Category Archives: Mexican

Jag Cantina

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Considering they’d only been open a few days when we stopped in for a busy father’s day lunch this place is already running very well. The menu is upscale Mexican, and the prices are reasonable for the quality. I love what they’ve done to remodel the interior of this space. It’s not upscale and has a nice modern vibe, and the way it is divided up helps control the noise level.

We started with the guacamole, a generous serving that benefitted from a squeeze of lime and some diablo salsa that we ordered on the side. The diablo isn’t really all that spicy, but added the needed kick.

We also tried the tuna tostadas, which were tasty but very tiny–basically just one bite times three.

For an entree I had the pork enchiladas. They were beautifully plated and very tasty, and came with good cilantro rise and just okay black beans.

We finished with the sopapillas, which were nice and poofy, and served with a hazelnut Serrano sauce. Again, the sauced needed more kick, but was tasty.

Special shoutout for the cocktails. The standard margarita was very good, and the Flor de Don Juan was stellar: a mix of tequila, St. Germaine, and lime.

https://www.yelp.com/biz/jag-cantina-orlando

Amor y Chile Mexican Food

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There are three Mexican restaurants within a few blocks of each other in Lake Buena Vista, and each has their pluses and minuses. If you’re looking for margaritas, go to El Patron. If you want very Americanized food, go to San Joses. But if you want authentic Mexican food, the Amor y Chile is your best bet.

The emphasis here is on traditional recipes such as molcajetes and Al Pastor. The tamales come in a corn husk, and the guacamole is obviously home made, with big chunks of avocado.

It’s a nice touch that complimentary, house-made chips are served with three sauces: green, red, and super spicy.

The place won’t win an award for atmosphere, but service is pleasant and the food is satisfying.

https://www.yelp.com/biz/amor-y-chile-mexican-food-orlando

San Jose’s Original Mexican Restaurant

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There are quite a few San Jose’s in the area, but this one is definitely better than the others. It serves an extensive menu typical of American Mexican restaurants, so there isn’t really much in the way of authentic Mexican food, but it will seem familiar. 

There isn’t much in the way of acoustic treatment, so it can be quite noisy, even when not at capacity.

Note that the top shelf maragarita is made with a lot of orange juice, which is rather odd, so if you want a more traditional margarita maybe go with the house margarita.

https://www.yelp.com/biz/san-jose-s-original-mexican-restaurant-orlando

Torchy’s Tacos

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Nice location for this chain. Counter ordering with table service. There’s a large outdoor area here, in addition to the indoor “garage” feel.

Our go-to starter is the Threesome, a combination of fairly spicy green chile queso, guacamole, and red or green salsa.

My favorite tacos are Mr. Orange (salmon), and Hellfire (jerk pork plus a really spicy dipping sauce).

Staff is pleasant and the service is fairly quick.

Unusual for counter service places, they have margaritas and other spirits.

https://www.yelp.com/biz/torchys-tacos-orlando

Torchy’s Tacos

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This is a great addition to the local taco scene. Like competitor Velvet Taco, Torchy’s is a chain out of Texas that specializes in high-end taco assembly. Their menu offers a wide variety of semi-traditional and eclectic taco. We liked all three that we tried:

Trailer Park Taco – fried chicken and a bunch of stuff on a flour tortilla. This wasn’t my favorite, but my wife liked it a lot. It’s pretty far from any Mexican origins!

Green Chile Pork on a corn tortilla. The most traditional, this contained very succulent carnitas.

Mr. Orange – This was my favorite. A delicious piece of grilled salmon with a somewhat spicy sauce and lots of cilantro.

I really liked that all the tacos had completely different ingredients, which is very different from most assemblage places.

I usually prefer sit down restaurants to quick serves, but it’s worth noting that they do have margaritas, and you can come in, sit at the bar, and order food and drinks.

Be sure to join their club and get a free half order of queso and chips— it was large and delicious.

https://www.yelp.com/biz/torchys-tacos-winter-garden

San Jose’s Original Mexican Restaurant

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I had given up on this place ever opening after it spent a year or so in construction and then… nothing. But it finally made it, and it is a good addition to the neighborhood. I’ve long thought that Lakeside Village was the perfect spot for a genuine sit-down Mexican restaurant.

We were greeted graciously and service was excellent throughout. I really like the interior; it’s nicer than the other San Joses.

The food is pretty much the same. Good salsa with the chips. The cheese dip is a challenge; really runny.

The top-shelf margarita was excellent.

My wife enjoyed her quesadilla, which was nicely browned.

My tacos pastor were pretty good, The pastor included the traditional pineapple bits, but was a bit on the dry side compared to others I’ve had.

As others have noted, it’s a bit pricey, but I guess every place is these days.

https://www.yelp.com/biz/san-jose-s-original-mexican-restaurant-windermere

Frontera Cocina

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4 Stars

I’ve never been a big fan of Rick Bayless’ Chicago area restaurants, but I enjoyed our visit to this one in Disney Springs. The huge space is probably bigger than all of his Chicago restaurants combined! I’m sure it can get noisy at night, but a Monday lunch was sparsely populated.

The “Half & Half” was a nice combination of guacamole and pumpkin seed hummus, served with chips, jicama, and cucumber, plus red and green salsas.

My wife loved the Smoked Salmon Ceviche Tostadas. Conchinita Pibil was also good.

As with everything at Disney Springs, it’s very expensive. But on the bright side, Margaritas at our Monday lunch were only $5 instead of the usual $19.

Service was good.

https://www.yelp.com/biz/frontera-cocina-lake-buena-vista-3

KAVAS Tacos + Tequila

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2 Stars

Exterior
Interior
Antojitos Platter
Chill Platter

Mediocre is the word that kept springing to mind throughout this meal. I really wanted to like this place, but I just couldn’t. From the moment you look at the menu and see that they charge for chips, and that tacos come on flour tortillas, you know you are in a tourist restaurant, not a Mexican restaurant. And with drink prices ranging up to $32 a drink, the pricing verifies that. But let’s give all that a pass.

The house Margarita, which is a mere $10, is one of the best house Margaritas I’ve had anywhere. If only everything else were as good.

The antojitos platter includes okay taquitos, a very, very thin queso dip, and weird beef empanadas. The empanadas were edible, but had clearly been prepared in advanced and then spent only seconds in a deep frier. As a result they were pale white, and the insides were still at refrigerator temperature. Surely this was a mistake?

The Chill Platter was a combination of a fairly tasty shrimp cocktail, an oddly spiced white fish ceviche that was okay, and a tuna tartare that seemed iffy.

Service was largely missing, even though we were there at lunch on a slow Saturday. Let’s just say the glass of chardonnay ordered before the meal was delivered as dessert.

Better options are available.

https://www.yelp.com/biz/kavas-tacos-tequila-orlando