Tortilla Jo’s Gluten-Free Dinner
One of the restaurants I keep reading about on Facebook for great gluten-free dining in Downtown Disney is Tortilla Jo’s. On my last visit to California, I decided we should give it a try. It was the start of my big birthday weekend, and we were not doing a park the first night. Instead, we were spending the evening at Downtown Disney. Dinner and a visit to The Void to do Ralph Breaks VR were the plans. I was looking forward to a great Tortilla Jo’s gluten-free dinner.
We did not have a separate allergy menu, so I had to discuss the various options with a chef. You can see the photos of the regular menus below. I will tell you that there have been some menu and price changes since our visit. I will link to the current menu at the bottom of this review.
After speaking with a chef (it took a while as they were busy), I felt confident in our selections. We enjoyed some delicious crispy chips and salsa while we waited for our meal to be prepared. I know, chips are not on my paleo diet. Did I mention it was my birthday weekend? A girl has to cheat sometimes. Besides, what else was I going to use to eat my guacamole?
Speaking of guacamole, I really enjoy it when they make it at your table, and you can select the ingredients you like. For example, I do not like raw onions or a lot of cilantro. I was able to control what went into my guac. Since my dining companion does not eat guacamole, I had the entire bowl to myself. It was great – until I remembered I had a whole meal coming! I was getting pretty full just on my appetizer.
Our Tortilla Jo’s Gluten-Free Dinner Entrees
My Tortilla Jo’s gluten-free dinner selection was Jo’s Carnitas, a heaping platter of citrus-braised pork served with black beans, Mexican rice, Pico de Gallo, guacamole, chile torreados, and hand pressed corn tortillas. Let me warn you now – unless you have a HUGE appetite this dish is an excellent choice for sharing. I hate the fact that I left over half my meal. It was impossible to eat the entire serving, especially after all that guacamole. Even without an appetizer, there was no way I could have finished this plate myself. That is a shame because it was so good. Seriously, I cannot recommend it enough.
My dining partner (my awesome son) selected the Street Tacos as his Tortilla Jo’s gluten-free dinner. The Street Tacos were a good choice – three hand-pressed corn tortillas that are served with the house Mexican Rice and Refried Beans. Even though the menu does not have an option for a try them all, you can request to get one of each kind of taco. He opted to try the Tacos de Pollo; achiote marinated grilled chicken with onion-cilantro mix, Tacos de Carne Asada, grilled steak with adobo sauce and onion-cilantro mix, and Tacos de Carnitas, citrus braised pork with pickled vegetables.
Both tacos with the onion-cilantro mix felt a bit underwhelming. There was far too much cilantro, and the raw onions were a bit on the bitter side and ended up taking away from the great flavor of the chicken and steak. The carnitas were fantastic. The pickled vegetables added a nice balancing kick to the pork that really let all the flavors shine. The rice was nothing special and a bit bland, and he could have used all the tortillas to be double wrapped. When he mentioned he would prefer just the meat itself on a plate the next time, I pointed to my dish and reminded him that I had suggested we should share. (Mom always knows best!) All in all, we had an excellent Tortilla Jo’s gluten-free dinner. I look forward to coming back in the future and trying other dishes. You can see the current menu here.