Costa Vida

MAJOR disappointment– ate here a lot in TX and was always great — excited to see familiar place when I moved! Ugh– four people in my party– somehow managed to screw up order– my 2 year olds quesadilla took my going back to counter third time and demanding whatever freaking quesadilla they had already prepared to get her fed– asked for manager was told hmmm– I’m not sure there’s one here! Offered $ 5.00 off card for NEXT visit– told him where to put card– we wouldn’t be needing!

I went with my usual– a salad with beans and chicken, extra guacamole (have you seen the tiny scoop that is used for the guacamole??), pico, and salsa instead of dressing. They actually charged me for salsa. Not cool, Costa Vida, not cool at all. The chicken was a tad tough and it was just meh overall.
Hubs went with nachos and said it was good. They do use shredded cheese and so send the nachos through the warmer to make it melt. I, of course, think this is a good thing, however Hubs is a sucker for the cheese sauce that is ubiquitous on most nachos.
We’ve had a weekly Monday engagement in Lone Tree which has sent us off trying different places in the area. I don’t think we’ll be coming back here.

Had lunch there and food was mediocre. Service was terrible! Our order was wrong, they brought out one thing at a time, and it took 20 min to get our babies quesadilla. We asked to speak to a manager and the reply was «I’m not sure if he’s here». Won’t be going back.

I had chicken enchiladas with green chile sauce. The sauce was disgusting; it tasted like someone poured koolaid on my plate. I don’t understand why it was so sweet. There should not be sugar in green chile.

I really like this place as an alternative to qdoba. Both places are great but Costa Vida changes it up enough to be distinct. The salads are really good as are the burritos. Prices are reasonable and the staff is friendly.

Stopped by after reading the reviews. Not worth your money. It is way too expensive for the flavor, because there is no flavor. I would pick chipotle any day. They also put everything that is not meat, rice and beans on the side, so it can be frustrating to eat. If you want gringo Mexican food, here is the place to go.

We came here because, 1. We really live close to this place and 2. We were recommended by my wife’s family. I need to make not that they drive out of their way to come here.
The food ended up being really good. They make it similar to the way Chipotle makes there meals except the put it through an oven. The prices weren’t bad as everything appeared to be under $ 10. It also definitely helped to lure us in with a free entrée coupon that was mailed to our house.
The only reason I didn’t give it 5 stars was when the lady asked what I wanted on my meal and I didn’t know what my options were, she seemed annoyed. It was my first time there and I honestly didn’t know what my options were.
Anyways, I will definitely come back here again.

Favorite place to eat! Always good food with good prices and convenient location. Order the sweet pork burrito or salad… Very good

Fast and friendly service! Enjoyed my great tasting salad with sweet pork, guacamole and cilantro ranch dressing.

The salads and burritos are good BUT check your order on take outs as they can never seem to get it right. Also, less than friendly cashiers and make sure you ALWAYS check your receipt because they are constantly adding on extras we didn’t order on to the bill.

For a quick service restaurant, this place has good food. I always order the pork tacos or burrito. The service staff is very nice, though they will rib you if you let your guard down :) Overall, this place is much better that other comparable restaurants (Qdoba or Chipotle).

Restaurant was clean and trendy, customer service was subpar, the wifi password didn’t work that they told us. The bathroom was clean, so that was nice. My grilled chicken burrito was, for the most part, flavorless. The enchilada sauce was skimpy (the lady gave me like half a scoop over the burrito,) and it was very flavorless. My food wasn’t hot, either. It was room temperature. The pico de gallo tasted like diced tomatoes. Either it had been sitting out for too long or it was a pre made mix, either way it was pretty gross. The lettuce was fresh and crisp, which was very nice and refreshing. The «hot» salsa wasn’t even spicy. Rice and beans were good, but then again it’s hard to mess up on rice and beans. Sorry if this sounds overly critical. I was NOT pleased by this restaurant, even my mother (who had lunch with me) said that this place has gone downhill.

Whoa, this place really needs to work on their ordering concept. Just like Chipotle, there is one big line and you go down the line while they make the food right in front of you. Is this a good concept? Sure but not when you have 45 minutes for a lunch break. While we waited in line for 15 minutes I kept joking around that it would be quicker to order from our phone in line for pick up, then take our food to go. We went here on a Friday at lunch time and it was a full house. The line went almost out the front door which is about 20-​something people deep, unfortunately it was full of high schoolers so basically kids playing on their phones instead of moving the line along. I got the mango chicken salad and it was delightful. They have a variety of toppings and dig that they have fresh jalapenos. The small was around $ 7 and a huge portion so I would get that again but only if I order ahead and get it to go. Parking is a bit of a nightmare as well.

Don’t waste your time. It’s like a subway in disguise with a Mexican flare. No crispy shells, no ground beef, odd cheese. Person taking my order had to have EVERYTHING repeated 2 – 3 times. No alcohol and too expensive for what it is.

Really great. Absolutely packed on Friday nights but they move you through very quickly (a plus for a family with a 2 year old).
Our first visit there we dropped my son’s plate all over the floor as soon as we sat down. I went through the line a second time and the manager recognized me as soon as I ordered. He asked what happened and I told him we dropped it. He made the order very quickly and told the staff to not charge me. Not necessary but very nice!
So far this is the only Mexican place where my picky child eats all the food. Husband and I think it’s great too! We haven’t been to hacienda or any other Mexican place since discovering this!

This place could be 5 stars if they made it more authentic. My kids love this place. I like it enough where I will eat it when they want to come here. Food is fresh and good quality. Grilled chicken is really good.
The problem is all their sauces are very sweet and I mean dessert sweet. Not just with a little sugar. Why??? Even their salsas are sweet and/​or creamy.
If you want spicy you have to get a cup of raw chopped up jalapeños.
Please offer an option for a authentic sauce. Even if it not spicy just don’t make it sweet. I would rather eat bland than sweet on my burritos.

Amazing! The food here has been excellent the many times my wife and I have visited. The staff is friendly and the selections are very universal so you feel like you could meet most anyone here and it would work out. Think of it somewhat like a Subway for Mexican food. You start at one end of the line, choose your dish, select all of the items you would like on said dish, and then at the end you are placed in front of the cash register.
I will say that this place is insanely busy around the peak dining times (12pm and 445pm+) meaning that you could potentially wait in line for up to 30 minutes. Parking is ample so that this not an issue, but make certain your phone is up to full power before going during peak times because you will need something to do… However, you cannot hold that against them. They are well staffed with friendly employees, they are just really popular and are located in a nice spot for those breaking from work or heading home.
Highly recommend!

Homemade tortillas! That is definitely the highlight. This place gets BUSY during lunch and dinner. They have a unique flavor, it is more like TexMex than it is a Mexican restaurant. I would classify it more as a Fresh Mex flavor. I have had several things from Costa Vida, my favorite being the sweet roasted pork. You can get it on tacos, burritos, quesadillas, etc. The flavor is VERY good. Overall, if I was in the area and wanted something different than authentic mexican food or Chipotle, I would definitely go to CV.
One thing that is a plus… the staff is VERY friendly!

My boss bought my team lunch from Costa Vida about a week ago. Since that time, I’ve visited the restaurant twice! I’m stuck on the sweet shrimp tacos… so freakin’ good! I also tried the Tres Leche cake on my visit last night. So moist and delicious. It was the perfect portion size, but it was so sweet I still only ate half. I also tried a bite of my partner’s sweet pork enchiladas. They were pretty good, though the pork was actually a little too sweet for my taste — it was like a pork mole‘.
As others have mentioned, the concept is very similar to a Chipotle or Qdoba: you pick an entrée type, pick your protein, pick your rice and beans, and pick your sauce and toppings. However, I wouldn’t say Costa Vida is competition for the other burrito chains: the food is more like fast food authentic Mexican /​fish taco hut than like a burrito chain. They also have a conveyor belt oven to melt your cheese and heat up your food. It’s a nice option when you’re wanting real Mexican food or Tex-​Mex but don’t want a full-​service dining experience.
The prices seem steep, but when you compare to other fast-​casual concepts, it’s pretty much around the same price point. Word of warning: avoid the Lone Tree location unless you like really crowded places and go to the location in Englewood instead. It’s quieter, the line is shorter, and I found the service there to be much more friendly and helpful.

Concept: excellent
Atmosphere: good
Menu: very good
Food: good-​very good
Service: poor but fast
They need half as many folks behind the counter. They go so fast that they forget to get your order right and completely abandon the customer experience. They could work on speaking more clearly or at very least louder.