Mi Buena Vida — Restaurant in Salt Lake City

We were not expecting to head to this restaurant last night and were in the area for another restaurant and when that restaurant told us we needed to wait an hour and 20 minutes we said no thank you and left. Much to our surprise we encountered a magical Mexican restaurant. The interior of this restaurant is so unexpected and unique. Urban with a touch of the past mixed with beautiful plants. The service was also outstanding we did not have to wait to be seated for longer than two minutes. Once we were sat we had delicious tortilla chips to snack on in 30 seconds of sitting down. The gentleman that was running the food and filling the waters was super nice and we were able to get an appetizer in before the rest of our party arrived. He even did extra work and found out how many appetizers would work for our table. What an awesome guy! I wish I caught his name but he was so great!

Samantha our server checked in with us right away and got us situated with drinks while we waited for the rest of our party. Which was so nice just to relax and take in the menu.

For the appetizer we did the jalapeño poppers and they were a great unique take on jalapeño poppers! They weren't deep fried and the chorizo mixture was flavorful and had a fantastic mild spice. The tomato sauce with them took it up to the perfect level of deliciousness.

We ordered a variety of different items. I got the Torta and it was probably the best torta I've had in a long time. The meat was perfectly cooked except for one tough piece, but other than that it was melt in your mouth, all the flavors were very well balanced and seasoned just right. The cheese was perfectly melted and honestly it hit all the right notes. I usually don't get a torta at a new place but this one is not to be slept on. Their chipotle mayo was fantastic and the torta was just the right size and the bread was perfectly toasted. I was happy I got this but really want to dive into more items next time. My husband got the Mixto and everything again was delicious and well balanced. The shredded beef was juicy, the shredded chicken was delicious and the grilled chicken was as well. Their tortillas are also made in house it seems because they were just that fresh and delicious. Everyone else got enchiladas and their mole is quite delicious as well. Everyone was happy, and left very stuffed and we even had leftovers.

The salsa bar was also amazing. The only thing I want to note is the labels for the salsa bar are hard to read because they are faded but overall, all the salsas we tried were absolutely delicious.

My family has decided that this might be our new Mexican place in Salt Lake because it is just that good. This place is enchanting and you would expect no less from a restaurant on...

As one of my friends recently shared with me, “it should be illegal to have a restaurant where the vibes are incredibly high, and the food incredibly bad.”

Respectful, probably some of the worst Mexican food I’ve ever had. Also respectfully, one of the best atmospheric restaurants I’ve been to. The dichotomy is unhinged.

Like everyone else has mentioned on the reviews, great service, great staff, great drinks, great atmosphere. The EXPERIENCE of BEING in the restaurant was incredible.

HOWEVER, the experience of CONSUMING the food was worse than consuming an MRE.

Very little flavor in any of the dishes we had. And if there was flavor, it was over smoked (kind of like a bad cup of coffee from Charbucks ™️)

The chips were fine but every salsa we tried from their salsa bar had very little flavor (onion, peppers, spice). But. Filled with a overly smoked flavor. We also got some queso. It was bland, warm, and looked like it came from a can. The predominant flavors? Warm and creamy. I had to scoop up a tomato from my dinner plate to give my palette a lil dance.

I got the beef enchiladas with mole sauce. Again. The flavor was smoke. The meat was a tough, watery flavor. The palette, warm, chewy, smoked, and bitter.

My girl got the cauliflower taco, and the innards of the taco were pretty good. Cooked well aand the pickled cabbage added a decent mix to the taco. Buuuutttt her flour tortilla was undercooked and cold. It didn’t appear to be cooked well.

I share all these things in jest, but also in love. This place has a sweet atmosphere but the food really turned the experience south.

My background. I travel across the country for work and eat at a lot of different place. Call me a casual food critic. But I know when something is good, and when...

This was a great Mexican restaurant! The food tasted very fresh! The place looked very clean and the service was admirable!

Now to the details.

The chips and salsa were great! The chips were very tasty just on their own. It tasted like they might have flavored them with Tajin? I’m not sure. But the salsa was ok. It had a Smokey flavor to it. Which normally makes it have an aftertaste when it’s like that but this didn’t! So it was pleasant.

I had the Mi Buena Vida Burrito with steak, half smothered in Tomatillo and Queso. I guess it’s a fan favorite. It was great! It wasn’t the most amazing burrito I’ve ever had but it was good. Nothing really to complain about it was just good. The steak was hot and the ingredients fresh. Their cheese is actually really bomb.

My wife had a taco and 2 enchiladas. She liked what she had as well and said it was good but also said the same as me, it wasn’t amazing. Just good. And the pork taco was much more like meat out of a crockpot and not so much, carnitas. Which is what she expected.

Our daughter had the kids Quesadilla which was loaded with their cheese. And surprisingly my wife and I absolutely loved it haha and wanted more of that instead.

All in all, it was good food! Like I said nothing to complain about it was just.. Good. I would definitely want to try something different on their menu instead of going with a fan favorite, for example their nachos look wild. Next time I guess. Give this...