Last Saturday night my family and very good friend from the forums Marie (wannabebelle) had the pleasure of dining and viewing Illuminations from La Hacienda in Epcot. We were also able to have quite an informative conversation with president of San Angel Inn Richard Debler.
The Readers Digest Version....
The food and drinks were very good but a tad on the pricey side even by Disney Standards. The View of Illuminations from inside of the restaurant would range from fair to good. It is on the DDP and they accept TIWL.
The War and Peace version....
We had spent the entire day traveling from Kiosk to Kiosk at F&W and when dinner rolled around at 8:00 PM none of us were really hungry. That being said very little was left on our plates by the end of the night.
First and foremost for those of us that have dined at San Angel in the past La Hacienda has fresh made not bagged chips. Accompanying the chips are a quite spicey red salsa and a green tomatillos style salsa. My wife ordered the Botana which is sampling of Mexican favorites including a chicken tostado, Chilorio sope, and cheese empanada. Marie and I split the La Hacienda. The La Hacienda is mixed grill with flank steak, chicken al pastor, chorizo and vegetables, served with beans, rice and fresh salsa. The kids both got the kids nachos which consist of nothing more than chips, taco meat, and nacho cheese.
One minor down side to La Hacienda is that they do rather strictly enforce the age policy on kids menu items. My 17 year old daughter has a somewhat bland pallet and frequently orders from the kids menus. She was still able to order an item from the kids menu but it cam at an adult price.
This will serve as both a warning and an incitement....the food does have some heat to it. It is not a burn the hair off your feet heat but it will bother those that do not like a little kick to their food and please those of us that do. In short this is not a dumbed down menu designed to appeal to the masses. Overall we were very impressed with the food but it does fall on the pricey side and the portions are a bit small. For food La Hacienda earns B+. Save off about $6 to the entrees price and it would would get an A.
Desert consisted of Tamal de Dulce, Chocolate con Churros, and Helado. Dessert was great. Somewhat light but full of flavor. The hot chocolate that accompanies the churros can only be compared to ketchup with fries. Once you have it that way you just cant go back. Dessert gets an A.
The restaurant itself is simply beautiful and very well laid out. The lighting is bright without being blinding and there is no question that the majority of the restaurant was laid out in a manner that will allow nearly every seat in the restaurant a view of the World Showcase lagoon. There are also 2 sections that lack this view and have a much cozier and romantic feel. Another somewhat appealing detail to this place is the entrance is almost hidden much like Le Cellier's. Granted it is right on the main path but I can see people walking right past it and not recognizing it as a restaurant. This gave the place a somewhat exclusive and homey feel. The big downside to the building was no outside viewing area for Illuminations. The lack of this area knocked the building down from an A+ to a B+
The service was very good. Our waitress was incredibly pleasant and engaging. When my wife was asking for a margarita recommendation I added in the comment "Which one will make me look more appealing to my wife after drinking it" She suggested that my wife move on to the tequila selection. From that moment on I knew we had a fun cast member. A+ for service.
Now onto the real reason I wanted to try La Hacienda....the view of Illuminations. As many of you know I really hate dealing with the crowds for parades and fireworks at WDW. I look for every way possible to avoid them. Because you are inside a building looking trgough windows the view will unavoidable be somewhat obstructed. Your view will improve the closer you are to a window and of course the larger windows offer a better view especially of the higher altitude shells. A surprising bonus to inside viewing was the pumped in audio track. The lights in the restaurant will dim and the audio will begin at the beginning of the second to last song in the pre-show. What was so surprising was how much better the show was with the sound of the fireworks greatly muffled by the building. There is no reserved outdoor viewing spot like there is at R&C but more on that later. In this category La Hacienda would get a solid B.
On big surprise to dinner was noticing Richard Debler was at the restaurant that night. We spotted him earlier in the evening while waiting for our table and noticed that he, along with the management of the restaurant, were sitting right behind us during Illuminations. Marie and I went over to talk to him after the show. The topics of conversation we the menu and of course Illuminations. Mr Debler did seem to confirm what many have been saying about the DDP for quite some time....it is having a negative effect on the menu. Margins are incredibly tight and non-signature restaurants, especially those not owned by Disney, simply can not have higher end items and cuts of meat due to this. On the bright said Mr. Debler did state that they would not be dumbing down the menu at La Hacienda and that there are some big changes in store for San Angel. My main question to Mr Debler was why was there no Illuminations viewing area. He stated that originally there were plans to do one but there were concerns of it intruding a little to far into the lagoon. I got the impression that he is still trying to get one built and it is more a matter of getting Disney to OK it.
The Readers Digest Version....
The food and drinks were very good but a tad on the pricey side even by Disney Standards. The View of Illuminations from inside of the restaurant would range from fair to good. It is on the DDP and they accept TIWL.
The War and Peace version....
We had spent the entire day traveling from Kiosk to Kiosk at F&W and when dinner rolled around at 8:00 PM none of us were really hungry. That being said very little was left on our plates by the end of the night.
First and foremost for those of us that have dined at San Angel in the past La Hacienda has fresh made not bagged chips. Accompanying the chips are a quite spicey red salsa and a green tomatillos style salsa. My wife ordered the Botana which is sampling of Mexican favorites including a chicken tostado, Chilorio sope, and cheese empanada. Marie and I split the La Hacienda. The La Hacienda is mixed grill with flank steak, chicken al pastor, chorizo and vegetables, served with beans, rice and fresh salsa. The kids both got the kids nachos which consist of nothing more than chips, taco meat, and nacho cheese.
One minor down side to La Hacienda is that they do rather strictly enforce the age policy on kids menu items. My 17 year old daughter has a somewhat bland pallet and frequently orders from the kids menus. She was still able to order an item from the kids menu but it cam at an adult price.
This will serve as both a warning and an incitement....the food does have some heat to it. It is not a burn the hair off your feet heat but it will bother those that do not like a little kick to their food and please those of us that do. In short this is not a dumbed down menu designed to appeal to the masses. Overall we were very impressed with the food but it does fall on the pricey side and the portions are a bit small. For food La Hacienda earns B+. Save off about $6 to the entrees price and it would would get an A.
Desert consisted of Tamal de Dulce, Chocolate con Churros, and Helado. Dessert was great. Somewhat light but full of flavor. The hot chocolate that accompanies the churros can only be compared to ketchup with fries. Once you have it that way you just cant go back. Dessert gets an A.
The restaurant itself is simply beautiful and very well laid out. The lighting is bright without being blinding and there is no question that the majority of the restaurant was laid out in a manner that will allow nearly every seat in the restaurant a view of the World Showcase lagoon. There are also 2 sections that lack this view and have a much cozier and romantic feel. Another somewhat appealing detail to this place is the entrance is almost hidden much like Le Cellier's. Granted it is right on the main path but I can see people walking right past it and not recognizing it as a restaurant. This gave the place a somewhat exclusive and homey feel. The big downside to the building was no outside viewing area for Illuminations. The lack of this area knocked the building down from an A+ to a B+
The service was very good. Our waitress was incredibly pleasant and engaging. When my wife was asking for a margarita recommendation I added in the comment "Which one will make me look more appealing to my wife after drinking it" She suggested that my wife move on to the tequila selection. From that moment on I knew we had a fun cast member. A+ for service.
Now onto the real reason I wanted to try La Hacienda....the view of Illuminations. As many of you know I really hate dealing with the crowds for parades and fireworks at WDW. I look for every way possible to avoid them. Because you are inside a building looking trgough windows the view will unavoidable be somewhat obstructed. Your view will improve the closer you are to a window and of course the larger windows offer a better view especially of the higher altitude shells. A surprising bonus to inside viewing was the pumped in audio track. The lights in the restaurant will dim and the audio will begin at the beginning of the second to last song in the pre-show. What was so surprising was how much better the show was with the sound of the fireworks greatly muffled by the building. There is no reserved outdoor viewing spot like there is at R&C but more on that later. In this category La Hacienda would get a solid B.
On big surprise to dinner was noticing Richard Debler was at the restaurant that night. We spotted him earlier in the evening while waiting for our table and noticed that he, along with the management of the restaurant, were sitting right behind us during Illuminations. Marie and I went over to talk to him after the show. The topics of conversation we the menu and of course Illuminations. Mr Debler did seem to confirm what many have been saying about the DDP for quite some time....it is having a negative effect on the menu. Margins are incredibly tight and non-signature restaurants, especially those not owned by Disney, simply can not have higher end items and cuts of meat due to this. On the bright said Mr. Debler did state that they would not be dumbing down the menu at La Hacienda and that there are some big changes in store for San Angel. My main question to Mr Debler was why was there no Illuminations viewing area. He stated that originally there were plans to do one but there were concerns of it intruding a little to far into the lagoon. I got the impression that he is still trying to get one built and it is more a matter of getting Disney to OK it.
