Jardin de Fiestas Menu & Food Review: Epcot Flower & Garden Festival

Jardin de Fiestas is the Outdoor Kitchen in World Showcase’s Mexico pavilion at the Epcot Flower & Garden Festival. In this Walt Disney World dining review, we’ll look at the menu prices, share food photos, and offer thoughts on what is worth your money or Disney Dining Plan credits.

If you’ve followed our coverage of the Mexico booth at Epcot’s various festivals, you might recall that this tends to be one of our least favorite booths. Sometimes, it has drawn unfavorable comparisons to Taco Bell–in the sense that Taco Bell is without pretense.

Other times the reviews of Mexico’s food booth have been slightly more favorable, with a hidden gem here and there. What culinary delights and/or duds does the Jardin de Fiestas Outdoor Kitchen hold?! Let’s take a look…

Here’s a look at the menu for the Mexico pavilion’s Outdoor Kitchen:

  • Chilaquiles de Pollo: Chipotle-braised Chicken and Tortillas served with Salsa Ranchera, Monterey Jack Cheese, Crema Mexicana and Guajillo Cheese
  • Quesadilla al Pastor: Flour Tortilla filled with Monterey Jack Cheese and Pork Pastor topped with Grilled Pineapple, Salsa Verde, Red Onion and Cilantro
  • Choriqueso Torta: Bolillo Roll filled with Chorizo and Monterey Jack Cheese, Avocado Mousse and Jalapeños

Now our photos and reviews of each item served at Jardin de Fiestas…

Chilaquiles de Pollo – As the menu suggests, this dish consists of chipotle-braised chicken and tortillas served with salsa ranchera, monterey jack cheese, crema mexicana, and guajillo cheese. We love chilaquiles, and as far as that classic Mexican comfort food goes, it delivers. Nice texture, consistency, and variety of flavors.

In terms of value, the portion here is ample, making this arguably a decent value out of pocket or when using a Disney Dining Plan snack credit. It wouldn’t be one of our top picks, but you could do worse than this crowd-pleaser. And Jardin de Fiestas does!

Quesadilla al Pastor ($7.50) – Described on the menu as a “Flour Tortilla filled with Monterey Jack Cheese and Pork Pastor topped with Grilled Pineapple, Salsa Verde, Red Onion and Cilantro.” You might thus believe there’s a lot going on here. You would be wrong.

The dominant flavor is flour tortilla, and that’s a problem in a bite-sized quesadilla that costs over $7. Not recommended regardless of how you’re paying.

Choriqueso Torta ($7) – One of my go-to lunches is Trader Joe’s “Really Expensive Authentic Handcrafted Chicken Burritos.” They are absolutely nothing special, but the tongue in cheek name has always made me chuckle. I feel like we’re getting that same puffery with the menus at the Mexico booth. However, instead of the tongue being in the cheek, it’s tongue sticking out at any suckers who buy this stuff.

If this item were sold at Trader Joe’s and called “Really Expensive Authentic Handcrafted Mexican Sloppy Joe” I could get behind it. I might not be pleased by the stale bun, but the rest of the dish would be fancy enough as compared to normal sloppy joe that I’d be fine with it. As an Epcot festival item, the taste here is passable (it truly is like elevated sloppy joe), but definitely not worth the price.

Of course, there are plenty of options on the alcohol menu for this Outdoor Kitchen:

  • Cruz Blanca Rosé Spritz: Effervescent Rosé Wheat Ale with Elderflower Liqueur
  • Mango Mexican Lucky Margarita: Spicy Ancho Verde Liqueur, 100% Agave Tequila Blanco, Mango-Passion Fruit Purée, Lime Juice, Applejack and Ginger Cordial served with a Tajin Chili-Lime Rim
  • Rosita Margarita: Rose Petal Liqueur, 100% Agave Tequila Blanco, Lemon and Cranberry Juices served with a Rose Petal Salt Rim

Overall, the Jardin de Fiestas Outdoor Kitchen at the Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival is about par for the course for the Mexico booth. It’s nothing if not predictable, I guess. Per tradition, Jardin de Fiesta serves up overpriced items that are bland and no better than what you could find in the freezer section of Trader Joe’s. The flavors are generally pretty approachable (to put it charitably) and nothing here stands out as a must-try. Two of the items are passable as comfort food, but nothing is remotely ambitious or even on par with an average dish at your local Mexican restaurant.

Check out our Epcot Flower & Garden Festival Outdoor Kitchen Food Booth Menus & Photos post if you want to see and read more about every menu this year. You’ll also want to read our full Epcot’s International Flower & Garden Festival Guide before you go to get an idea of what to do, strategy for the festival, photos of the topiaries and floral displays, and much more!

Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!

YOUR THOUGHTS

What do you think of the Jardin de Fiestas Outdoor Kitchen? Have you tried any of the food items at the Mexico pavilion’s booth? What did you like or dislike? Portion-size or quality-wise, did you have better or worse luck than us with what you ordered? Questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!

3 Responses to “Jardin de Fiestas Menu & Food Review: Epcot Flower & Garden Festival”
  1. Lee March 14, 2022
  2. Iliana March 12, 2020
  3. Cdd89 March 10, 2020

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