Guests that have been to Knott’s Berry Farm, and even those looking in from the outside, tend to hold the park to a pretty high standard when it comes to the food, especially in the company of the rest of the Cedar Fair parks. Knott’s gets that regard for two main reasons, the boysenberry and the fried chicken. If you try almost anything with either of those two items, your belly will be happy.
However, for those locals or visitors with a season pass and the Knott’s dining plans, you get limited menu options when it comes to what to eat. In addition nothing featuring boysenberries or the fried chicken are included as options on meal plans. If you purchased a dining plan, you will get lots of burgers, frozen chicken tenders, pizza, hot dogs, grilled chicken, and cheap fries. While that is all good for some, for those looking to visit Knott’s Berry Farm and experience the food scene, you will be disappointed. That is unless you visit during a big food event like the Boysenberry Festival.
So that is why on a recent visit to Knott’s Berry Farm, we were excited to try their only “outside the box” dining plan option, La Victoria Cantina. Surely the south of the border quick service location could serve up some killer Mexican food, right?
We decided to order one of each of the menu items to give them a try with a mixture of meat options, steak and chicken.
While most Californians likely do not often frequent Chipotle restaurants, who helped define the build-your-own burritos in front of a counter full of options, us Easterners like to compare the format as part of the experience.
That is why you will see Cedar Point, Kings Island, and Kings Dominion all installed new Mexican themed restaurants where the guests approaches the counter, can see all the available options, and customize their food with the various toppings.
The food preparation at the Cantina of Knott’s all takes place behind a wall and when you food is ready, it is slide through an opening. While that may not be the biggest deal, it is an old school approach and the customer has little say in what and how much or little of the toppings go into their meal.
The good news is each meal was rather large and served with a side of refried beans and rice.
Grande Burrito Plate
Two Taco Plate
Tostada Salad
The bad news is all of the La Victoria Cantina food was rather bland. There was not much flavor in any of the options, regardless of whether it was chicken or beef, or served with guacamole or sour cream. None of the food packed much flavor, and just like the rest of the Knott’s Berry Farm dining plans, was a major disappointment, especially given this is the only different food option on the meal plans.
Take for example both the taco plate. The only “flavor” added to the meal was in the form of pico de gallo in the tacos. The burrito suffered the same fate. Sadly all five of us were disappointed in the food at La Victoria Cantina.
We would love to see the Cantina get an overhaul in format. In addition, the food needs an overhaul to provide a more flavorful meat with a variety of customer chosen toppings, and even a variety of custom salsas that could be used to help draw out the flavor in the dishes.
Mexican style food happens to be one of the easiest meals to make, yet somehow the Knott’s version completely missed the mark.
This is where Kings Dominion, Kings Island, and even Cedar Point provide a far better Mexican food experience, with Kings Dominion’s Border Cafe taking the crown as the best! For comparison’s purposes, we left out Worlds of Fun’s Street Tacos, which are AMAZING!
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