A brand NEW restaurant has arrived in Disney World!

Quite a few new restaurants are actually headed to Disney World in 2023, including Summer House on the Lake at Disney Springs and The Cake Bake Shop on Disney’s BoardWalk. But you don’t have to wait to try this next spot because it is open now! It’s not the cheapest though, so let’s dive into whether it’ll be worth YOUR money.

Atmosphere

Right now, we’re talking you to a restaurant that has opened its first EVER Orlando-area location — Rosa Mexicano! The restaurant already has locations in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and Maryland, but now it can add Orlando to that list. You’ll find this brand new restaurant at the Walt Disney World Dolphin Resort, where it has replaced Fresh Mediterranean Market.

The restaurant is meant to offer an “elevated fiesta mining experience” with a signature menu and award-winning drinks. CEO of Rosa Mexicano, Jim Dunn, previously shared, “Rosa Mexicano’s arrival to Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin is a truly exciting moment of our expansion. The opening reflects our founding chef Josefina Howard’s vision of introducing Mexican culinary traditions and authentic Mexican heritage to the world,” and, “we will offer the Orlando market a fresh take on Mexican food, authentic Mexican heritage, culinary techniques and lively dining.”

When you first approach Rosa Mexicano, you’ll find a check-in desk with a colorful photo of Mexican painter Frida Kahlo front and center. Head inside the restaurant and that theming continues.

In terms of pure design, the space is beautiful. The decor is bright and colorful, with aqua and gold colors used throughout. Plus, the space has an open and airy vibe.

It greatly benefits from the many large windows throughout the space.

There’s also some interesting artwork to look at, so keep an eye out for those more unique pieces!

During our time at the restaurant (we visited for an early dinner), we found the music to be upbeat without being overpowering.

While it didn’t bother us, we could see some finding this restaurant to be a little too noisy (at least at dinner). The music wasn’t extremely loud (at least in our opinion) but the hard surfaces caused some of the sounds to bounce around a bit.

In terms of seating, there are standard tables and chairs available, as well as booths…

…and some bar seating.

The restaurant as a whole is divided into a few different sections including the bar and then other seating areas. None are particularly “better” than the others, but some are more focused on Frida Kahlo, while others have views of the outside/the water, and one section is right by the kitchen (so the hustle and bustle there might be a bit much for some — while others might find looking into the open-kitchen to be a highlight of the meal).

One of the best things about this restaurant is its location since it is within the Dolphin Resort. That places it in a convenient spot between EPCOT and Disney’s Hollywood Studios. You could easily stop during a park day, come to eat here, and then walk back (or take other transportation back) to either of those parks.

But enough about the atmosphere, let’s get to our meal!

Menu

First, we’ll talk about the menu. Rosa Mexicano serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner, just be sure to check what’s available during your visit. You can see menu details for all 3 meals here, but for this post, we’ll focus on dinner since that’s when we visited!

We were provided with reusable menus. One part of the menu goes into a bit of the story of the restaurant. The flagship restaurant was opened in New York by Josefina Howard (a world traveler). She was the first chef to “introduce fine dining Mexican fare to the NY restaurant scene.”

The menu includes wine, beer, margaritas, cocktails, and spirit-free drinks.

There’s also a much more extensive drink menu available…

…which details the MANY tequila varieties you can try here (there are over 100 varieties of tequila and agave-based spirits!).

There are also wines…

…cocktails, and beers available.

In terms of the food, you can choose (if you’d like) to start things off with guacamole, ceviche, or some starters.

Then it’s time to hop into the main entree selections. There are also parrilladas and enchiladas available.

You could also opt for a variety of tacos, and supplement your meal with some side items.

So, now that we’ve taken a look at the menu, let’s EAT!

Eats

We sat down at our table, which was nicely laid out with our silverware and cloth napkin, and were met with a welcome sight.

There might not be a bread service, but who needs bread and butter when you have chips and salsa?! This was brought to our table for free. The salsa itself was mild, with a touch of sweetness and a hint of citrus. The salsa was pretty good but very delicate in terms of its flavors. It’s not the type of bold salsa that’ll smack you in the face with its flavors.

The chips were alright — thin and fresh. We wish they would have been served warm though, as that would have really taken things up a notch. Overall, it was a fairly simple salsa. If you are a fan of chunkier salsas or you don’t like citrus flavors, you might not enjoy this. But otherwise, we think it’s mild enough to please a decent variety of palettes.

Next, let’s get to our appetizer. We opted for the Queso, which is priced at $13. This is a three-cheese blend with roasted tomato, pickled jalapeno, and warm corn tortilla chips.

The blend seemed to be made of white American cheese, along with Muenster and Chihuahua (a Mexican-style melting cheese). Plus there was a little bit of cotija sprinkled on top. And while the menu didn’t include this description, there was some cilantro sprinkled on top too.

Our reporter loves cilantro, so keep that in mind. It can be a very divisive ingredient (particularly for those of whom it tastes like soap), but for our reporter, the cilantro was delicious and tasted very fresh. The chips were coated in a flaky salt that was absolutely wonderful and paired so well with the creamy cheese.

The queso was really thin, which made us worried that it would be lacking in flavor, but we were so WRONG! The queso was incredibly flavorful! The pickled jalapenos added just the right amount of kick (without making your mouth feel like it was being burned off). The blend of cheeses was also great — making this all melty and creamy in the best way possible. And that cotija cheese sprinkled on top added a nice texture difference.

Again, the queso was REALLY thin. While this didn’t bother our reporter, we could see it being a little bit of a texture issue for those who absolutely must have a thick queso dip. Plus, the pickled jalapenos can turn some people off — it wasn’t an overpowering flavor, but those who hate pickled veggies might still have a problem with it. And the cilantro on top can be divisive — if you hate cilantro, see if you can ask for it to be removed or made without it.

Still, we think this is an absolute WIN for cheese lovers so you might want to give it a try when here.

Next up, we have a taco dish — the Birria Quesatacos for $18. These have braised Angus beef brisket, queso Oaxaca, cilantro, onions, consommé dip, and corn tortillas. 

In terms of the taco itself, it was nice and crispy with the cheese baked into it and some fresh cilantro on top. The brisket was wonderfully flavorful and the amount of meat given in each taco was also pretty good!

The textures here really were on POINT — the tortilla was crispy, there was some crunchy baked cheese on it, and the fresh onions and cilantro added some awesome texture and flavor differences.

We especially liked the corn tortillas here. The consomme dip provided with it was oniony and good, but it does have a little kick to it so be warned. Also, note that the dish was cilantro HEAVY.

On the “negative” side, we would have liked the brisket to be a tad more tender, but it was still really good. Also, there is (as we noted above) a LOT of cilantro in this, so stay away if you are a cilantro hater (or ask your server if it can be modified to have less of a cilantro flavor).

But if you love tacos, brisket, cheese, and cilantro, give this one a try, we have a feeling you’ll really enjoy it!

Next, it was time to try an enchilada — we opted for the Roasted Chicken Suizas, priced at $23. This features Tomatillo Salsa Verde, Chihuahua Cheese, Crema, Cilantro, and Onion. Enchiladas are served with Mexican or White rice — we opted for the Mexican rice which has roasted tomato, poblano peppers, and cilantro.

This was SO, SO, SOOO GOOD. The salsa verde had a really robust flavor — very tangy with a bit of a kick, while also tasting fresh and bright.

The chicken inside of the enchilada was tender, the cilantro on top was fresh, and the tortillas were wonderfully soft. Combine that with the cheese and crema (which added a lovely creamy texture), and you’ve got a true winner. This was easily our favorite dish of the night!

Truly, we don’t have anything bad to say about this, except…if you don’t like cilantro this is ANOTHER one to be careful with.

Overall, if you like enchiladas and salsa verde, we think this is one you’ll absolutely LOVE (we certainly did).

And a quick note about the Mexican rice — that was tasty too! It had a little bit of a kick to it, and the fresh cilantro really jazzed it up.

Finally, we just had to try another side here so we opted for the Sweet Corn Esquites, priced at $9. These have queso fresco, epazote (an herb from Mexico that is said to taste like a mixture of basil and mint according to Eater), charred jalapeno mayonnaise, and chile de arbol (a small Mexican chili pepper known to be quite potent).

This had a fantastic combination of flavors — creamy, spicy, and sweet all at once! There was also a charred flavor mixed in (thanks to that mayo), which was more unique, and balanced out the sweetness of the corn. And the chile de arbol was a bold touch — a little spicy, but not overly so.

It’s a dish that might not be for everyone, particularly because that charred jalapeno mayo was unique. And those who have textural concerns might not love the inclusion of the mayo here.

But if you like Mexican street corn, we have a feeling this is something you’ll really enjoy!

And that brings us to the end of our meal, so let’s go over some overall thoughts.

Nosh or Not

Stop by Rosa Mexicano if:

1. You absolutely LOVE Mexican food and/or cilantro.
2. You’re looking for a beautiful, airy, colorful restaurant with upbeat music that gives your dining experience a great vibe (they call it an “elevated fiesta” for a reason!).
3. You’ll be staying at an EPCOT area resort or will be at EPCOT or Hollywood Studios and want to grab dinner nearby but somewhere outside of the parks.

SKIP Rosa Mexicano if:

1. You absolutely hate cilantro — now, this could have been a result of the items we selected and you may be able to ask for menu items to be adjusted and made without cilantro, but if you do hate cilantro just be sure to make that known when ordering so the server can help you decide what will be best.
2. You want a super quiet meal — the music wasn’t all that loud for us, but we could see it being a bit too much for some.
3. You’re looking for something particularly kid-friendly — unless your kiddos love Mexican cuisine, they might find the menu here to be a bit more challenging, and the vibe of the restaurant as a whole is more upscale than something like your average character meal.

Overview

Overall, we had a really good experience at Rosa Mexicano. Our server was friendly, knowledgeable, and attentive. The setting was really great, with those beautiful windows, unique artwork, and upbeat music. Plus the food was good, with the Roasted Chicken Suizas being a real highlight.

Is this the cheapest food at Disney World? No. But it’s also not the most expensive on property. The food is slightly on the higher side in terms of price, but not really all that bad compared to other Disney restaurants. Plus, it was really tasty!

What do you think? Would Rosa Mexicano be a must-try for you? Tell us in the comments!

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Will you be trying this restaurant? Tell us in the comments!