I had occasion to be at the resort and so stopped in for a late lunch at Tortilla Jo's. The inside dining room now offers the same menu for lunch as they do for dinner. For a while, they were offering the cantina menu inside during lunch and then switching over to the larger menu for dinner.

At about 1:40pm, there weren't very many people in the restaurant, as might be expected, especially on a Friday. I was seated very quickly, and water and chips & salsa were brought fairly quickly as well. It took almost 10 minutes for the server to come to my table, though, so that concerned me a bit about the service I should expect, but she was pleasant as she took my order and very helpful as well. I had decided on one of the combos so I could try a few different items, but I'm not particularly fond of refried beans, which are included with most combos. When I asked the server what kinds of beans they used, she said they were pinto beans, but that I could substitute black beans if I wanted. That's not always an option in some restaurants, so it was nice that they could do that there. I was also surprised when the food arrived fairly quickly after the server had taken my order. As I mentioned, it wasn't very crowded in the restaurant, but it almost seemed like they prepared my order as soon as it was submitted, so the food was nicely hot and fresh.

As I had been enjoying the chips and salsa while I was waiting for the server, I had noticed that the salsa seemed a bit less spicy than I had remembered from previous visits. It was still good, but I do enjoy salsa with a bit of kick. The chips were good as well, though they were thicker than I'm used to at other restaurants.

The chicken taco was very good, with the rotisserie chicken having very good flavor. I did come across a bone but that's not too unexpected given that they use rotisserie chicken and not shredded chicken. The taco shell was like the chips, thicker than I'm used to.

The chicken tamale was very good, with the same wonderful flavor as the last time I'd had it. I've come to really like tamales, and I really like the sauce on their tamale.

The cheese enchilada was ok, but it was my least favorite of the three. Again, the tortilla was a bit harder than I'm used to, which is ok for chips and tacos, since you expect those to be crunchy, but it's a bit more unexpected to have an enchilada with a semi-crunchy shell. However, I really liked the sauce on the enchilada since it was a bit spicier than everything else. For those who don't enjoy spicy foods, be sure to ask them to leave the sauce off.

The rice was just ok, but I haven't generally found Spanish rice to be that exciting anyway. The black beans were very good, with very good flavor. You can also substitute vegetables for the beans and rice, so that's a good option as well.

On a previous visit, we'd also had problems with getting our water glasses refilled. They still had the dark blue water glasses which are pretty to look at but are really difficult to see if they need refilling. However, my water glass was refilled often. I tend to generally have my water glass away from the edge of the table, and I've discovered that when I want a refill, if I move it to the side near the edge of the table, I tend to get my refill faster.

They had put me in a booth, and the booths have fairly high walls, which is nice for providing privacy but would seem to be difficult for servers and staff to see over. That might account for the delay in my server arriving at my table initially. Other than that glitch at the beginning, the server was excellent, pleasant and helpful. She came back to check on me soon after my food had arrived and then came back when I was finished to give me the bill.

This was definitely a much better experience than our last visit to the inside dining room, and I'm looking forward to coming back for dinner and trying out some of the new items that have been added to the menu since our last visit.

For the current menu offerings in the inside dining room, please click here.

For the current menu offerings in the cantina, please click here.

For the current menu offerings in the taqueria, please click here.

Tortilla Jo's / Downtown Disney District
1510 Disneyland Drive, Anaheim, California 92803

714-535-5000
Note that the restaurant is not currently accepting reservations.

Hours of Operation
Sunday - Thursday 11am - 10pm
Friday - Saturday 11am - 11pm

Taqueria
Sunday - Thursday 11am - 11pm
Friday - Saturday 11am - 1am

Cantina
daily 3pm - 1am

To see Tortilla Jo's specific webpage in the Patina Group website, please click here.

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