Pura Vida Cocktail Bar Restaurant — Restaurant in Greensboro

I arrived here around 7:35pm on a Friday evening to meet friends for dinner and drinks. My party was 4 people. 2/3 of my friends were already there. This was the first visit for 3/4 of us. The atmosphere was great. I loved the decor and music.

At 7:41pm, a waitress, Fernanda, came over with waters. At 7:44pm, i ordered a strawberry lemon drop with sugar rim ($10). Two friends got a peach margaritas. The margaritas arrived at 7:49pm and they enjoyed it. My lemon drop came at 7:52pm. The strawberry was overpowering the lemon flavor and couldn’t taste the alcohol.

At 7:53pm, I ordered a beef empanada and lemon pepper wings. I received them around 8pm, which was surprisingly quick.

My friends ordered at 8:12pm. One got wings and an empanada, one got the salmon entree, and the other got the lamb chops. I ordered a mango margarita at this time which I received at 8:18pm. The mango margarita was great! I highly recommend the margaritas.

My friends received their entrees came at 8:31pm. My friend said the lamb chops were “pretty flavorful.” They added, “The lamb chops are tender; the cream sauce is what’s making it.” My friend who got the salmon said: “I think the salmon are very well prepared; the potatoes are standard box potatoes.” She added “they didn’t give me my other vegetables, but it’s good though.” I tasted the salmon and it was unseasoned but cooked well. Another friend tried the salmon too and said it was “bland”. It comes with Alfredo sauce but it wasn’t enough to mask the unseasoned salmon. Both friends got broccoli with their entrees and they said it was “top notch”.

One friend got lemon pepper wings and said they were salt and I agree. It was too seasoned. I got another beef empanada around 8:35pm. It took about 10 minutes. It was HOT and fresh; as delicious as the first one.

I noticed that the same person brought out the food for what seemed like everyone in the restaurant. He was extremely friendly and nice.

There were a few people who were celebrating their birthdays that night. When the singing came, the music got extremely loud and turned to hip hop. They have an upstairs area. I’m not sure how large the area is.

When the bill came, i noticed they charge extra if you pay with a card. They do take Apple Pay with the card reader. One of my friends and I paid via that method. They only have one device to pay via Apple Pay, so you may have a wait if using that method.

Overall, it was a good experience. I was a little hesitant when my friends suggested this place due to what I had heard and reading some of the reviews noting long wait for ordered items, carefree staff, and lackluster food. The appetizers were reasonably priced. Some of the entrees are a little pricey. Food orders were accurate and prompt. I will note that it did get busy as we were leaving a little after 9pm.

They do note on the menu that all orders are final. I’d be cautious about what you order. Menu also notes 15% gratuity charge for parties 6 or larger and a $5...

Whew I have a lot of unpack with this place. I will start off with the Pros & end with the Cons. Pros: The place is absolutely beautiful. The music is good & the staff are friendly. The place is huge meaning they have more room for more people. The sushi is the BOMB compared to the other dishes. The steak in it was fresh as well as the surrounding ingredients.

Now onto Cons (unfortunately I have ALOT) When we first walked in, it was almost like a waiting game. There was no “hostess” or hostess booth. I think someone actually got seated after us even though they were there first. Once seated, our waiter took about 15min to show up & greet us. The waiter only came after the manager had asked if we had been served. We ordered an appetizer & two entrees. The entree (sushi) was brought out 30min before the actual appetizer. As someone who has worked in a restaurant setting & have family that manages restaurants. This is poor part on training the servers. The fact that they are new & busy has nothing to do with us being served an entree before an appetizer. My boyfriend had to sit & watch me eat all because his entree came out before anything else. Which is like…what’s the point of ordering an appetizer. When we got out entree we were never given any napkins. Once we got the 1 entree & appetizer we had to wait to be served with forks. By the time we got the forks. The food was cold. Our table was so small that I had to put my cup on the chair to be able to fit the plates on the table. Everything on that table felt crammed. On my dish, I asked for a medium rare steak just to received a well done steak that couldn’t even be chopped up. Had to rip it apart with my hands. The beans tasted like they were fresh out of the can with no seasoning. There was more rice on the plate compared to beans meaning I had leftover rice. The lime was so hard I had to bite to get anything out it. The ceviche appetizer had little to no salt. The chicharrones were undercooked & chewy. The food is overpriced, except for the sushi. Everything else was basic & nothing to rave about.

I get they just opened. But they were not prepared to open. Lack of serving experience in the staff. Bland food. This is all things that have nothing to do with them just opening. I understand not having a hostess or the long wait times but everything else is irrelevant to them just opening.

I’ve been to many soft openings & this was not it. This was a grand opening that they were...

I came on Sunday 4/28/24 with a group of friends and it was a very disappointing experience to say the least. To start the hostess was not very welcoming and she seemed bothered when we asked for a table. My friend ordered the empanadas, and she asked if instead of shrimp could she have 2 chickens and 1 beef. The server at first said “no” so my friend then told her that she was allergic to shrimp and how she could “die eating shrimp” and with an attitude the server (MARIA) noted it down and moved on to the next order. After a while a male server came to our table (I wish I remembered his name because he was very nice) and told us that the manager’s bother was in charge that day and that he was not allowing the shrimp empanada modification which it is very concerning and disappointing. My friend then asked if she could just get 2 empanadas instead of three and just take the 3rd off and give her a discount for the one, she was not eating. Eventually, thanks to this second server, she got her 2 empanadas, of course, after we were all done eating. I know she could have ordered something else but we were told that these were made to order, if that’s the case, why can’t they just not add shrimp? Our main server Maria was not trying to accommodate her and had a negative attitude. She never refilled our waters until my husband asked for a refill and she only refilled his glass. There were 5 of us at this party and every time we asked for drinks, it would take more than 15 minutes to make it to the table and our food came out at different times. (No, the place was not busy) When we asked for our check, the server ran the card in front of us and before we signed it, she selected 20% as the tip and this is UNNACEPTABLE. She had the audacity to select how much she thought she should be tipped after providing terrible service. In my opinion the prices are too high for what you get, and the services is terrible. IF YOU GO TO PURA VIDA, MAKE SURE THEY ARE NOT SELECTING...