If you haven’t been to Disney Springs in a few years, things have really changed. With the opening of Town Center in 2016, a bunch of new restaurants came with it. One of those newer restaurants is Frontera Cocina, created by Chef Rick Bayless, which features contemporary Mexican cuisine. We finally were able to try it, so here’s our experience.
When we spoke with our server about being vegan we had a few questions. She told us we could get the salads without cheese/meat, the Grilled Zucchini, Mushroom and Potato Enchiladas made vegan, and she told us we could get the sides made vegan. Additionally the chips and salsa, and chips and guacamole were vegan.
*Our server never mentioned the Toasted Pumpkin Seed “Hummus” but this is safe as well.
We ordered the Chips with Guacamole, Verde Style, and then continued looking into the menu items for the kids. The sides were confusing as they all list that they contain dairy or pork. So when she came back we asked what sides we could get since none seemed safe. She told us the Roasted Cauliflower could be vegan by removing the sauce, which contained cream, and it would just be plain cauliflower. The Fried Plantains could be vegan without the cheese, the Arroz con Plantains was vegan as is, the Queso Anejo Mashed Potatoes could not be vegan because of cream in the potato. Since we were trying to find something for our toddlers I then asked about the Garlicky Red Bean Refritos, which said they contained pork, and she said they could be vegan but the beans contain pork, which means they can’t be vegan. So now we were confused and feeling a little uneasy about the experience. They do also have a spicy black bean side which can be vegan but it’s not listed.
So after all of this we ordered the rice without plantains (banana sensitivity) for our little ones and then we ordered the Veggie Enchiladas for us. When we ordered the enchiladas the server said we could get the cream and cheese on the side, she kept saying this with the sides too, but we made sure to let her know we want nothing to do with the dairy. Again, feeling a little nervous about our food.
Our Guacamole and Chips came out really quickly. The guacamole was great and incredibly creamy. On top of the large scoop of guac was roasted poblano pepper, roasted tomatillo, toasted pepita, cilantro and onion.
This was a ton of food, probably one of the best serving sizes of guac and chips I’ve had. There was more than enough chips to guacamole ratio, which is very important.
The little ones shared some plain rice. We’re quickly finding that vegan items for kids isn’t the easiest to come by.
Our Enchiladas came out with the green sauce on the side. Our server said the sauce was totally vegan and had a spice to it so they didn’t put it on the enchiladas. Being that we like spicy, we just poured it on. It wasn’t very spicy to us, but again, we like spicy.
The enchiladas were filled with zucchini, mushroom and what seemed like mashed potatoes. This was an immediate red flag when I took a bite. I waited for our server to come over and asked her if these were the same mashed potatoes as a side that were not vegan. She assured us that it is a different potato since that one contains cream. I was a little skeptical but continued to eat the enchilada. It was really good, we’ll call it smooshed potato, was really tasty and added a nice creamy element to the enchilada. It was just three tiny corn tortillas (so we would assume is gluten friendly but didn’t confirm), which for $22 was pretty steep.
The enchiladas were on a bed of rice, which seemed to be the same as the Arroz con Plantains. The rice had a nice flavor, the plantains were soft and very sweet.
As a whole the meal was great. Our server made us a little nervous about things, but the food was great. Neither of us were sick after, so I think it’s safe to say the smooshed potatoes were not the same as the mashed potatoes. If we went again I would just get the chips and guac and a margarita, as they all sounded great.
Price? $$
Review from April 2018.
We have spoken with other vegans who were able to get the Zucchini Tostada vegan as well as the Mushroom Torta, our server didn’t offer us these and didn’t notice them still on the menu until later. We have posted both of those on our instagram thanks to our friend Gabby. You can see them below.
The Mushroom Torta from Frontera Cocina at Disney Springs can be made vegan by removing cheese. One of the several options here! 🌮 #vegandisneyworld 📷: @gabbyarrr
