Costa Vida

I’m willing to try another location because the food was good. This location though needs to work on its customer service. Came here just before 8pm (website says it’s open till 10pm). Asked for corn tortillas, they said since they’re closing they’re not making anymore corn tortillas. I’m no tortilla expert, but if you’re open, I think everything on your menu should be available unless you literally ran out. The menu is a little confusing, it says «Pick one of our Costa Classics or build your own!» Looked over the rest of the menu and saw two picture labeled Costa Classics. When I asked what are the Costa Classics, the cook said «basically everything is a classic.» But nothing on the menu points out a ‘Costa Classic’, so that can was a little confusing.
My girlfriend, who was standing right next to me right after I finished my order, was skipped by the girl taking our orders and moved on to the people behind us.
Went to pay for both orders, asked if I wanted lettuce or pico or anything, I asked for sour cream. Pretty basic item that comes with all Mexican or fresh/​mex meal. «That’s 50¢ extra.» Sour cream? Really? Guac being extra I can see, but sour cream? No. And with both of us standing there with two meals and only one cup for a drink in front of the cashier, «you just want the one drink, right?» I can understand if you ask the person if they’d like a drink and they say no, that’s one thing. But assuming they Don’t want a drink from the start, bad customer service.
Finally eating, food is just fine. But they start stacking chairs and rolling up carpets, still just barely 8:15pm when the site says they close at 10.
As I said, I’m willing to give another location a chance, but this location needs to work on its customer service.

I am a heavily tattooed person which in 2016 shouldn’t be an issue to people (in my opinion). Yet last time I came here I was made so uncomfortable by an Employee of the store asking me why I would put tattoos all over my body and proceeded to stare at me during my whole dining experience. Really? At a location practically on college campus in a progressive place like Tempe? I would expect it from the public, but from someone who is supposed to be on the clock working and serving customers??? Needless to say i did not get to finish my burrito because it made me uncomfortable getting gawked at from across the dining room and I feel like if I say something it would be completely misconstrued. So i quietly tossed my plate and waited outside in the heat for the rest of my party to finish so i didn’t have to sit enduring stares. Don’t get me wrong, I could care less what people think of the way I look but when I’m trying to enjoy a meal with friends and it even affecting their experience then it crosses a line. Go check out Qdoba or Chipotle.

Close to ASU campus so very convenient for students. I really like their chicken tacos but I think their sweet pork burritos are the crowd favorite.

All I did hear is the sweetpork. The burritos quesadillas and salads are really good. Don’t bother coming if you’re going to get chicken though. It is good but I would never come for anything other than the pork

Sweet pork is amazing. Hands down the best thing here. Their tomatillo ranch dressing is great on their salads. Make sure you get your burrito smothered with sauce! We love that this location offers student discounts too!

Wouldn’t fry my burrito to make it chimichanga style… All you have to do is throw it in the fryer… Not hard the food blew. Never comin back

The tortillas are made FRESH! The Sweet Pork give your sheer bites of heaven. I just wish we could get Costa Vida at Major League Sporting Events! Between our family members. We LOVE it all! Yum!

We ate at Costa Vida on Rural Rd in Tempe 60 times. We usually go on Taco Tuesday and get 9 tacos and tres leches with whipped cream and strawberries.
Unfortunately, 58 times they were out of strawberries. 35 times they asked us to repeat our order 3 or more times (because they forget between getting the tortillas, the meat, and ringing it up). 10 times, they left out our cheese or pico. The food is delicious, and the people are friendly and fun.
The first review, we gave them 5 stars, 10^th review, we have mostly 5-​star and 1 4-​star. 20^th review, we gave them mostly 5-​star and 2 3-​stars. 30^th survey, we gave them mostly 5-​star and 3 2-​star. 60^th and final review, we gave them mostly 5-​star and 2 1-​star. We asked to speak with the manager, related all this story, and this was what the manager told us:
You have to understand that you are only one customer. Our other customers do not complain about us not serving strawberries or taking down the advertisement. I do not appreciate you saying bad things about our store. We are the best store in the area, and we have the highest sales.

really great food. When I am craving mexican food, this is one of my favorite places to eat at. Food is delicious and fresh!

Love the sweet pork burrito! It’s a great deal if you use the coupons in the Devils Insider.

Costa Vida Fresh Mexican Grill was a little disappointing. The food was average, if not a little worse, the prices are way too high, and the restaurant is burning hot.
The only reason I’m giving three stars is because the service I got at this location was excellent. The staff was very friendly and patient with me being a first timer.
Would not recommend because of the food though. I’ll take Chipotle or Qdoba any day. Better food, and believe it or not, cheaper prices.

We came to Costa Vida because the food looked similar to Café Rio, however when we ordered we find out the portions are quite small especially for the cost. Mediocre food for high price.

My BF and I got a Groupon for this place so make sure to check for one before you go!
The servers where incredibly nice/​knowledgable and the prices where fair (you get $ 1 off for veggie options). I got a vegetarian burrito and my BF got the day’s special, a sweet pork burrito. We also got a regular sized (which really is a large) guac chips, reg sized queso chips, a soda and a cookie because we had to use up the entire value of our coupon at once. Everything is put on super sturdy metal dished so it’s great for takeout!
The dips for the chips where massive! I love guac, so for me that was heaven. They have one of those cool soda mashies where you can create any type of drink you want so we had the decaf-​diet-​orange-​Coke.
Only cons where that my whole wheat wrap was strangely sweet and that there where no truly spicy sauces. This place is great for what it is, a fast food joint. However, it’s not a genuine Mexican place (not that we expected it to be) of which there are many in Tempe.

Sad to give this place 3 stars but I just feel this location is lacking compared to the Mesa & QC locations.
The vibe is casual, young, and comfortable. But the food has not been very impressive the last handful of times I’ve been here.
Each time I’ve been in, it’s empty to no crowd so I feel like the food just kind of sits waiting to be stirred up. The sweet pork was dry and hard in some parts. The pico seemed very watery.
Today, I was thankful that the guy said the tortillas was too hard so he’d make me a fresh one for my burrito.
It’s nice that they do free cheese quesadillas for toddlers!
This location is always clean! The staff is hit or miss for friendly tho.

Very fresh and delicious food!
Friendly and helpful customer service.
Overall a great Mexican restaurant!

Not super impressed this time around. I’ve filled my soda cup up 3 times with a different and each time it’s gross. Also super watery salad. Not the same as Costa Vida in Utah unfortunately.

Let me preface this by saying that I’ve loved Costa Vida for years. I crave it constantly and my favorite item to order is the steak salad. I’ve been to a few different locations and the food has always been consistent. Last night I stopped in at this location and was incredibly disappointed. The steak in the salad was so overcooked, dry, and over salted that it tasted almost like an awful jerky… or maybe petrified wood. The lettuce was also limp and didn’t taste fresh. I took a few bites and deemed it inedible. What a shame!

I LOVE Costa Vida. We came here last night for dinner for the first time. We moved here from another college town, and Costa Vida was there and we loved that one too.
This one is a bit smaller. But still just as good. The sweet pork is the only thing I ever want. So anything with the sweet pork in it, get it.
As for this location. It was good. I’d say a satisfactory substitute for chipotle or Qdoba. We went right at prime dinner time hours, and there were only 2 other groups of people there. So that made me happy, because I hate crowds. So we were fast!
The girls who worked there weren’t that happy… but I was super appreciative of the one who was really nice and promptly removed her gloves without me even needing to ask when I told her I had Celiacs. She was the nicest looking person in the whole place!

It’s been a few hours since lunch time and my overall impression is underwhelmed. The food wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t that impressive either. Nothing really stood out about service either.

I was skeptical. Do we really need another Mexican grill? But Costa Vida is a solid Chipotle alternative.
Touting their fresh ingredients, Costa Vida is at its core just another variation of the Chipotle/​Qdoba concept. Rice, beans, chicken… But the décor is stylish. The staff is friendly. The prices are reasonable. The soda machine is state of the art. All, at least in my still limited experience at this location, with shorter lines than Chipotle.
Conveniently located near the ASU Tempe campus.