A Mexican restaurant by a Michelin-starred chef coming to Downtown Disney next month will be joined by a courtyard cocktail bar and takeout eatery as part of a major culinary makeover of the outdoor shopping mall next to Disneyland.
A trio of new restaurant concepts featuring Mexican cuisine by Chef Carlos Gaytan will open in May at Downtown Disney.
The new Paseo restaurant, Centrico courtyard bar and Tiendita grab-and-go stand will take over spaces formerly occupied by Catal restaurant, Uva bar and Sprinkles cupcake bakery.
Gaytan’s food pairs his love for his homeland of Huitzuco, Mexico with French culinary style and technique.
Paseo’s menu will include ceviche, lamb barbacoa, cochinita pibil (roasted marinated pork), mejillones (mussels) and tetelas (stuffed corn masa triangles). A circular staircase will lead to Paseo’s second-story dining room and upper patio.
Centrico will focus on tequila-based cocktails along with a menu featuring quesabirria, chicken enchiladas and a shareable pizza-like Oaxacan dish called tlayuda.
Tiendita’s self-ordering kiosk will offer Mexican street food like fish tacos, esquites (roasted corn), ice cream-stuffed chocolate tacos, chorizo breakfast burritos and chilaquiles (marinated tortilla chips with eggs).
The Patina Restaurant Group closed Tortilla Jo’s Mexican-style cantina that operated at Downtown Disney for 20 years to make way for Gaytan’s new Mexican cuisine concepts.
Downtown Disney’s culinary scene is undergoing a major overhaul with 11 new restaurant and bar concepts set to open this year.