We love a good underdog — and Disney World is full of them.

Well, Disney World is full of underrated restaurants at least! With so many dining options to choose from, we know it can be tough to make a choice. But, if you’re looking for a restaurant spearheaded by a celebrity chef with delicious food, killer drinks, and awesome dessert that DOESN’T require a park ticket — look no further than Frontera Cocina at Disney Springs! We decided to check this spot out to see if anything had changed since our last visit — so come with us to eat at Frontera Cocina!

Atmosphere

When we first arrived at Frontera Concina we were seated outside. We should note that we were there in mid-October and we had an early dinner reservation. Sometimes being seated outside in Florida can be our worst nightmare, but at this time of the day and year, it was really nice!

We were seated by the water and the weather was cool in the shade with a nice breeze. It was super peaceful especially since the inside seating was on the louder side. Overall we really enjoyed the atmosphere and the experience only got better with the food!

Let’s take a look at what the restaurant offers!

Menu

Frontera Concina’s menu states that it offers authentic Mexican cuisine that was created by Chef Rick Bayless who is a seven-time James Beard Award winner. Lunch is offered from 11AM to 4PM and dinner is offered from 4PM to 11PM. Here is a look at the dinner menu! There are several starters to choose from including the tortilla soup and classics like chips and salsa.

There are also some salads if you want a light start or easy meal and there are four types of tacos to choose from!

The regular entree menu has plenty of variety from carne asada to seafood.

Esquites, fried plantains, garlicky red bean refritos, and arroz con plantains are available as sides.

There are also plenty of desserts including the chocolate pigñata! For some spice, try the ancho chile chocolate soft serve.

Kids only have a few options on their menu.

Frontera Cocina offers lots of alcoholic and specialty beverages including some classic cocktails and a mocktail.

What goes better with tacos than a margarita?! There are plenty to choose from on this menu.

You can also try mezcal…

…grab a tequila flight…

…or try any of these tequilas on your visit.

You’ll also find drafted and bottled beer…

…as well as sangria, sparkling wine…

…white wine, and red wine!

So how did the food taste and what did we order? Well, let’s talk about it!

Eats

During our dinner reservation, we tried a starter, tacos, an entree, and a dessert. We don’t know about you, but we’re hungry, so let’s go!

First, we started with The Half and Half. This appetizer is half guacamole and half toasted pumpkin seed “hummus”. It comes with jicama, cucumbers, and homemade chips. The pumpkin hummus was extremely creamy with lots of flavor and spice. While we thought the guacamole was good, it wasn’t super special.

The pumpkin seeds, jalapenos, and onion on top add the perfect amount of flavor. The red salsa on the side had a great smokey flavor with a bit of spice while the green salsa was a bit spicer than the other options. Overall, we really loved the pumpkin hummus the most and we think if you like creamy, pumpkin flavors you will love this! If you aren’t a huge fan of spice, steer clear. This dish was $14.

Moving onto the tacos, we decided to try the carnitas. The Carnitas were made with Gunthorp Farms slow-cooked pork shoulder cooked with garlic and lime. On the side, we got black bean refritos with fresco cheese, guacamole, and pickled red onions. It also came with salsa verde and warm corn tortillas. We thought the flavor was fabulous and it was super well-seasoned.

The pork was also very juicy which we really liked. The black beans were good but not necessarily special in our opinion. The pickled red onion on top added a nice sharp flavor which pairs well with the carnitas and the black beans. These carnitas were $26 and although that is a bit pricey for tacos, it was well worth it in our opinion.

For our next dish, we tried the Creamy Chicken Enchiladas Suiza is made up of fresh corn tortillas, chicken, and poblano rajas filling. It’s topped with tomatillo-cream sauce, Queso Chihuahua, sliced red onion, and cilantro leaves.

These enchiladas were very, very cheesy and packed with lots of flavors! It had a pretty strong spice which we really enjoyed but it might not be for everyone. Overall, we really loved this dish but we don’t think you should try it if you’re not a fan of spicy things. This entree was $25.

Finally, we finished dinner dessert — the Cuatro Leches! It is a cake infused with 4 types of milk (coconut milk, condensed milk, evaporated milk, and whole milk). The cake was topped with whipped cream, toasted coconuts, berries, and lime zest.

We truly can’t speak more highly of this dessert! The cake was wonderfully moist and flavorful with an amazing texture that was soft but still firm. The lime, blackberries and coconut flavors all paired very nicely together and that cut through the sweetness of the cake. Overall, we really loved this dessert as it was sweet but not overly sweet, which we like after a big meal. The cuatro leches costs $10.

Nosh or Not

You should dine at Frontera Cocina if…

• You are craving delicious Mexican food. Y’all, this food is so delicious and flavorful. If you’re in the mood for some authentic and delicious food that will hit the spot, Frontera Cocina is for you.
• You want a less crowded sit down meal. The restaurant was not too crowded when we arrived and it can be pretty easy to grab a reservation here. It is possible that they will fill up, but we recommend making a reservation as soon as you know you want to go or you can try walking up to the restaurant.
• You want to celebrate an occasion. This is an underrated but fun spot to celebrate a birthday or an anniversary! Go all out with margaritas and finish off the meal with the celebratory Chocolate Pigñata!

You should skip Frontera Cocina if…

• You have picky eaters in your party. Each of the dishes we tried had a good amount of spice and with unique ingredients like the pumpkin hummus we tried in our appetizer, picky eaters might have a hard time finding something to eat.
• You want a quick meal in Disney Springs. If you’re a go, go, go, type of person, you might not want to stop for a sit down meal. There are plenty of other quick service spots in Disney Springs we recommend including Chicken Guy! and The Polite Pig!
• You’re on a tight budget. This meal is not one of the most expensive we’ve seen in Disney World (we’re looking at you, Victoria & Albert’s) but it is still a bit pricey. Consider grabbing a meal from the 4 Rivers Cantina Barbacoa Food Truck if you’re in the mood for Mexican food, but are on a tighter budget.

Overall

Overall we loved what we tried! Even though this is an underdog restaurant in Disney Springs, we thought all of the dishes were really flavorful even if not every aspect of them was super special. We think if you like Mexican cuisine packed with flavor, and sometimes spice, you should give this Disney Springs restaurant a shot!

If you’re somebody who doesn’t enjoy Mexican cuisine or spice, this maybe isn’t a great option for you. While we really enjoyed this location, Disney Springs has tons of great restaurants to try. Recently Splitsville introduced 5 new items and Gideon’s Bakehouse has a new flavor every month to try.

With DOZENS of places to eat at Disney World, we know it can be tough to plan your meals. That’s why we wrote the DFB Guide to Dining at Walt Disney World. We have reviews, pictures and details about every restaurant all in one digital download – along with ALL of our best tips and strategies from decades of Disney World trips. We’ve got a special discount code for DFB readers, too! Use WDW2022 at checkout for 25% off!

Don’t forget to keep following DFB for all of your Disney World food updates and news.

Click Here to Read Our Latest Review of Skipper Canteen at Magic Kingdom

Have you been to Frontera Cocina before? Let us know in the comments!