. That’s esquites and you’re gonna want some of it!
Esquites also known as vasito de elotes (little corn-cup) is a traditional Mexican snack of corn boiled in salt water and then sautéed with chiles and epazote and then topped with lime. I’m requesting a side of it with my enchiladas next time!
And speaking of sides, your entrees will come with the creamiest, dreamiest vegan black beans and if the chef is feeling generous, some vegan rice.
The restaurant is serving two types of rice to guests.
The regular rice is cooked in chicken stock and the vegetarian rice is cooked in butter so neither are vegan. Our wonderful server Esmeralda spoke to the chef and she agreed to make us a batch of vegan rice on the fly.
Overall we really enjoyed our vegan dining experience at La Hacienda de San Angel.
The service was impeccable, the atmosphere fantastic and the entire establishment was so accommodating to our dietary needs. We really appreciated the general manager coming over to the table to find out how we were enjoying our dinner. Our food was fresh and filled with wholesome ingredients and we felt light and satisfied at the end our meal.
There are no passholder or Tables in Wonderland discounts available here but there is a DVC discount. Strange, I know. But keep in mind this is a privately owned establishment and is not managed by the Walt Disney World resort.
Looking for more vegan options in Epcot? Check out our comprehensive guide here: What’s Vegan in Epcot?
