Background: Race and ethnicity are associated with differences in survival among patients with esophageal and gastric cancer (EGC); outcomes are better in Asian patients but worse for African-Americans compared to Caucasians and Asians. Limited data exist for Hispanics (Hisp) compared to non-Hispanic whites (NHW) or African-Americans (AA). Because of the large Hisp population in South Florida, we compared the clinical presentation and survival of patients with EGC by race and ethnicity. Methods: Using a cross-sectional study design, this IRB-approved analysis of the Florida Cancer Data System database identified all patients diagnosed at the University of Miami and Jackson Memorial Hospital between January 2000 and December 2012 with squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) or adenocarcinoma (AC) of the esophagus, and adenocarcinomas of the gastro-esophageal junction (GEJ) or stomach (STO). Demographic, treatment and survival data were extracted from the registry. Survival was analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier method and variables associated with survival were analyzed using a Cox proportional hazards model. Results: Data from 2,170 patients were available; 44% were Hisp, 19% AA and 38% NHW. Compared to NHW's and AA's, Hisp's were more likely to have the following features: male gender, advanced age at cancer diagnosis, esophageal site of malignancy, adenocarcinoma histology, earlier stage at presentation, history of smoking and alcohol use, private insurance, surgical resection and receipt of chemotherapy (p < 0.001 in each case). Hisp were less likely to have STO (p<0.001). In a multivariate model, race and ethnicity were not independently associated with survival but age, stage, surgical resection and chemotherapy administration were all independently associated with survival (p < 0.01 in each case). Country of birth did not influence results among Hispanic patients. Conclusions: Race and ethnicity were not independently associated with survival in this large registry study. However, significant differences in the tumor location, histology and stage of presentation exist, and further studies to elucidate the biological or environmental reasons for these disparities are warranted.