Vida At The Lake — Restaurant in Meredith

My wife and I dined at La Vida this past Saturday. We sat outside. It was hot, but there was an awning that provided some shade.

I have to say, having read the other reviews that we did not have a great experience.

I forgot my sunglasses in the car, which was a couple blocks away. I asked my wife to order me my drink and I went to the car to get my sunglasses. When I got back, approximately 10 minutes or so later my wife still had not been waited on. That was disappointing, after another 5 minutes finally someone came to wait on us.

We ordered our drinks and our food. We both ordered the enchilada fridas and my wife had a margarita.

We were given chips and salsa and the chips were nothing to write home about nor was the salsa, it was bland

Our food came out in normal amount of time however, I would characterize everything that we got as bland. As I said we both got the enchiladas and both agreed the taste was underwhelming. Again bland.

My wife was not happy with the margarita as well. She commented that it tasted weird with a pineapplee flavor which didn’t work for a margarita?

To top it off , we were halfway through our meal, the hostess came out and asked us to shift down a seat so a party of four could sit outside. the Party of four wanted to sit outside, it was a little bit weird as we were eating and literally had food in our mouths, however by asking us to do that my wife would be sitting directly in the sunlight. So not cool. We declined and decided to not finish our meals and get the check. Rather than wait for the server to ever come back, I went inside and got the check.

I can’t reconcile our experience with the reviews which appeared to say this place is great and the food is great. But I don’t think this was a one off.

Also, the outside bar that you put your drink on and your food to eat is not wide enough, but that doesn’t change the fact that the food was bland. The service was poor and the hostess Interrupting our meal and ask us to move to worst seats was not cool.

It’s an avoid for us. We won’t...

Drinks are great but a little pricey. The skinny margarita is my favorite. The waitstaff is attentive and friendly, and it's usually busy for dinner. The food leaves quite a bit to be desired, though. Recently, my taco salad was wet when it came out and was more or less a mush of sauteed veggies under chopped iceberg lettuce. I usually clean my plate, especially when I'm out to dinner, but I had to stop eating the salad about halfway through. My fiance couldn't finish his chimichanga because it was so dry and flavorless - just a hunk of meat inside. When the bill came, I was horrified at the price for such low-end food. They charged $18 for a vegetarian taco salad and $11 for a side of guacamole. With a $16 drink, I paid far too much to leave hungry.

I would go back for the drinks but skip the...

This place is amazing! I was surprised to see a Mexican restaurant in this area but glad my husband found it. I was skeptical but this place is authentic & genuine! The ambiance is quiet with great music & decor. The food was delicious & the drinks were strong but tasty!

They started us off with chips & salsa. We ordered guacamole also (DELICIOUS!) My husband & I both ordered the Vida Burrito with steak. As you can see, it was massive! But delicious & worth the money. They offered us two different hot sauces as well.

My husband had red sangria & I had a lavender cocktail. The cocktail was sweet & reminded me of lemonade.

Service was also great. Our server was attentive & helpful, answered all...