Mexico Pavilion at EPCOT: Choza vs. La Cava vs. La Cantina

Mexico is the first pavilion you’ll hit if you’re walking World Showcase counterclockwise, and there’s a decent chance it will derail whatever sensible drinking plan you came in with.

Part of the problem is that there are three different places to get a margarita within a very small stretch of real estate. Then there’s the pyramid, which has air conditioning, shops, a surprisingly relaxing boat ride, and the general ability to make forty-five minutes disappear without much effort.

This is also why Mexico is one of our favorite stops in World Showcase. The only catch is that the three margarita options are not especially interchangeable. One is better if you care about the drink, one is better if you care about getting a drink quickly, and one can have you standing in a line long enough to reconsider several of your life choices.

So it’s worth knowing which one you actually want before you get there.

Planning the full crawl? Start with our Ultimate EPCOT Drinking Around the World guide for strategy, tips, and every drink ranked.

What to Drink in the Mexico Pavilion

Three bars, three completely different jobs. Here’s how we split them up.

Choza de Margarita, the fast one

Choza is the outdoor stand on your left as you face the pyramid, and it’s the one to use when you’re moving. The line looks alarming, but it moves quickly, because most of the menu is frozen and poured rather than mixed individually.

This is where the frozen margaritas live: classic lime, mango, strawberry, and the Fiesta, which is all three layered in one cup. If you’re doing the full loop and Mexico is stop one, grab a frozen one here and keep walking. Choza also has the guacamole, which is the single best thing to order in this pavilion. More on that below.

Choza does carry a few built cocktails, and they’re priced like La Cava without the air conditioning. If you want a stirred drink, walk the extra sixty seconds.

La Cava del Tequila, the one worth the wait

La Cava is inside the pyramid, off to the right in the dark. It’s small and it’s loud. On a hot or rainy afternoon it’s also the best decision you can make in this pavilion.

Probably the most famous pick is the Avocado Margarita. We have a whole post on La Cava with the full menu breakdown, plus a copycat recipe for the avocado margarita that lets you make one at home. Go read those if you want the deep dive.

We have never once made it through EPCOT without stopping here, and we’re not the grab-it-and-go type about it. We’ll always wait for a table. An hour sitting in the cool has turned into a tradition, and we will do almost anything for chips and queso, which you can only get at La Cava if you sit down. So the choice is simple: standing gets you a drink, sitting gets you the queso and the hour.

The downside is that the drinks here aren’t as good as they used to be. A lot of them are batch-made now, which is a little sad, though it does move the line faster. They aren’t “bad”, per se. They just don’t have the craft cocktail feel anymore, and they still have the craft cocktail prices.

We keep going back and spending our money anyway, and not reluctantly. The servers here are wonderful, and the relief from the Florida weather is worth the wait on its own.

La Cantina de San Angel, the waterfront one

La Cantina is the quick service counter out on the lagoon. It’s the only one of the three with real seating attached, and the tables face the water, so it’s your best option when somebody in the group needs to sit down and eat something.

Drinks here are simpler and cheaper: beer, a frozen margarita, the Dos Equis. You’re not coming to La Cantina for the drink list. You’re coming for a table at with a view of the lagoon.

What Things Cost in Mexico

Prices so you can budget the stop instead of getting surprised at the register.

Here is what Choza is charging.

• Frozen margaritas: Classic Lime and Mango Loco $14.50, Strawberry $14.95, Fiesta $15.25, El Jefe $18.00
• On the rocks: The Cucumber $18.25, Top Shelf Clásica $18.50, Blood Orange $18.50, Seasonal $22.00
• Beer: Dos Equis $12.00, Hercules Lágermaiz $13.00, Michelada $14.00, Dos Hombres Michelada $17.00
• Food: Elote $8.00, Tostada de Pollo $11.95, Guacamole $12.50, Tacos de Cochinita $12.95, Pastor Quesadillas $13.50, Empanada de Barbacoa $13.75

And here is La Cava, where the jump is steep enough to plan around.

• Avocado $21.00
• La Paloma $19.00
• The Wild One $19.00
• Corn Old Fashioned $22.00
• La Cava Top Shelf $24.00
• Malumita $25.00

Is that a lot for one pavilion? Of course it is. But do NOT let it talk you out of the stop, because there’s an easy way down. Split the guacamole and get one frozen margarita at Choza instead of two built cocktails, and the whole stop costs less than a single La Cava Top Shelf.

If you want the whole-loop number instead of the Mexico number, our cost breakdown for drinking around the world has it.

What to Eat in the Mexico Pavilion

Mexico is one of the few pavilions where we’d tell you to eat before you drink, and then eat again.

The guacamole at Choza is a great option, mango and pumpkin seeds on top and big enough to share. At $12.50 it’s the best value snack in the pavilion.

Choza also does elote at $8.00, tacos de cochinita at $12.95, and an Empanada de Barbacoa at $13.75, which is heavier than it looks and will carry you all the way to Germany. La Cantina has nachos and tacos if you want more than just a snack.

Still hungry? Our Best Snacks at EPCOT guide has the ones we go back for.

What Else to Do in the Mexico Pavilion (Besides Drinking)

Ride the Gran Fiesta Tour

Our favorite recovery ride in EPCOT, by a wide margin. It’s almost always a walk-on or close to it, it’s dark and cool inside, and it buys you seven minutes of sitting down while Donald yells at you. We’ve ridden it sober and we’ve ridden it mid-margarita. It is a must-do either way.

If your group is fading around hour three, this is your fix. No Lightning Lane needed, no strategy, just walk on.

Catch Mariachi Cobre

Some of the World Showcase acts are a lot. There’s at least one built almost entirely around this incessant whistling which makes my ears bleed.

Mariachi Cobre is the opposite, and they’re the reason we always stop here if they are performing. They’ve been playing this pavilion for decades, so if you’ve been coming a while, there’s a nostalgia layer on top of the music just being fun and lively. They make Mexico feel about as real as a pavilion in a theme park can.

Showtimes are in the My Disney Experience app, and the sets are short enough that you aren’t committing your whole afternoon.

Browse the Marketplace Inside the Pyramid

The Plaza de los Amigos marketplace is the shopping stop in World Showcase where we buy things: handmade goods, Día de los Muertos figures, glassware, jewelry (looking at you, hand-painted talavera we did not need). It’s also the coolest air in the pavilion, so browsing counts as a cooling strategy dressed up as souvenir hunting.

Where to Sit and Cool Off in Mexico

Seating in Mexico is better than it looks, and most of it isn’t obvious from the walkway.

The shaded tables by La Cantina are a good option if you want to eat. Actual chairs, actual shade. The lagoon is right there.

Inside the pyramid you’ll find nooks around the edges of the marketplace where you can stand with a drink and not be in anyone’s way. Dark, cool, and a lot more pleasant than outside.

The standing tables across from Choza are our last choice, though. Limited shade and no chairs, but you can put your drink down and you’re still in the middle of everything.

Festival Booth in Mexico

During EPCOT festivals, Mexico adds an outdoor booth near the front of the pavilion, which means one more margarita decision in a pavilion that already has three.

We prioritize the drinks here over the food, and anything mezcal-based first. Expect tequila in almost everything, and at least one item hotter than the menu card admits.

But if you’re already doing Choza and La Cava, this is one of the easier booths to skip without feeling like you missed Mexico.

• Festival of the Arts Booth Menus
• Flower and Garden Festival Booth Menus
• Food and Wine Festival Booth Menus
• Festival of the Holidays Booth Menus

When to Hit Mexico (and When to Walk Past)

Mexico is the first pavilion on the counterclockwise route, so it absorbs the entire opening rush. The International Gateway crowd comes in at the far end, by France and the UK, so if you’re staying on the Skyliner or at the Boardwalk resorts, Mexico is your last pavilion rather than your first.

Before 11:30 and after 7 it’s a different pavilion. Midday it’s a bottleneck, and the Choza line at 2 in the afternoon is a real commitment.

So if Mexico is slammed and you have any flexibility, skip it on your way out and catch it on the way back. Coming at it from the Canada side, you arrive after most of the crowd has already worked through.

And if you only have time for one thing here, make it La Cava. The pyramid is the whole point of this pavilion.

Plan Your Full Crawl

Ready to go beyond Mexico? Start with our EPCOT Drinking Around the World guide for strategy tips and drink rankings.

Explore the World Showcase

• Mexico Pavilion – (this post!)
• Norway Pavilion – Viking Coffee, Frozen Ever After, and more.
• China Pavilion – Gorgeous gardens and underrated drinks.
• Germany Pavilion -Beer, pretzels, and big festival energy.
• Italy Pavilion– Wine flights and romantic vibes.
• American Adventure Pavilion – BBQ, craft beer, and live music.
• Japan Pavilion – Sake, sushi, and stunning views.
• Morocco Pavilion – Mint tea, mosaic vibes, and the best place to slow down.
• France Pavilion– Cocktails, pastries, and Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure.
• United Kingdom Pavilion– Pubs, pints, and maybe your new favorite hangout.
• Canada Pavilion – Beer flights and the prettiest gardens in the park.

Final Thoughts

Mexico is loud, crowded, and one of the best pavilions in World Showcase. Get the guacamole first. Get the frozen margarita at Choza if you’re moving, and the avocado one at La Cava if you’re not. Ride Gran Fiesta Tour when your feet start complaining, and stop for a song on your way out.

If you’re doing the full crawl, our complete EPCOT Drinking Around the World guide has the strategy, timing, and every drink ranked. And if you need help planning the trip around the crawl, resorts, park hopping, all the logistics that make the difference, that’s what Planning the Mouse is for.

Tell us what you think

And that’s it! All the ins and outs of the Mexico Pavilion’s best drinks and snacks. Do you plan to try one of our recommendations? Did we leave your favorite off the list? We value your input, even (or especially) when it differs from ours. Plus, we know other readers appreciate varying perspectives, so please take a second to drop your thoughts in the comments!