Disneyland Rancho del Zocalo Review

Rancho del Zocalo is a Mexican food restaurant located in the Frontierland area of Disneyland in Anaheim, California. TouringPlans readers give this eatery an 90% thumbs up rating. Southern California is home to some of the best and most authentic Mexican food in the world, can this simple theme park restaurant come anywhere close to that pedigree? Keep reading to find out.

Food at Rancho del Zocalo is served buffeteria-style. You grab a tray and head to the stations where Disney cast members prepare and hand over your items. Once you have everything you need, you wait in a separate line at a cash register to pay. Most of the menu is served from two stations on the right and center of the room, while specialty drinks and desserts are available at a counter at the far left of the room. Several bays of self-serve soda fountains are on the opposite wall.

Seating is all outdoors in a large patio. The majority of tables are covered so you probably wont have to eat your meal in direct sunlight. This area is especially pretty at night thanks to some nice lighting.

On to the food. The headliner entree most people go for is the burritos. Chicken ($12.49) or beef ($13.49) are your two protein options. They’re served wet (covered in chile sauce), and include chips and salsa. As if May 2024, rice and beans are no longer served with the burritos, but you can order both for $2.79 each. This appears to be a stealth price increase. While the price has not gone up, the sides that you received with the burritos now cost extra. Rancho’s burritos have shrank considerably over the years (while going up in price, of course) but the serving size is still plentiful.

What’s inside the burrito besides chicken or beef? It’s the same rice and beans you can order as sides. The burrito is decent, which is all I can hope for since it’s a hard dish to screw up. It’s nowhere near the quality (or price) of your favorite local hole-in-the-wall Mexican food spot, but it’s does the job.

New to the menu is the Sonora Bowl with chicken ($12.49) or beef ($13.49). Think of this as a burrito in a bowl. This is undoubtedly the best value at Rancho del Zocalo and maybe even the entire park. You get a generous serving of rice and beans with avocado salsa verde, salsa fresca, sour cream and cotija cheese on top.

Here’s a look at the rice, beans and meat.

The Trio of Street Tacos ($13.99) includes one beef taco, one chicken taco, and one soy chorizo con papa taco served in corn tortillas with tomatillo sauce, and garnished with onions and cilantro. While the tacos included in this entree are good, this is probably the worst value at Rancho. It’s hard to justify the price when compared to the amount of food you get with the other entrees.

The nachos are gone from the menu and in their place are Carne Asada Fries for $13.99. This dish uses the same “filmstrip” fries as Award Wieners over in Disney California Adventure. The Carne Asada Fries are topped with spicy cheese sauce, beans, avocado salsa, carne asada and chipotle-lime crema. At the end of the day you can’t go wrong with a bunch of meat thrown on top of some gloriously thick fries and cheese sauce.

The Pollo Asado is marinated with achiote and served with Mexican rice and refried beans. The chicken was perfectly cooked, juicy and flavorful, and overall this was a very filling dish for $16.99.

Two tortillas are included with the half chicken entree. You can make yourself a couple tacos if you want. Or don’t, I’m not your dad.

Rancho del Zocalo usually has some sort of seasonal dessert. Such as this flan which sits on a layer of chocolate cake. Usually these desserts are great, but a bit small.

Overall Rancho del Zocalo has a decent menu that will fill your belly for an acceptable price. It’s a bit like Taco Bell; Americanized Mexican food where every entree uses the same four or five ingredients. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing. If you’re from a state where authentic Mexican food isn’t as prevalent as Southern California you may find it to be the highlight of your Disneyland visit. For everyone else you’ll find nothing on the menu that is outright bad, but it probably won’t blow you away.

TouringPlans can help you plan the perfect day at Disneyland. Be sure to check out our Disneyland Crowd Calendar, which rates every day of the year on a scale of 1 to 10 so you can see how busy Disneyland and DCA will be during your visit. Also check out our Disneyland Touring Plans which show you how to beat the crowds and spend less time in line at your favorite rides.

Let me know your thoughts about Rancho del Zocalo and where it ranks with other Disneyland Resort dining options. Leave your thoughts in the comments.