Costa Vida Fresh Mexican Grill — Restaurant in Burley

I truly love Costa Vida's food. It's our favorite. But I did not like this location due to service. We stopped here to pick up lunch. One thing about Costa Vidas is that they have multiple people working the order line and honestly it can get chaotic with multiple people asking you rapid fire questions. Sometimes multiple people will ask you the same question because while you answered the other person who asked...this new person didn't hear it as you get down the line. I believe it's this way for efficiency and speed and if done properly I am sure it works...however more often than not it creates a chaotic and overwhelming experience to order and pay. I put up with it because I love the food that much. At this particular location, though the girl who started our order was just flat out rude. I was ordering for myself and my daughter and as soon as she got my order she went on to the next person without asking me if I needed more. I spoke up and instead of just switching gears and starting my next order she spoke over me and asked "oh, you're not together?" with a tone that suggested that I was being rude to stop her from moving on. I tried to explain that I needed to order for my daughter...she did make my second order but girl couldn't Crack a smile or act friendly to save her life. More like I was being wildly inconvenient. She then proceeded to have an "inside joke" conversation with the manager right at the checkstand as we were paying like we weren't standing there at all. I guess this is just how the customer service industry is now and we all have to accept brusque and impatient service and being invisible bystanders as these people live as the main characters in their stories. I know they're not paid enough to like customers...I'm not expecting that...I'm simply expecting to be treated like a human being and not a necessary annoyance they have to tolerate. It's so exhausting to participate in...

Starting with the good, I tried their raspberry Chipotle chicken in a burrito and it was very tasty. It had a pleasantly surprising sweet heat combination. The other item in the order was a steak burrito. It was a bit more average in flavor.

The area where I'm neutral is pricing and it's transparency. You walk in to a menu on the wall with pricing, however, every item that isn't pork adds to your cost. Some of these are natural and expected - like sour cream and Guacamole. Everyone charges extra for these. Some, like an upcharge for salsa, are kind of silly. Ultimately the price of each burrito ended up being about 50% more than the menu price. I'd recommend just raising the base price of the menu items so that the base pork, chicken and steak choices are included and then charge a premium for the truly specialty proteins.

Where the visit disappointed was the service. As a first time visitor, I didn't have a grasp on the menu or process. There was no one in line behind me, but I was rushed without knowing details. The burritos are put through the oven wet style, which is tasty and adds to their value. While it was in the oven, I was asked if I wanted sour cream or guac, which I assumed were going to be an upcharge. I ordered them and paid for meal. When the burritos came out, the extras were added and then I picked a salsa to go on top. A supervisor came over and asked the worker what was happening. The worker stated that she didn't charge me for salsa. The supervisor then rang it up at about an extra $1.25 for the two orders.

This floored me for a couple reasons. First, if it's extra, please inform me before dropping it on my order. Second, once it's done don't come back and ring me up a second transaction for $1 after I've paid nearly $30 for two burritos. Obviously the dollar isn't going to end the world, but the service break is all I'm going to remember whenever this place is...

I'm pretty sure this is the second time I've left a review about Costa Vida. I went on a break from going there for quite a while due to being disappointed in the the lack of value from this place. While I've been back a few times since and had decent experiences, it seems they're back to being inconsistent. Yesterday I went in during a rush and was watching the orders ahead of mine being made. The lady dishing up the meat seemed to be fairly generous with the meat portions being given so I felt okay about my choice in coming in for some takeout. I ordered regular pork nachos for my kids to share and chicken tortilla soup for myself. Firstly, the nachos had the skimpiest clump of pork... Really confused what I am paying almost $11 for if I'm not getting at least 3oz of meat. All of my kids also complained about how salty the chips were. After tasting them, they were almost inedible. Secondly, don't order the "Chicken" tortilla soup unless you're in the mood for Rice and Cheese Soup (pretty sure the last time I wrote this review they forgot the chicken altogether). There were 2 tiny pieces of chicken in the whole thing with a few little random shreds...and I really mean just a few. I came in b/c I was feeling really sick and not up for cooking for my kids and in the end felt like it was a waste of money. I wouldn't have left a review complaining if this wasn't the first or even second time I've felt disappointed...