Que Viva Latin Street Grill — Restaurant in Winston-Salem

I'd never had the food here and was pleasantly surprised. I can't say if it was authentic or not, but the owner said the recipies were from his mom, so I'll lean on the side of thinking the food is pretty authentic. I can say that everything was delicious.

We dinned in. It is a brightly colored mid sized space, and they play latin music lightly over the speakers, adding to the feel. We were not uncomfortable. The menu and staff explain what all the items are well. My husband and I decided to try them out because we had a coupon for $10 off from the Attractions Dining Book. We spent $27.55 on 5 menu items, so it would have been close to $40 without.

I got the Shredded Chicken Yuca Frita bowl. It was a good-sized serving. I'd never had yuca and described them as thick, hearty, and potato french fry like. Wide pieces of yuca like the width of a fun sided snickers before "shrinkflation." So, like even chunkier steak fries.

The chicken on top was well seasoned, not too spicy but flavorful. The cheese was good, but I'd eat it without and still be satisfied.

My husband wanted the Carne Mechada Arepa, but they had run out of the special corn to make the patties they use --bummer. It was about 7pm. The owner did say they have more in tomorrow, so the corn patties would be back.

Fortunately, everything there can go on top of another carrier food, so he chose a Carne Mechada fry bowl. He got French fries and stayed he should get yuca next time. His fries resembled crinkle fries, nothing special as the star of his meal was the tender and well flavored meat.

Both dishes used cilantro, tomato, onions, and garlic. It probably was stewed in something like a sofrito to get all the flavors in the meat.

We also got the maduros. These are fried plantains which I have made before and do enjoy. I am used to sweeter plantain, but that was not an issue as these were still tasty. They had a nice crisp outside and soft inside. We got an order of 6.

We finally had empanada. I had the Domino (bean and cheese), and my husband got the Columbian chicken. Both used the same meats as the other dishes. I noticed the empanada were different sized. I think the vegetarian domino was supposed to be larger. The empanada was crispy outside, and the beans inside were soft but not mushy, and the cheese even had a string pull when I bit into it. I actually had a smile on my face when it happened. This was really good, maybe slightly different flavoring than the meats.

All food was brought to our table hot. It did take a bit of time to arrive, but the staff was very nice and kept us informed of time. We spoke to the bartender during the wait and he described some of the juices they made there. As he was making a fruit drink that looked refreshing. Next time, I'll have to try one of them. Also we tried all the sauces and they are also good, but nothing needs any of them and they just add to what's already appetizing.

We didn't finish anything and took a good portion of leftovers, so I feel we got a good value. The food isn't overly pricy, especially because you get leftovers. This would be a treat for some of that, but it's worth it. There are a lot of fried dishes, but there are some non-fried items that are healthier, and the staff will also take some orders with requests. They have jackfruit and black beans as an offering to be the "meat" in dishes. I think its vegetarian and not vegan, but do check as they may be able to make dishes fully vegan.

TLDR: The staff and food are great. The prices are mid range to higher, but it is worth it as a treat. We...

I have had the Arepas from there food truck before so I was excited when I heard they had opened a brick & mortar location. I have seen the reviews and pictures and was looking forward to having my own experience. As soon as we walked in we were greeted by staff. You seat yourself and a menu was brought to our table. They have all the Arepas that I love but have an expanded menu that was very appealing. After making our choices we had to go to the counter to place our order. Fountain drinks are self serve and you are given a # to place at your table so they can bring the food out to you. It's a small place but has enough tables for those dining in. Very laid back and homey feeling. We started with an appetizer of an Argentinian empanada. It's a light & crispy outside and has a filling of ground beef , onion and bits of boiled egg. The flavor was there but not enough filling and very greasy. FYI.....be careful when you bit in as that grease will get all o er you. We also got a side of chicharrón, which is crispy fried pork belly. It's a huge piece and the skin was crispy and full of flavor, however the rest of the meat was lacking. It definitely needs to be cooked with a lot more fresh garlic. They also only give you one small slice of lime, you should get at least 4. Oddly enough our dessert came with the appetizers(they bring everything out as it's ready). There was no Buñuelos or Pandebono which are Colombian sweet bread delicacies, so we ordered Quimbolitos, a Venezuelan pastry. We had never had this before. It was not really sweet, best way to describe it is a Corn Bread with raisins. It was OK, did not blow us away. I'm not into the Venezuelan Arepas which they are well known for so I went with the Cuban Sandwich. The bread was pressed and thin which I love, the pork like earlier needed more garlic to help the flavors come out. I also hardly tasted the pickles and wished it had more. My wife and daughter both got Arepas of Carne Mechada(shredded beef) & Pernil(pork) respectively. The beef was delicious as per my daughter & my wife said the pork was OK, again it's because of the lack of flavor on the pork. We also ordered a Sancocho de Res Soup which was on special. They said it was going to take a while so we got it to go. We had it for dinner that night and it was outstanding, however I later noticed on my receipt that it cost $20, in reality that was too much. All in all, they are brand new and I am sure are working out the kinks. I will be going back after a few weeks and hoping the flavors...

I’m so sorry but Very disappointed. Food was super mid. Prices are outrageous. We stopped in for a lunch service. As a Latina and professional cook, I always try and support my peoples from all over. But this wasn’t it. I wish I had taken photos but I was ready to go by the time I finished placing my order. When entering it looks like a sit and dine but with no one around to guide us we just walked to the counter. Hard to see the digital menu cause it fades in and out. After 5 min, the young lady at the register gave us a hard menu thankfully. We asked if we can be seated and they said “yes, when you’re ready to order come to register”. Menu is misleading. We ordered empanadas, jibaritos , maduros, churros and drinks. It looked like you get 3 small empanadas according to menu picture. But it was just one small empanada. 5.50 is outrageous for one. It was bland, no sauce or anything to give it FLAVOR. Maduros was way under cooked. The jibarito sandwich was med size, over priced as well. The tostone taste pre made not fresh to order, you can tell cause it wasn’t crispy, more chewy and hard to swallow. the carne was still cold in most of it. And again, no sabor. We got our cups for beverages. The rim was all worn out. We served our own drinks from the fountain machine. which seemed like an area that was for waitstaff only but there were no wait staff. Idk. There was a family dining as well, when I heard a man offer coffee in Spanish. We were not offered coffee, even though that was all I wanted. We intended to try the Cuban sandwich but decided it was overpriced 12-14$ is ridiculous and being from Miami, we have not had a good one here in NC yet. Glad we didn’t. Place feels cluttered, and worn down. Maybe in the evening, with some beer or liquor, it’s different. But too disappointed to even think of going back...