Viva Villa Mexican Restaurant — Restaurant in Thomson

On 4/10/25 I recently dined at this establishment and had a decent overall experience. The highlight of the visit was definitely the food the shrimp fajitas were flavorful and well-seasoned. However, I was surprised that they were served on a regular plate instead of the traditional sizzling cast iron skillet, which took away from the usual presentation and experience.

The service, unfortunately, was less than ideal at the start. It took quite a while for my order to be taken. I later learned that the waitress was temporarily unavailable because she was washing dishes, and another staff member a very polite and attentive gentleman stepped in to take over during her absence. His service was appreciated and helped smooth over the initial delay.

When the original waitress returned, it still took her longer than expected to check back in and take my order, even though I had been ready for quite some time. She seemed preoccupied with other tables, which impacted the overall attentiveness I received.

The restaurant itself could benefit from some updates. While the traditional, older Mexican-style ambiance adds a certain charm, the furniture particularly the tables are quite unstable. The wobbly tables made dining somewhat uncomfortable, as any movement caused the entire table to shake.

Despite the drawbacks, the quality of the food made up for some of the service and atmosphere issues. With a few improvements to service efficiency and a bit of modernization to the interior, this place has the potential to offer a much more enjoyable...

So we were visiting Thomson GA for the first time and there were a few non-fast food restaurants. Viva Villa was rated fairly high so we decided to give it a try about 2 in the afternoon. Just a few people there this time of day so there was only 1 server. After getting the complimentary chips and salsa, one order was a combo meal of a beef enchilada, chile relleno, chicken soup, with Mexican rice and refried beans, and the other order was the house special chimichangas, one beef and one chicken with Mexican rice and beans. I would say the meals were traditional and similar to other Mexican restaurants except my chile relleno was quite a bit spicier than any others I've had. The only thing that stood out was the Mexican rice. Out of all the Mexican restaurants we've been to, this one had the most flavorful Mexican rice. We also had the churros for dessert which came with a delicious scoop of vanilla ice cream but I think the churros were the boxed, frozen variety...crunchy all the way through instead of crispy outside with light and fluffy (almost custardy) inside. But at least it was available on the menu. Others don't offer them or are on the menu but...

Wow! We're in town visiting and got takeout for our last night here, and we are SO impressed. We ate at a few different places in the area and all were good, but Viva Villa was by far the standout for us. My partner and I got the house dip, ceviche, and stewed chicken chimichangas to share. All three items exceeded our expectations. The chicken was perfectly cooked and flavorful, ceviche was plentiful and amongst the best we've ever had, and the house dip was a delicious indulgence. Service was friendly, food was ready for pickup within 15 minutes, and it was packaged very thoughtfully for takeout, which is uncommon in my experience. On a customer service note, I like tostadas with ceviche so we asked if tostadas came with it when we placed our order over the phone and they said no, but told us it came with crackers and of course we'd be getting chips and salsa, so we said that was fine, only to find when we got back with the food that they included the tostadas complimentary anyway. The only thing I'm sad about is that this restaurant isn't located...