Viva Mas — Restaurant in Bloomington

Food is excellent, served very hot, which maximizes the flavor. Prices are very good. Unbelievable color inside! Lunch menu at $7. They even have the chicken in chocolate sauce (tastes better than it sounds), polo con mole. I had a superb Carne Asada steak entree. Spicing was out of this world! PS: I went back for another one--even better. But be forewarned, this dish can be spicy hot. The first one was moderate, the second hot, but delicious. You need to slice the whole green pepper and shred the whole onion to blend those flavors with the beef for best effect. The Street Tacos entree is also very good, if you want beef without as much spice. Coffee is excellent here--hard to find these days. Magnificent creations!

Update Dec 2023: Had three perfect meals in three visits this past week. Prices still very reasonable. Many thanks to the chefs and staff of Viva Mas! Happy Holidays!

God bless all there.

Update August 2024: I have been using the huevos rancheros as a quick inexpensive brunch option. $11 and a few pennies. A superb value and strengthening. It is not spicy, so I pour the chip salsa over it which makes it just right and adds more veggie nutrition. Big portions, but workers who need long lasting fuel can add grilled steak bits on the side for something like $8. Good for the whole day with that formula. Drink is extra. Mexican beers, especially the dark, go good with this meal, if it is breakfast. XX Ambar or Modelo Negra fit well.

Update January 3, 2025: Superb Fajitas Vaqueras! Creative use of high quality bacon. Strengthening meal,...

Tonight was the 3rd time we have eaten at Viva Mas. The first 2 times was excellent, hence us going back for the 3rd time. Tonight I ordered fajita mix with beef and chicken (as always). Well when I got my order it had shrimp on my plate, the waitress asked if it was okay and if wanted to keep the plate she brought. I told her no I did not want the shrimp. She takes my plate and brings it back about 5 minutes later, my fajitas were cold, I went ahead and kept the plate she brought back, to only learn after eating about 1/4th of the fajitas it still had shrimp in the fajitas, the waitress was standing next to me when I seen the shrimp, she asked if it was okay, AGAIN I said no. The wife ordered chicken taco salad that was pretty nasty, nothing close to the chicken taco salad she ordered the last visit. She ended up only eating a few bites, The 4 grandchildren all stated they were nasty and tasted funny. We ended up leaving the restaurant with a lot of uneaten food left on the table. Never got to talk to the manager, only the waitress. The waitress even agreed the the food didn’t wasn’t up to par and apologized. I was still charged $51.00 for a very unsatisfactory dinner that wasn’t even 1/4th eaten with 1 plate being returned and brought back to our table and still incorrect. Tonight was our 3rd AND LAST TIME going to Viva Mas!! Very disappointed in the quality of food and no concern from manager. This review should be 0 stars, but that wasn’t an option.

Disappointed...

June 2022 Update: I visited the restaurant again. Didn't try the tacos like last time, but Pollo Loco. It was recommended by the server and it was great. Good portions. Better flavor and better service than last time. Adding a star back. Still need to test the tacos.

Feb 2022: I used to love this place (changing from 5 stars to 1). Recently celebrated a friend's birthday here. There were 5 of us and we asked if we could join tables the dishes here are pretty big + nachos etc. They refused, even after we ordered food and they saw that the table was really crowded and stuff was falling from it. Also the restaurant was half empty so we were not making a request on a busy night.

The food was the next disappointment. We ordered fish, shrimp, beef and al pastore tacos. All tacos had no pico de gallo, guac or anything with the meat. And the meat portions were even more disappointing. The portion size for shrimp was 3 small shrimp, fish was very little too. Fortunately beef and al pastore had enough meat but al pastore didn't have pineapple?

And it's not like these tacos are cheaper than tacos at any other establishment in town. Even my friend's chicken salad was disappointing. We ended up ordering more food because the portions were so poor. My initial glowing review of this place was because of their...