By: Arely Garcia
Someone (me) at Coaster Corner Blog once said “A nice sit down meal can be a great way to take a break in the middle of a hot and busy park day or to cap off the end of one.” This statement rang true in both the best and worst way during one of our days eating at Universal Orlando Resort recently. We were high on the deliciousness/success of our visit to Mythos at lunch time that we felt emboldened to try somewhere new for the second time in one day. The difference the second time around was that we really were going into dinner blind. With Mythos, we had at least lightly researched before committing to it. For dinner we hadn’t looked up anything. We were tired after a full park day in the summer heat. This made us primed to make hasty decisions. We acted differently than we would if we were at better energy levels.
I don’t know about you, but I’m not at my best when I’m tired. Unsurprisingly no one else in our group was either. To recap, this group consisted of two pescatarian/vegetarians, one flexitarian (me – mostly a vegetarian/pescatarian, but I do enjoy a good terf choice when the former are weak or non-existent on a menu), two picky eaters(kids), and one cocktail enthusiast. We were wandering around City Walk aimlessly trying to find somewhere that had both the space for the six of us and a varied enough menu. No one wanted to make a decision, but everyone wanted one made; which is a tough hurdle to safely cross. Eventually we decided to head to Antojitos Authentic Mexican Food.
Antojitos is little ways outside of Islands of Adventure in City Walk. It has a very colorful almost tie dye looking paint job on the facade of the restaurant. We landed on this place because typically Mexican food is a safe bet with our group. To be transparent, we are all Mexican or Mexican/American. The four adults grew up eating homemade Mexican food our entire childhoods. The two kids have enjoyed a good amount of it through grandparents, extended family, and recipes that are staples in their home. That said, we are reasonable. We’ve all lived stateside the majority/entirety of our lives. We know not all the Mexican food we try will be as good as it is from our mothers/grandmothers. We are all fans of Chipotle and other casual Mexican inspired eateries. This is all to say we went into Antojitos knowing we’d all find something on the menu we’d like and hoping for the best. Now, I’ll tell you all about reservation needs, the menu, and the overall atmosphere.
Let’s start off with our arrival. We made our way to Antojitos without a reservation. We let the hostess know this and our party size and after a few minutes, they let us know they could accommodate us and asked if we’d prefer to sit in or outside. We knew a storm wasn’t long from hitting, so we chose inside. The space in the restaurant is pretty big. There were two levels and we ended up on the first floor. On this first floor there’s a bar, plenty of tables of various sizes, some booths, and in the back center there is a stage. The first small indicator of something being amiss happened as we were being escorted to our table. As we were being led toward one of the tables near the stage, the hostess stopped in front of a table that already had four people in it. She seemed confused. She looked around and then at us. After looking around again, she told us to just wait. She left us right by this occupied table in the middle of the dining room. We were left to dodge servers trying to make their way to their tables and other diners moving around as well. A couple of minutes later she returned with someone else and after another minute still, they finally led us to a bigger table a little left of the stage. Once we took our seats, our server introduced herself and left some menus with us.
Drinks
At this point, we’re a little put off already because it was clear they didn’t plan appropriately for our group size when accepting us and that they’d left us in such an inconvenient spot without explanation before finally seating us. We start taking a look at the menu and making our decisions. To start, Antojitos serves bowls of complimentary chips and salsa for the table. The chips and salsa were standard run of the mill restaurant chips and salsa, nothing special or to miss if it wasn’t provided. Next, our drink order went as follows – six waters, two Horchata(juice made of a blend of rice milk, water, cinnamon, sugar, and condensed milk) agua frescas, one Tamarindo(juice made of a blend of water, tamarind, and sugar) agua fresca, and one The Grand(Patrón Silver tequila, Patrón Citrónge, muddled pear, tamarindo aguas fresca, agave nectar, fresh lime) cocktail. We decided against an appetizer since the chips and salsa had been provided. While we were waiting for our drinks, a band came on stage and began to play. They were dressed in mariachi attire and despite their traditional outfits we heard something a little unexpected. What we were expecting – covers of actual mariachi/Mexican folk songs. What we actually heard – covers in the style of mariachi music but of modern day pop songs. It wasn’t a twist we minded, but in retrospect we realized it was a sign of what was to come. That being – things appearing authentic(as advertised), but ultimately coming up short.
When the server came back with our drinks, we placed our food order. The two pescatarian/vegetarians both ordered the Enchiladas Vegetarianas(roasted sweet potatoes, chayote, carrots, golden beets, roasted corn, jalapeño, onions, wild mushrooms, bell peppers, vegan cheese, ranchera sauce). I wasn’t hungry for a full meal so I ordered the Taquitos Jaliscos(crispy corn tortillas, chicken tinga, menonita cheese, lime crema, queso fresco, cilantro. Served with habanero and chile de árbol salsa) off the appetizer menu. The cocktail enthusiast chose the Mole Enchiladas(beef machaca, house made mole poblano, lime crema, queso fresco, cilantro). Picky eater 1 chose the Ground Beef Burrito(rice, pico de gallo, menonita cheese, topped with three chili and queso sauces, guacamole, black beans), while picky eater 2 went with an order of the Tableside Guacamole(avocado, tomato, garlic, red onion, green olives, cilantro, tortilla chips). As she left, and we began tasting the drinks, our hopes started to as well.
I’ll start off with the Horchata agua fresca. I knew something must be off because this drink is a beloved drink choice not just in our immediate group, but among most who try it. Traditionally its sweet and creamy and almost has a rice pudding like taste. The two who chose it, took a sip and then pushed it aside and stuck with their water. When I asked why they weren’t drinking it, they reported that it just didn’t taste quite right. I took a sip for myself and instantly understood what they were feeling, profound disappointment. It completely lacked flavor. It tasted completely watered down. I next turned to the person who’d ordered the Tamarindo agua fresca to see if they’d fared better, but unfortunately their drink also lacked any substantial flavor. I then turned to our cocktail enthusiast to see if “The Grand” cocktail lived up to the flavor profile described in the menu. It did not. He reported it as a basic margarita, but not even a perfect one. He didn’t pick up any notes of the muddled pear or tamarindo flavors listed in the menu.
Entrees
We stewed in our drink disappointment. We began to notice tables that ordered after ours had started receiving their food. However, we were still sitting with just the complimentary chips and salsa. After another check with our server, the food finally began to arrive. First was the Tableside Guacamole. It was, as named, prepared tableside. They inquired about the spice level. They also asked if anything should be excluded. The only requests made were minimal heat and no olives. All the other ingredients were in dishes around the mortar and pestle. They looked normal, but once we all tasted the finished product, we agreed something wasn’t right. It tasted strongly of parsley, not cilantro. It was so potent it was hard to ignore and we were unable to eat it. Like the aguas frescas, we placed it aside. The next dish sampled was the Enchiladas Vegetarianas.
We were not prepared for how bad these would be. The vegetables inside of the tortillas were not seasoned at all, just sauteed veggies without even salt. Then, the tortillas themselves were not at all cooked. They were completely cold. As you can see in the picture above, they broke completely when folded. This breakage could have been avoided if they had been heated before being wrapped around the veggies. These were corn tortillas. This mistake may have been less noticeable if they had been flour tortillas. However, there we were with cold corn tortillas and unseasoned veggies. Unsurprisingly, the salsa ladled on top also lacked any discernible flavor. The side of rice and beans wasn’t bad, but in no way made up for the actual main dish being inedible. The Mole Enchiladas were prepared in almost the same way. They had the same cold tortillas and a different flavorless sauce; while the beef machaca, even for a machaca, was too tough to even cut through, much less eat.
The next miss were my Taquitos Jaliscos.
They almost looked promising compared to everyone else’s offensive dishes so far, but I would not be spared any more than they had been. While my tortillas were cooked, probably only because it’s impossible to get away with this dish without doing so, they were overcooked. They were so over fried they were difficult to bite into. I was honestly worried about my teeth so I stopped after two bites. The salsas were okay when compared to the flavor absent ones the rest of my table had gotten, but this wasn’t a dish that salsa could salvage. The last offender to round off the table was the Ground Beef Burrito. We had no hopes at this time for it to ruin, but we were still annoyed to find brand new flaws. The flour tortilla was covered in sauce, which we were expecting, but we were not expecting for it to be so difficult to cut through. We’re honestly not even sure how that was possible, but still we sliced through to see if the insides were any better. Not to sound like a broken record here, but they were not. This time we were surprised to find it wasn’t lacking seasoning, instead it was overly salty. So they did have at least a salt shaker in the kitchen somewhere despite everyone else’s lack of it in their dishes.
Everything was so awful we were honestly in a bit of shock. We had never experienced anywhere in our lives before every single dish being so inedible. No one made it past a bite or two. At that point, we let our server know we weren’t able to eat what had been brought out and a manager visited our table. We detailed the problem each dish had and were presented with “Would you like to take something else different to go?” As kindly as we could, we declined and just asked for the check. When asking for the check, the manager said we would only be charged for the drinks, which as you may remember our drinks aside from water were one $16 cocktail and two $4 agua frescas. Expecting a $30 bill that would’ve accounted for tax and the 18% included tip for a table of six, we were surprised to be handed a $75 check. We did not press the matter. It wasn’t worth the extra time it would inevitably take. However, it did leave us with an even worse taste in our mouths because they didn’t even deliver on their final promise.
This experience at Antojitos was an invaluable lesson. We will probably never make a decision just to make one again. If no one is feeling anything in particular, maybe your group is better off heading to pick up some quick snacks for the road instead of chancing it at a restaurant you’ve never been to or researched. If we had taken the time to research before the trip we would have seen recent reviews just like ours and stayed away. After our trip I looked up Antojitos reviews. It has a 4.0 on both Tripadvisor and Google, and a 3.5 on Yelp. After filtering those results for reviews from recent visitors, I found that 50% of the reviews within the last week(30 different reviews) had rated it two stars or lower. If we had checked this out and seen it was at best a 50/50 shot, we would’ve made a different choice.
All this to say, it’s always worth the time spent to research your options before you go. There’s better food to be had and you should have it!
A note from the Editor: I have eaten at Antojitos as well, and my experience was spectacular, BUT, we were starving after a long park day AND we all knew we wanted Margaritas. We lucked into a last minute reservation and they got our food to us in a reasonable amount of time despite being busy. I recommended that Arely try Antojitos while she prepared for this trip. This brings to mind that dining experiences are very circumstantial. Theme park food CAN be unpredictable. Every travel party has very different meal requirements. Work with a Travel Agent if you’d like help planning your theme park dining!
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