La Viva — Restaurant in Texas

TACO TUESDAY!!! July 23, 2024

My daughter and I visited this place on a Tuesday evening during Happy Hour. We were in the area seeing the new Twister movie at Cut Cinemark Theater which is next door to La Viva Cocina & Cantina. I have had several opportunities in the past to give this place a try when it first opened up. However, after reading all of the negative comments and reviews concerning the poor service and low quality of food, I decided that I would give them a little more time to get it together before gracing this place with my beautiful presence, lol.

Upon entering the building, we were not greeted by anyone because the host or hostess was missing in action. My daughter and I just stood there for a while trying to wait for someone to assist us since this was our first time visiting. However, the host never appeared so we just decided to have a seat at the bar. Surprisingly, we ended up enjoying our visit at the bar. As we took a seat, we were greeted by our server, Rennisha, whose personality was very pleasant. She was extremely friendly, welcoming, and professional. As she introduced herself to us, she provided us with complimentary chips and salsa and menus, notifying us that it was happy hour. She also gave some great food suggestions to order with our drinks which I really appreciated. Since it was "Taco Tuesday'', we decided to order the beef street tacos and we also ordered some queso to enjoy with our complimentary chips and salsa. The tacos were pretty good and we enjoyed them. The chips and salsa were delicious and the queso added a nice touch. For my drink, I ordered a shot of Grand Marnier, no ice, which costs $9 and my daughter ordered a frozen strawberry margarita mixed with mango. She said that it was delicious but lacking alcohol and that she could hardly taste the liquor. I ended up sharing my shot of Marnier with her and she said it made her drink taste better. So if you order a fruity drink, my suggestion would be to order a shot on the side because they do not put enough liquor in those fruity drinks, and I find that this is the case at many restaurants.

Overall, La Viva Cocina & Cantina is an amiable establishment that provides entertainment to their customers with mounted TV monitors and music playing on overhead speakers. The ambiance was nice and mellow with dim lighting and hues of brown and orange decor. The bar area is huge and was very clean during our visit. I cannot speak for the dining room area because we were never offered a table due to the host being MIA. However, I can tell you that the dining area appears to be huge and spacious and they also have an outside patio for dining as well. I gave them three stars for now until I return to experience a full dine-in experience, but I enjoyed dining at the bar with my daughter. I highly recommend going during Happy Hour. It was a very laid-back and un-stressful feeling in...

Really not good Mexican food, disappointing.

La Viva’s is a beautiful restaurant, fun atmosphere, and had an incredible bar. We sat at the bar for our dinner and were very disappointed in the food and drinks. I can honestly say for $12, I expect at least a decent margarita but despite ordering 2 different types, I couldn’t drink either. The guacamole was not seasoned at all, literally no spices, no lime, no salt - just avocado and pico de gallo (I had to ask for salt and added some lime from my margarita but could only get down a few bites). Being hungry from not have eaten all day, I attempted some salsa and chips, the salsa is really nothing but a Cilantro Slurry (I usually love Cilantro but not as a main course). I ordered cheese enchiladas described as “topped with Texas chili sauce”. However, they came out with onions and tomatoes on top even though the menu said nothing of this. I had to scrape the top off of the enchiladas leaving very little sauce and cheese. The charro beans had large chunks of vegetables that overpowered what I thought could have been very good charro beans. The rice was good, just only a few spoonfuls were given.

As far as service, the guys behind the bar were working hard but we kept receiving other peoples orders. We didn’t order queso, but we were given queso. We were offered 3 plates of guacamole even though we only ordered 1. My wife ordered ceviche only to find out she was eating the wrong one. (The waitress brought a second order out making it obvious to us that the one she was eating was incorrect.).

I know it was a Friday night and mistakes don’t bother me but the food is far below average.

Overall, the food is expensive and frankly, not very good. I doubt we will...

I'm old, I guess, and turning into a miser. But after looking at the menu prices, everyone was a bit surprised. My SO and my oldest were one our way back from H-town and had decided to stop at the outlets along 290 to find some deals on some shoes. We found those but our hunger got the best of us and we stopped at the first place we saw, La Viva. Perfect location for them, and their prices show it! Other than the appetizers, everything was over $18 with most over $20. See my pics of the menu for proof. The place is huge, lots of seating room both out and in. Service is excellent. Our host and waiting staff kept us well fed. I had the campechana appetizer, SO had the chicken tacos (flour), and my oldest had the chicken enchiladas. Tacos and enchiladas came with beans and rice. The rice had too much clove and the beans were ok. Enchilada was a bit too oily. The campechana was.... Ok. It came with chips but those tasted old and were too thick for my taste. Overall, I would have given it three stars but La Viva's saving grace: it's chips and salsa. THEY ARE DELICIOUS!! The chips are so thin and crispy with just enough salt to eat them by themselves. The salsa is delicious. The roasted tomatoes and peppers remind me of some of the salsa we make at home. Thankfully the waitress kept our little bowls full. Their beer and margarita selection is ample. I would come here during the week for happy hour if it was closer to home, just for drinks and chips and lots of...