REVIEW: Your Next Disneyland Trip Won’t Be Complete Without Visiting THIS Restaurant

When you’re planning a trip to Disneyland, you may be feeling a little lost as to where to eat. That’s where we come in!

Here at AllEars, we know all the ins and outs of Disney restaurants — including where you should definitely eat, and where you should skip. We recently stopped by Rancho del Zocalo in Disneyland and are bringing you our FULL review!

Background

If you’re looking for some Mexican cuisine at a quick-service spot in the park, Rancho del Zocalo Restaurante may very much be the spot that hits your mind first. It’s located in Frontierland and was built on the grounds of the original home of Casa Mexicana. Rancho del Zocalo Restaurante opened on February 6th, 2001, and originally served up Mexican and barbecue items. In 2004, though, the menu switched to only serving Mexican cuisine.

Here’s what you need to know about dining at this restaurant.

Atmosphere

The interior of this spot is truly stunning. You’ll find colorful painted tiles, incredible fountains, adobe archways, and hanging plants all throughout the space, and you can choose to eat in the shade or eat inside under the star-shaped Mexican glass lanterns. It’s unlike any other dining location in the park!

But enough about that, what are we eating?!

Food & Drinks

We first grabbed the Carne Asada Fries for $14.49, which are Fries topped with Spicy Cheese Sauce, Beans, Avocado Salsa, Carne Asada, and Chipotle-Lime Crema.

Ours wasn’t garnished with onions and cilantro, but with spicy red pepper. You get a nice little kick with this, but we thought it was super tolerable, especially if you eat a lot of local Mexican food. Overall, these are SO good! They’re perfectly cooked with a nice thickness, yet are still crispy, and the avocado sauce was seasoned wonderfully with a hint of tanginess and tasted fresh. Some heat did linger from the cheese, but again, it wasn’t overwhelming. We do feel the meat was tender, but a little flavorless, so we feel the fries are really the star over the carne asada.

For dessert, we snagged the Mickey-shaped Pumpkin Salted Dulce Cream Puff for $8.79, which is filled with Pumpkin Mousse and Salted Dulce de Leche.

This was very heavy on the pumpkin, but it never tasted artificial to us, which was impressive. The dulce de leche really adds another sweet, yet subtly salty flavor to create a fall blend rather than overwhelm you with pumpkin. This is a sweet treat that really complements the fall season, and thanks to the chilled plate it’s served on, it stays cold in the California sunshine. If you DO really love pumpkin, then you can’t miss it!

To drink, we picked up the Hibiscus-Pomegranate Cooler for $7.29, which is Spiced Hibiscus Tea, Pomegranate & Orange Juices, and Honey.

There’s definitely a lot going on in this drink. The spiced tea is very prevalent, so we don’t recommend grabbing it if you don’t like spiced drinks. You can taste each individual flavor, but we don’t think that was a bad thing. We found it to be heavier than it needed to be, and the honey added a sweetness we felt was a little too much. Still, I get what the drink is going for.

We could totally see what the drink was going for, but in our opinion, we wish it were simplified just a little bit!

Magic or Tragic?

This Disney World restaurant is a must-visit if…

• • You’re looking for a quick meal that’s still high quality
  • You adore specialty fries and/or pumpkin
  • You really love Mexican food, but don’t need it to be the most authentic

You should skip this Disney World spot if…

• • You’re not a fan of Mexican food
  • You want a sit down meal
  • You want a restaurant with more Disney-forward theming

We think this restaurant is SUPER underrated, so for those of you who really enjoy Mexican cuisine, we absolutely recommend stopping by on your next trip!

In the meantime, we’ll be on the lookout for more restaurant updates from Disneyland and beyond. Make sure you stay tuned to AllEars for the latest Disney news and more!

Disney Shares NEW Updates for 10 MASSIVE Park Expansions

Have you eaten at this Disneyland restaurant before? Tell us in the comments.

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