Costa Vida Fresh Mexican Grill — Restaurant in Saint George

I gave it all 5 stars. Why? We came here for comfort food, Lulu and me. Lulu was too sick for school today. But, she came to Costa Vida because it is one of her favorite places. Don't worry, it wasn't the contagious kind of sick that others at the restaurant could have caught. She's got the kind of sickness that doesn't go away--at least not until the one you love goes with it. Words like terminal and genetic and blah effity blah blah.

She felt like Costa Vida. Which is a big deal when eating anything is a struggle. She has a team of 4 eating therapists and nutrition specialists who have attempted nearly everything to get her eating more. She told me, "I'm just so tired," as the reason she's only taken two bites. We may be getting closer to feeding tube talks, again. But she doesn't want won, because she likes cute clothes and worries about how the tubes will look.

Costa Vida has good food. They make one of the few dishes we can get Lulu to eat (sweet pork salad). So, I give it five stars, because if anything deserves 5 stars--making a dish that a terminally ill girl will eat--heck, it might deserve a frickin' Michelin star for that kind of magic.

But, I guess others might see the place as busy, or remove a star because our food was a few minutes later than the online thing estimated, but, you know what? Today you get 5 stars, Costa Vida. Because not only did you make the comfort food we needed, because some days only food makes anything better. And we got 5 bites, before she was too sleepy and needed to head back to bed.

Why include details like this in a review? Well, I guess I thought I'd include some of the history of this establishment as it intersected with our lives. I feel like the fact that this location has spinny chairs that a little girl can play on at a surfboard shaped table while we waited... perhaps that doesn't qualify as a historical event or even feature that makes the place famous to anyone but a dad. But Lucy Claire met some people she accidently bumped shoulders with when she spun on the chair here. "It's fine," they said. She ate some bites of the food here.

I recommend getting the steak smothered burrito with green chili sauce on the inside, spicy red sauce on the outside, refried beans, extra cheese and jalapeños to the side. It's my go-to. Mileage may vary. But if you don't, consider trying the spinny...

Let me start by saying the food was good and fresh. But as far as a positive experience goes, that's it.

It's clear that the management at this location pushes a culture strived to achieve one thing: optimize revenue as much as possible by skimping out on portion sizes while increasing prices. The customer service experience suffers as a result.

We went on a Thursday evening, and had a long dine-in queue. While we waited, several people came in and walked right back out the door. They obviously knew something we didn't: the line inside moves at a snail's pace. Despite having a very large staff, most of the workers were working the drive thru food assembly lines. The line inside, however, moves very slowly with only a few workers attending to the in-store guests.

We've been going to Costa Vida for years, frequenting various locations, but this location was by far the worst experience. The line took 30 minutes to get up to the register, the food items were the smallest portions we've ever had at Costa Vida, the employees act like they are being bothered when taking orders, and when I finally got to the register to pay, the worker had some issues figuring out my bonus cards from when I purchased gift cards last year (which we do every year). Finally, the shift manager named Shannon came over to help. I asked her if the portions we were given were normal. "Yep, looks normal" she responded. I then mentioned to her that we had a bad experience, hoping that she would take the time to listen, to which she replied "I'm so sorry, would you like your receipt?" Seriously? What kind of customer service is this?

The experience with Shannon confirmed that this location's sole purpose is to get the customer's money, optimize revenue, and get the customer out. No need to worry, Costa Vida. I'm...

This is a little long-winded. I waited for the store to be open because I really enjoy Costa Vida. My first visit inside was very good. Very efficient. Good food. I went to the drive-through this time. It took almost 25 minutes which by itself is not too bad I guess. The food if it was my first experience, I would not go back, but since I know about how the food generally is, I am reporting. I called, but was not satisfied with the way it was treated. My experience is this: they did not ask me what tortilla I wanted on my two enchiladas , I found out you offer both. About 3 1/2 to 4 teaspoonfuls of cilantro rice. I asked for extra cheese and extra sauce. I’m not sure I got the extra cheese and most certainly did not get the sauce. The food was extremely, and I mean extremely salty to the point I couldn’t finish it . I’ve never experienced that before. I understand about the shredded beef you’ve changed the recipe, which explains why I had a smoky taste along with the salty taste. I did not enjoy my meal. I am not a complainer normally, but as a many years, restaurant tour and a customer , I was very disappointed. The disappointment is Accented by my excitement and anticipation of the restaurant opening. I am not looking for a refund or a guest offer. That is not my point. My point is my disappointment, which was extremely significant. I will try one more time, and if I get the same experience, I will go to Café Rio. I have preferred Costa Vida, but I’ve never had this experience at Café Rio. I don’t say that to be uppity or picky just it is what it is. Please fix the problem because you’re just a short distance from me and I have always liked your food but this was...