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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2013 |
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The Happiest Place on Earth is nearby, but the Happiest Place in Yester Downtown Disney is Tortilla Jo’s. Start with festive, cheerful interior spaces and colorful outdoor seating. |
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Who doesn’t love Mexican and Mexican-American cuisine? The staff is friendly. There are more than 100 tequila selections (and plenty of other adult beverages). If you time your visit right, there might even be live entertainment by the Mariachi Divas. It’s all a winning combination. |
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Photo by Chris Bales, 2023 Host stand |
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Tortilla Jo’s has a large menu of beloved, traditional Mexican favorites, as well as more adventuresome choices and dishes with a modern twist. You might even find dishes that most Americans would have to Google, such as Camarones Tapatios. Check in at the host stand. During prime meal times, it’s best to arrive with a reservation. Let the host know if you have a preference for upstairs or the main floor, inside or outside. |
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Photo by Chris Bales, 2024 Stairs to the upper floor |
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Photo by Chris Bales, 2024 Festive room with a large mural, perfect for larger groups |
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Photo by Chris Bales, 2024 Outdoor dining |
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Photo by Chris Bales, 2024 The main dining room, La Plaza, with a second level of dining overlooking it |
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Start your meal with Tableside Guacamole: “fresh guacamole prepared to your liking tableside with perfectly ripe Haas avocados, onions, tomatoes, cilantro and lime juice.” It’s one of the favorites here. For your entrée, consider Fajita de Tres—“a combination of three meats: grilled chicken, grilled steak and pan-seared shrimp on a bed of peppers and onions. Comes with your choice of refried beans or black beans, Mexican rice, guacamole, sour cream and fresh tortillas.“ Or you might prefer Jo’s Carnitas—“Citrus-braised pork, black beans, Mexican red rice, pico de gallo, guacamole, chile torreados handmade corn tortillas.” |
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Photo by Chris Bales, 2024 Crispy Taco and Chicken Enchilada |
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Another option is to choose two or three items from the Platos De Combinaciones section of the menu. The Crispy Taco comes with shredded chicken or beef, lettuce, cotija cheese, pico de gallo, and a corn tortilla. The Chicken Enchilada comes with shredded chicken, monterey jack cheese, salsa verde, and a corn tortilla. |
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Photo by Chris Bales, 2024 Main floor dining |
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On Saturdays and Sundays from 9:00 a.m. to noon, Tortilla Jo’s offers its famous brunch. For one reasonable price ($16 in 2021), the three-course meal includes an appetizer, choice of entrée, and dessert. Add the Bottomless Mimosa ($10 in 2021), in your choice of orange, cranberry, or pineapple-orange—but be aware that it’s only for one hour of service with purchase of an entrée; you can’t just sit there for three hours having your mimosa glass refilled. |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2014 Tortilla Jo’s Taqueria |
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If you want Mexican food quickly, Tortilla Jo’s offers a fast casual eatery in the same building. This taqueria is called Taqueria, which is a rather generic name. |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2014 Taqueria counter |
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If you’ve ever been to a Chipotle Mexican Grill, the concept here will be familiar to you: an entrée assembled on the spot to your specifications. For your custom meal, select your entrée type, protein, fillings, and salsa, if you’d rather have a fancy salad, choose a Mexican Caesar Salad or Sonora Cobb Salad. Add sides and a drink, perhaps a traditional agua fresca or a Mexican beer. |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2014 Taqueria menu |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2014 Food items ready to be assembled for your meal |
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Photo by Chris Bales, 2024 Burrito and a Coke |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2014 Tacos |
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The food at the Taqueria is served on paper trays. Nothing fancy. But it’s all quick, delicious, and reasonably priced. |
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It might seem as if Tortilla Jo’s was an opening day restaurant at the Downtown Disney District of the Disneyland Resort in California, but it wasn’t. The grand opening of Tortilla Jo’s was Friday, April 16, 2004. Another restaurant preceded it in the same location. |
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Photo by Allen Huffman, 2001 Y Arriba Y Arriba (2001–2002) |
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That restaurant was Y Arriba Y Arriba, a Latin dining and entertainment concept from the Cachaldora/Currais family, known for their Club Tropigala nightclub in Miami Beach. The 600-seat “tapas-teatro” promised to be “as hot as a jalapeño pepper, and as scintillating as the samba, with a kick like café Cubano.” In addition to an extensive tapas menu, there would be “live entertainment, including concerts by Latin stars of today and tomorrow.” Apparently, not enough Downtown Disney guests were interested in pan-Latin American tapas and a flashy floor show. After the summer 2002 season, a sign in a window of Y Arriba Y Arriba read, “A new dining experience coming soon!” The Patina Restaurant Group was already operating other Downtown Disney restaurants: Naples Ristorante, Napolini, Catal Restaurant, and Uva Bar. More than a year and a half after Y Arriba Y Arriba closed, Tortilla Jo’s opened. Patina had converted the building into an upscale Mexican restaurant. |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2010 Original paint scheme and sign |
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Photo by Chris Bales, 2024 Final paint scheme and sign |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2010 Original blue sign on the second floor |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2014 Newer sign on the ground floor |
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Photo by Chris Bales, 2023 How the sign looked against the final paint scheme. |
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Tortilla Jo’s was a popular restaurant, with plenty of five-star reviews on Yelp from delighted diners (along with the typical one- and two-star reviews to drag the average down). The end of Tortilla Jo’s was foreshadowed by the April 2022 announcement that Catal Restaurant and Uva Bar & Café would be replaced by Mexican restaurants. |
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Photos by Chris Bales, 2024 Permanently closed |
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After a run of about twenty years, the final operating day for Tortilla Jo’s Restaurant was April 7, 2024. For Tortilla Jo’s Taqueria, it was April 13, 2024. What “new and exciting” concept would replace the shuttered Mexican eatery? On April 10, 2024, Brady MacDonald of the Orange County Register reported, “Disneyland plans to open new steakhouse and barbecue concepts at the former Tortilla Jo’s location in Downtown Disney. No opening dates were announced for the steakhouse restaurant and adjacent BBQ eatery.“ A steakhouse seems like a good idea. Many Americans love steak, and there’s no longer a true steakhouse at the Disneyland Resort since the closing of the Disneyland Hotel’s Steakhouse 55 during the pandemic, which was officially confirmed to be permanent in summer 2022. After Tortilla Jo’s closed, people looking for Mexican food at Downtown Disney would have to wait less than a month. |
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Photo by Chris Bales, 2024 Paseo and Céntrico under construction behind a wall |
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Patina Restaurant Group was preparing three new Mexican eatery concepts for a grand opening on May 2, 2024. The first, replacing Catal Restaurant on the second floor, would be Paseo, an authentic Mexican restaurant that “blends cultural legacy with the present day.” The second, replacing Uva Bar & Café, would be Céntrico, an open-air Mexican restaurant and cantina. The third, replacing Sprinkles cupcake bakery, would be Tiendita, a quick-service eatery. They would all feature Mexican cuisine by Chef Carlos Gaytán. The former Top Chef contestant and first Latin American to earn a Michelin star is famous for HA’ Restaurant at Hotel Xcaret Hotel México, about an hour from Cancún, and Tzuco in River North, Chicago. All three have fancier names than Tortilla Jo’s. |
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© 2024 Werner Weiss — Disclaimers, Copyright, and Trademarks Updated April 19, 2024 |
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