Downtown Disney has been getting quite a bit of an overhaul, including getting MANY new restaurants (oh, yeah, you know we’re excited).

Most recently, three of those new restaurants opened: Paseo, Centrico, and Tiendita, with all three restaurants having menus created by Michelin-starred Chef Carlos Gaytán. Okay, so that has us even MORE stoked. Well, we’ve had a chance to eat at Centrico and Tiendita, but we’re now getting a chance to dine at Paseo.

Atmosphere

Paseo is an authentic Mexican restaurant, so the look inside reflects that, but it also has a modern Californian flare.

You’ll find the space filled with wood textures, leather, greenery, and native Mexican accents.

It’s also filled with light thanks to all the windows, and very spacious. This is not one of those restaurants where you have to worry about bumping elbows with strangers. The restaurant’s colors range from neutrals to cool oranges and blues.

You’ll find booth seating, as well as tables and chairs available.

There is also seating available outside.

We ate outdoors. Note the rattan straw chairs. You’ll also get cloth napkins and utensils at each place setting.

Our table overlooked the related Centrico Bar. Outdoor seating provides a pretty nice view of Downtown Disney.

So let’s talk about the food!

Eats

Although the food here is decidedly Mexican, the menu is inspired by Mexican food but done with a French culinary style. You’ll find ceviches on the menu, along with seafood, as well as Mexican staples like chile relleno, carne asada, and more.

The drinks menu includes a variety of cocktails, margaritas, beer, and wine. You can also order non-alcoholic beverages like horchata, sodas, a sweet Hibiscus tea, and more.

We started with a drink called the Maya-tai, which our server recommended. It’s made with dos hombres mezcal, mandarin syrup, avocado pit orgeat, lime juice, angostura orange bitters, salted guava foam for $18.  Our reporter doesn’t normally like mezcal, but the server said the same, but thought the drink would be a hit with us — and it was. It almost tastes like a margarita, especially with the sweet guava and salt from the foam. The mezcal is barely noticeable — it just offers a smoky taste at the end. The citrus makes this very refreshing and we like the combo of sweet and salty.

For appetizers, we started with the Queso Fundido, made with chorizo & gruyère cheese fondue, wild mushrooms, shallots, garlic, and rosemary and served with roasted masa madre bread for $15. Warning: the madre bread is basically a fancy corn chip. But the dip itself has a light and creamy texture. Plus the flavors blend well, especially when dipping the madre bread into the dip.

The chorizo has a slight kick to it, but it’s not super spicy. We also got hints of the garlic and rosemary flavors, but they were never overpowering. Same goes for the mushrooms and shallots. This just mostly tasted cheesy and a little spicy, and yes, we love that combo.

We also ordered the Yucatán ceviche, made with hamachi, baby cucumbers, fried plantains, mango habanero geleé, and achiote aguachil for $24. Our reporter is not fond of fish, so was a little worried about the hamachi flavors. However, it didn’t taste too fishy plus the other parts of this added some interesting flavors.

The mango habanero geleé adds a nice, sweet, and refreshing, yet slightly spicy, kick to the dish. The dragon fruit under the fish was a nice surprise and added a hint of sweetness to every bite with the fish. The cucumbers had a nice crunch and a nice saltiness that balanced out everything.

For our main entree, we picked the Mama’s Cochinita Pibil made with guerrero-style pork shank, black bean pureé, pickled red onion, habanero salsa, and corn tortillas for $38. This pork was so tender, juicy, and full of flavor. Although it’s served with a steak knife, we didn’t need it — it just fell right off the bone. It was slow-cooked with orange and chili, so you got those hints of sweet and spicy flavors.

The habanero salsa was fresh with just the right amount of mild heat. The black beans in the paste were cooked in fat from the pork, so their flavor blended in with the pork because of that.

However, our favorite part of this entree was the corn tortillas. They were warm and fresh and thicker than the kind of tortillas you get in the store. So basically, the tortillas were sort of like corn tortilla bread. We have ZERO complaints.

Overall, we enjoyed this meal.

Nosh or Not?

You might want to stop by Paseo if…

• You love authentic Mexican-inspired food. Chef Carlos Gaytan created the menu and it certainly features a lot of Mexican staples with great combinations of flavors. If you love Mexican food, you’ll want to eat here.
• You want to enjoy a table service restaurant experience. This restaurant is so chill and we love the vibe. So if you’re wanting to stop for a while and enjoy a meal, here’s your chance. Plus you can sit indoors or outdoors.
• You’re not on a budget. Although this menu is about mid-priced for Downtown Disney, once you add drinks, it could still add up.

Skip Paseo if…

• You don’t like Mexican food or are averse to Mexican spices. The flavors you’ll find here are all inspired by Mexican food and yes, that means that some of the food could be spicier than you would like.
• You want something quick. If you’re just wanting a meal to go, you would probably be better off just picking up some food from Tiendita, which is a counter service spot with a menu also created by Chef Carlos Gaytan.
• You’re on a budget. If you’re looking for cheap, this might not fit into your budget. Fortunately, there are plenty of places in Downtown Disney to eat that cost less.

Overall

Honestly, we can’t fault anything about the meal we had at Paseo. We will warn you that things are a little spicy, but we didn’t think the items we ordered were TOO hot, but we also understand that spiciness is a very subjective thing. However, being able to get authentic Mexican food at a Disney resort is an idea that we love, but we also love that there are now three options, with menus all created by the same chef, that should appeal to just about anyone who’s craving Mexican food.

We’re excited to return to this restaurant to try more at some point, too, so this is not a one-and-done kind of dining experience for us.

Stay tuned to DFB for more.

REVIEW: Can a Michelin-Starred Chef Make GOOD Disney Fast Food? We Found Out!

Have you tried Paseo yet? What did you think? Let us know in the comments!