Reviews of Buena Vida Restaurant (Restaurant)

Esha Dhora

Wonderful Brunch! They have authentic Mexican/South American food in small plates. We did the unlimited brunch and it was amazing. Everything was delicious.Also being vegetarian, they have lots of options! Great service, beautiful setting, easy to find and park location. Will be back!

Charles Harris

Yesterday we had the lamb, baja, and crunchy shrimp tacos with beans and rice. Not good! The shells tasted raw and they were very hard on the outer edges. Hard enough that it hurt my tooth when I bit one. The meat inside the tacos was very bland along with the beans and rice and the guacamole. And last but not least, my girl had a pebble in her food which definitely could have broken a tooth if she wasn’t paying attention. God only knows where that came from. We will NOT be going back, but hey....look at the bright side, the service and the ginger ale were good!

Tina C.

Great lunch with all you can eat small plates. Good variety of tapas. Nice staff.

Shouvik Mondle

An absolute jewel of new Mexican cuisine with impeccable service and an extraordinary menu..

Me'Chelle Carter

After hearing about this place I decided to give it a try. Brunch, authentic Mexican food and bottomless mimosas... what’s not to love right? Wrong! Before coming here I checked the reviews thinking it would be worth the drive. Upon arrival we were greeted promptly, the hostess asked if we wanted to do brunch or the regular menu. Since I’m pregnant we agreed we’d try brunch another time. The decor is rustic and modern. The menu is pretty small. I opted for the 3 mix and match tacos for $15.99. I ordered the street corn and some type of pineapple drink which was delicious. Unfortunately the drink was the only thing that was worth seconds. My chicken taco was made of chicken thighs which were bland, the al pastor taco was horrid. I will say the shrimp taco was decent, the only one I actual ate. My server was ok, had to wait forever for the food. Didn’t bring extra napkins, rice was hard as hell. I’m not even Mexican and can make more authentic Mexican flavors than what was presented to me. Overall great concept, horrible execution. If I were to ever return it would be for the drinks... bottomless mimosas were only $35. But if you’re looking for authentic or even just good Mexican food this is not the place

Christine Kulumani

Visited for brunch and was pleased with the food and service. A variety of dishes and drinks included at a standard bottomless brunch price for DC. A definite upgrade from my former go-to Mexican brunch-- el Centro. Also pretty conveniently located. Just behind Silver Spring metro station and right by several bus lines. A few things that I think would be improved upon: 1. marking the menu for common allergens. The wait staff was not at all aware of ingredients or allergens. This led to occasions where I would order a dish that I presumed I could eat, only to have the staff return 20 minutes later and say that it contained an allergen. Also was not offered options to modify dishes. 2. FREEZING. Not normal level of cold AC that I expect places during DC summers, but like standing in a freezer.

Kevin Turner

The food is delicious and the service is very good!

Anastasia Roshal

Delicious selection of tapas and drinks, the margaritas served with high quality tequila. Price is great and staff is very friendly even send us complimentary desert. restaurant has a summer feel with lively Latin music. Will be definitely back for a dinner with my boyfriend and with friends.

Savagehornetttv

Great food terrible service been waiting over 50 minutes for check.

Vanessa Patton

My bartender Ray

D.

Would be nice if both levels provided the same service. Outside of that, the staff, food, and drinks are everything you would want from a restaurant.

Ron Higdon

I came here with a large group from work .We did the Buena Vida experience, which is unlimited small plates and includes a number of drinks and cocktails. It is pricey, but after experiencing it, I would definitely recommend giving it a try. Every dish was unique and well done. I enjoyed nearly all of the small plates and there were many offered. The presentation was excellent and the timing of each plate was on point. The service was exceptional and it was truly an enjoyable dining experience.

Gwénaëlle Dufour

Small amount of food in your plate and expensive so typical fancy place with tasty food. For $39 all you can eat from the menu with drinks! I recommend

Damon Gasque

Wonderful Tapas restaurant in Silver Spring. Service is top notched. Manager greets guest making sure folks are enjoying the experience. Worth visiting if you are in the area!

Ian Corey

Way too pricey but I see why.

Delshawna Dixon

Service was GREAT. Food was below average. Flavorless. Two stars is solely for the great customer service.

Jasmine Green

The owner is really nice every time I go. Also the food is excellent. I highly recommend you go to brunch it's terrific. It's a little crowded at dinner time but other than that I love the place.

David Justamante

GREAT PLACE! The food was better than I expected. Service was outstanding! The manager when we went, Melvin, was SUPER helpful in figuring out what we should get and VERY professional! My only regret is that my stomach wasn't big enough for all the different plates.

Steve Giroux

It was ok, but honestly the menu isn't within my budget, it's nice though

Imani Harvey

I tried it for the first time today. The classic margarita, strawberry margarita, champignon tacos and al pastor tacos are delicious. Great service, I'll definitely come back again. Its a really nice happy hour spot just a stone's throw away from Silver Spring Metro. Oscar is an amazing bartender! Go see him!

Natalie Mashin

Decent brunch but not great. We only liked a few things on the menu

Dianelys Gordon

The service was very very slow, we did not get a chance to order many things from the menu because some of the food we ordered never came, including guacamole, which is easy to make, it never made it to our table. I was very disappointed because I had seen the wonderful reviews and the pictures others posted. Sad face.

Stephen Jefferson

Tacos were great and good size. Small patio, but nice for a evening dinner.

Greg Son

I’ve been to Buena Vida before with friends for brunch and have had a wonderful time there. When planning the team building lunch for our company, this location was identified by me and multiple people in our department who’ve been there before. Since this was a large party (about ~30 people), I submitted a request for a private event. I did not hear any responses from the event coordinator so I called the restaurant directly; the owner informed me that they would not be able to accommodate due to another party being booked. I completely understood and started looking at other options for our lunch; however, I immediately heard back from the event coordinator (separate from the restaurant owner) after not hearing from her initially and she told me that they would be able to accommodate. I did question this and wanted to confirm since I heard a different response from the restaurant owner himself. She reaffirmed this was okay and gave us a pre-set menu; we made our selections which I sent over to her. I kept following up with her via email and phone (she barely answered so I almost always left voicemails) to confirm if there was anything else that they needed from our side. I didn’t hear anything until the day right before the event where she told me that we had to sign a contract and provide her our credit card information for a deposit. Again, I followed up several times leading up to this with no responses and this seemed very last minute (if this was a requirement, then I was surprised that we were not informed beforehand). We were already committed and I didn’t want to make a big deal out of it (also, it would have been difficult to find another restaurant to host a large party last minute), so we proceeded. This is just my assumption, but I believe this event coordinator manages multiple different restaurants in many different locations within the DMV and it appeared that she was really stressed and frantic and trying to do too much. This is based on my interactions with her via email and phone and it seemed there were things getting missed and slipped between the cracks. When we arrived at the restaurant, the service was not up to standard from my past experiences. They were very late serving us our food, which I could understand if they were short-staffed and had limited resources since there was another party present. To come full circle, that’s why I think the restaurant owner declined our request earlier, which again I understand but we were told something different from the event coordinator. For full context, we had another team building event right afterwards that we had to attend, but arrived extremely late due to the delays at the restaurant. During the lunch I spoke with both the restaurant owner and event coordinator in person several times if they could either speed things up. Again, I cannot stress and emphasize this anymore, but I truly believe there was a disconnect between the both of them and they were not on the same page. As a result, we unfortunately did not have a great experience there. I don’t want this experience to sour my taste from my previous outings at Buena Vida (the food was still very good); however, I’ve already told my counterparts here at the company I work for about our time there and would not recommend them to host a large party (especially a company sponsored event) until they resolve things internally first. Update - the owner contacted me immediately after my review was posted and was very apologetic. He provided free catering to our organization as a gesture, which all of us appreciated.

Disha Sharma

The al pastor tacos were great.

Chima O.

Really enjoyed the place. The unlimited $20 lunch was really nice for a team lunch and they were much quicker bringing the additional dishes than when I went after work (much smaller crowd at lunch). The waitress was nice and patient and helped us choose dishes. Also appreciated the fact that there were enough good dishes for the vegetarians in our group. Would love it if they added an open bar option for happy hour.

Bob Dillon

Awesome selection of modern Mexican tapas and drinks. Super friendly staff! Would definitely recommend!

Sho James

Christian and Nenad were our servers and they were absolutely amazing! The food was AMAZING! The service was AMAZING! I will definitely be back! All you can eat and drink for $35 ?! Where can you get this in this area besides here ?!

Sherree Bennett

Food is good. Mexican street food. Small portions on an all you can eat menu so you can try multiple things. We are used to Tex-Mex and this is not that!

T. Lynch

Excellent spot for lunch. Prices are reasonable and food is good.

Sandra Thomas

Clean, amazing ambience, great staff, delicious food.

Frederick Chiropractor

Great little Mexican tapas-like restaurant and bar, just minutes from metro/ Marc train station in Silver Spring. Loved the smoked salmon spread, grilled shishito peppers and chicken tinga

Tania Martinez

If you love taco Bell you will love this place. "Food prepared fresh"--per owner, but served cold. The venue looks good, food and staff need improvement. We waited in line to be seated, four different staff members saw us waiting until we had to ask if we could sit on our own. The people in line behind us did the same. Price for that food is high even for that area, don't try their over priced churros you will be disappointed. I will definitely not go back there again ever. Not authentic Mexican restaurant and the waitress did not check on us.

Yolanda Harvey

Great food and service. The brunch was awesome!!

Lehua Johnson

Cute place for quick bites, love the variety of guacamole

Nichole Miles

DEFINITELY worth the experience! Food is pretty good, nice vibe and atmosphere. DEFINITELY will be coming back, probably for my bday!

ksgauker

Limited seating. Expensive. But the food was good and the staff was very attentive.

Rachel Cannon

Best margaritas in town. Best Mexican happy hour for miles. Food is fresh and always delicious.

Ian Weinstock

Not just the humdrum Mexican dishes that are just different iterations of the same four ingredients. So many interesting and delicious options. The skate is something I’d have never normally ordered, but it’s sooooo good.

Eric Saul

Pretty good food for an all you can eat menu. Tacos are by far the best thing on the menu. Also, I really liked the empanadas and the salmon dip. Location is also great as you can eat and drink and simply walk to the menu. No need to drive or get an uber if you drink a little too much. I really hope this place survives longer than the previous restaurant in this location.

Stephanie Woodward

This restaurant is wheelchair accessible and very accommodating. When my friend and I were looking for a table that we liked, the staff immediately offered to bring in a table from outside that would work better for us and when it was a little wiggly, they fixed it in seconds without us having to ask. My friend is a vegetarian and loved her cheese tacos. I got the chicken tacos and really enjoyed them. As a nice surprise, the host brought us mango sorbet from the chef and it was delicious - thick and refreshing. Definitely will be back.

Allison. N

We had a company dinner at this location. Food was wonderful and they had vegan options in our package that our vegan coworkers liked! Location is great too! It does get packed so be ready to wait. It’s worth it though!

Tobi McFarland

I love the tacos, the brunch is fantastic, servers are nice. A great variety of tacos from which to choose. The happy hour is great and quite affordable.

David Brenton

Decent bottomless brunch that’s metro accessible from downtown DC. Food is enjoyable. Drinks could be stronger. Service could be improved upon but generally solid brunch.

Danielle Smalls-Pressley

This place is actually located upstairs. Went on an early friday for lunch. Had the barbacoa nachos. They were delicious. Perfect little size and spice. Had the TTT margarita as well. That was ok not as strong as I wanted but I'll definitely recommend the whole restaurant

Julian Delaney

There are two entirely different dining experience is available. And the lower half of the restaurant, there is an Ala Carte taco menu available with a full service bar. The upper half of the establishment, has a more fine dining feel, but it doesn't negate the comfortable casual ambiance you experience when first entering. In the upper dining area, an all you can eat tapas menu is offered at a very reasonable per person price (you are also welcome to order from the menu ad hoc). I cannot State enough how fantastically delicious and creative the offerings here are. Please plan to go a few times to really get a feel for the full range of flavors textures and experiences that are offered. 100% recommend (Food/Service/Specialty Bar&Non Bar drinks/Atmosphere/Location/Parking nearby/adjacent to Silver Spring Metro Station)

Lindsay Neam

$50 for all you can eat AND drink!? You'd think, okay for that price and kind of deal, it's going to be mediocre food. Nope! The food is so delicious, you'd think you were at a high end restaurant. Highly recommend!!

Therese Howe

Excellent brunch option in the DMV - wide selection of drinks, bites and desserts for just $35, and free parking in the nearby garage to boot! What you must have: spicy fried chicken, chilaquiles, shrimp and chorizo grits, and abondigas. My friend, who never eats dessert, raves over the churros but I prefer mine a little softer.

Ben Mendis

This place is more amazing on the inside than it appears from the outside. A hidden gem in DTSS. The small plates menu is filled with exciting dishes that are explosions of flavor. A must try, if you're in the area.

Cristinna Macklin

Buena Vida Restaurant has some good cuisine , they have really good service , but the prices are kind of high.

Aziza Khan

Brunch is great, mimosa glass is kinda of short though.

Chayo Gomez

Liked their happy hours specials and Eddie is great!

Shawn Bartley

I thoroughly enjoyed this Nouveau Mexican food. The dishes were tasty well-prepared in satisfying. I look forward to visiting again during lunch time. The only drawback I had in the restaurant was a weird wicker seating selection they had. The wicker chairs didn't make me feel comfortable to enjoy a meal. I asked to move seats to a more traditional seat and the wait staff accommodated me. I suggest that you try this restaurant if you want a new take on authentic Mexican food.

David Stoker

Excellent tacos and margaritas!. The Al Pastor tacos were great, and the margaritas were tasty too. My wife really enjoyed her mushroom tacos as well. The prices were reasonable. We will definitely be back.

Kelley Bonner

Delicious, lively place. Incredible margaritas and a great variety of small plates.

Drv gwu

Cool restaurant. Location is unusual next to bus station in Silver Spring. They have 2 menus, one for downstairs & one for upstairs. The upstairs one had some nice vegetarian options. Food was good. They did have some odd take on the red salsa that I didn't like, but, otherwise, they did a nice job of creating a gourmet taco. I loved that you could get lettuce wraps instead of taco shells...Great option! Bar area was nice. Again, the lower level outdoor patio was on the street where the buses entered the bus Station, so that wasn't great.

Cierra Nelson

Went here for a bite to eat. Our waitress was very nice and I like the vegetarian options. Overall I give them 5 stars!

Erica Milkovich-Padilla

Great food, excellent service and nice atmosphere. The managers checked on our table and even brought us all a round of pear Brandy from Serbia! It was great! Highly recommend this gem.

Camille Rodriguez

The menu here is very limited. We dined here with the kids and my mother in law and wish the menu had more choices. I understand it's not a family type restaurant but it was the closest to my in law so we made the best of the opportunity.

Arlene Montemarano

It was our first visit, and we are already planning to go back and bring more people. Ideal place to sample foods that I have never experienced before. The flavors are superb and the food is beautiful to gaze upon. But you won't gaze long. First bite always followed by "mmmm".

Lara Bryant

I love the decor at this restaurant! Note that there is an upstairs and downstairs with different menus. Downstairs is more fast casual and upstairs is more of a nice night out. We sat at the bar upstairs and had good service and drink recommendations. My margarita was a little different- it had fresh mandarin in it and a unique taste. The chicken enchiladas come with two in a plate and are tasty. Guacamole was large; more than enough for two people. Great date night spot and right near the metro.

Carlos Garcia-de-Quevedo

Excellent place for some good tapas a wonderful time

Jim P

Had Sunday night dinner here and it was a wonderful meal. We ordered the Buena Vida Experience which means you get unlimited small plates of anything on the dinner menu. We tried almost every dish and were not disappointed. The host was also very engaging and visited our table a few times during the evening.

Fred Dyda

pleasant enough, but food is nothing really special.

Emily Paiz

Amazing atmosphere and five star service! I definitely recommend!

Caleb Doctor

The food was delicious, however they are very reluctant to fulfill their unlimited experience promise. They actually had someone come by and clean our table of silverware and glasses while we were waiting on our second round. I explained we had food on the way still and they ignored it clearing our table anyway. We never recieved the second round and when I questioned the waiter he said the kitchen sometimes was bad at bringing food out in a timely manner. Water was refilled only on request and drinks took literally 30 minutes to be delivered.

chris allen

The "Experience" is a great price and allows you to try everything on theenu that would interest you and has the added bonus of a price fix drink menu.... try the spiked aqua fresca!

Brian Halma

High end Mexican food delivered using the tapas model. The food is pricey, but well done. Tapas format works well with an extensive, diverse menu. Margaritas were solid. There are two levels, with a different feel and different menus. Upstairs is more the trendy restaurant; downstairs is more of a cafe feel.

Jenny Browning

This place is pretty good. I've only been twice. The first time their were tacos on the menu. They were good and fairly well priced. The last time there were not individual tacos, which was kind of a bummer, but the food was still great. They have good vegetarian options. The spinach and cheese enchiladas are amazing!

Sean Stanard

Fantastic brunch. Try the fried chicken!

Kenny Wong

Came here for the first time for Sunday brunch. Thought this place was a hole in a wall type of Mexican restaurant from the look out the exterior. Wow I was wrong once I step foot inside! Very very nice modern decor and spacious. They offer an AYCE brunch that is made to order tapas style. Order came out pretty quick and service was attentive and friendly. Overall the brunch was pretty good and nicely plated-- definitely Instagram worthy! Most of the dishes we ordered were pretty good but felt like the brunch was a bit overpriced from the selections you get. Not much expensive protein (like steak) cuts and/or seafood to pick. Also, not enough desserts selections. Since there are so many other brunch places to pick from nowadays, I now have to think twice if I want to come back here because wasn't that worth it to me.

Joey Bronstein

Sorry - the food here is actually pretty good but my party had two big issues. 1. Extremely slow service (and unfriendly first waiter) 2. The explanation for the wait for dishes to come out is "food is made to order". However, we didn't experience any dishes that were hot upon arrival to our table. 3. When dishes were brought to our table, they were often just dropped on the table with no explanation to what they actually were (makes it hard to for people with food allergies).

TIM Shea

The food is Amazing, service is on point, really have nothing bad to say. Thanks Buena Vida!

Paige Eaton

Very good Mexican food ..the breakfast was good and the dinner was excellent! Great clean place nice atmosphere

Alex Mikuliak

The all you can eat for $35 is a good deal, just pace yourself! Don't order it all at once!

Luciano P

This place is worth a visit. They have big portions for affordable rates. Consistently clean and with good mood. Will come back again.

Sergey Kolyabin

Great food and great service. We went for the $35 brunch unlimited food and drink. The margaritas were on point and the food was flavorful.

Lan Bui

Interesting old building, cleverly remodeled for new purpose, with an odd yet captivating view on a bus station, but open ceiling is so passé. $35 all you-can-eat is expensive ( $49 with all-you-can-drink, not recommended ) but you can then taste all the items on the menu in one sitting. Guacamole is very good. 3 versions available. Stick to the traditional, the fancy versions just muddled the avocado taste. Tortilla can not be better. Taco is the best choice here: Cordita the most flavorful, steak good, chicken bland. Enchilada is well made but with a sauce not familiar to me. Fried plantains, ordered without sauce, are a superb way to end your meal. Dessert are beautifully presented. Tamarind water is not concentrated enough. Duck soup is too strange for me. Lamb is over cooked. The rest, some ok, some not so ok. Service A+, food A-, fun experience to try once.

Keva P

I enjoyed the plentiful tapas. They were meticulously perpared, I guess that's why it took a while to come to the table. The all you can eat option without alcohol was perfect for me. You can choose a more expensive option which includes the alcohol but I'm not a drinker!

Karen Schofield-Leca

Food was delicious, staff were super friendly, and helpful in navigating food allergies.

Ileana Lapp

I love their food ,always good . We got the all you can eat for $35 . (Per person)

Shelley Sahu

Went last night- loved the ambiance and service. The tofu dish was was of the best things I have ever eaten and next time I go I will be ordering that x 2. It was so amazing. Everyone should eat it. I just can’t even. Really, go there now, and try it yourself. Everything else (sweet potatoes, spinach and cheese enchiladas, mushroom tacos, margaritas) were also pretty good, but on the more average side. The taco platters have 6+ tacos each and are very well presented.

Debi Vans Evers

Overpriced and not very tasty. Frozen sangria sounded interesting. And yes, I suppose slightly bitter ice could be called that. $5 for half an ear of corn. The black beans were decent. The tacos were decent. $60 for 2 dinners and one drink at the cantina downstairs? No thanks.

Carlos Ospino

Best brunch in the area.

Esteban Ortiz

Good place to take a date or friends visiting.

Hector Vazquez

Go to place for Mexican. The lunch special is amazing

Jenna Visco

The food and lunch special were fantastic. I think they might have been serving us slowly intentionally to avoid eating too much on the special...the place was not busy and the entrees did not seem overly complex. We had 5 small plates (mainly salads) and we were in the restaurant for 2 hours.

Mandy Parker

Went for restaurant week and paid $35 for unlimited small plates!! Incredible deal though I have to say if they in fact served the typical serving size of the dishes, this is kind of a pricey place if just ordering off the menu! We had guac, queso, empanadas, tacos, plantains, and more! The only dish that we didn't prefer was a dish that had crab and shrimp as the crab was low quality. Such a nice ambiance there as well and very friendly attentive service!! Would probably go more often if I lived closer!

Fabio Clocchiatti

Quick bite, but worth it! Nice place.

Shankar Kulumani

Great food at a great price. Everything was very well made and there are a large variety of options. The staff was very responsive to dietary restriction and made sure to double check with the kitchen on items.

Isaiah Plair

Food was good. Service was slow to start but got better.

Andrew Borrell

We came here for the brunch and it was awesome. The staff was awesome and brought us things to try they thought we would like without needing to be asked. I drank like 200 margaritas. I think one of the most enjoyable brunches I've ever been to! That may be the whitest thing I've ever written

Aislinn Nyx

We went for the $35 brunch. Very delicious, a nice variety of beverages available. The service was a bit slow even though the place wasn't full but it was New Year's Day so perhaps they were a bit understaffed. Overall we'd go back! Try to order a few mini plates at a time so that you aren't sitting there hungry. Our waiter was personable and friendly and it's definitely on our list of go to brunches now!

William Harley

I came for my 1 year anniversary on Saturday morning and got the $35 Brunch Experience for my wife and I. We were greeted quickly and warmly by the hostess Isabelle and shown to our seats. Food was amazing!! This gives you unlimited plates of any item on the menu, drinks included. It was fantastic!! Every dish was incredible and the waiter (Sid) was the best waiter I've ever had! Terrific service! I highly recommend this restaurant and will certainly be returning!!

Christine Paluch

Excellent Mexican tapas reaturant. The menu cycles with the seasons. This is probably the best restaurant in Silver Spring. The service is always exceptional. The mix of seafood and traditional Mexican fare is amazing. Their Yucatan guacamole is probably the best guac in DC area. Highly recommend.

Hector Carrion

Good happy hour. Got the lamb and it was delicious

chrislynn freed

Best experience. Great service.

Ankit Jain

THEY ARE ALLERGY FRIENDLY! Woohoo! They are very clean and neat. They are on the top floor of the building. Building is very colorful. Restrooms are at the bottom floor and shared with the bottom restaurant however, they are clean. They do take reservations. Food is good. They can work with your allergies and make custom dishes according to your food allergies. Staff, Chef, and Bartender are very understanding. I have a lot of food allergies so I have to inquire about and talk to the chef at every new restaurant I go to and judge super hard cause I need to know if I can eat there or not. Parking is limited as it's in the heart of Silver Spring, MD, but it's right next to the metro so it's fine. Parking is not hard to find though. It was my first time going there and I will definitely be returning with my friends and family. I got some custom soft tacos with chips, guacamole, salad, mangoes, and a mohito drink. They can easily cater to large parties and they play really nice Latin music in the background. I believe the straws they use are eco-friendly straws. They also have a bar that is clean and have a great drinks menu. FOR PEOPLE WITH ALLERGIES: So once again they will work with your allergies, just ask the bartender or chef. The chips are unlimited refills. The chips are made out of fresh corn tortillas and they are safe for people with allergies. Food comes out of the kitchen in a fast and timely manner. No long wait times. Everything is made from scratch and prepared fresh. I am a vegan so I can only give my experience from a no meat point of view. The guacamole is made from fresh guacamole. No creams, no dairy, no nuts or any allergens. They only add fresh tomatoes and onion on top. Mangoes and other fruit such as watermelon is fresh. They do offer other sauces and dips, but I didn't exactly know what they were so I didn't take a chance my first time. The salad also comes with Tumeric dressing. Once again I had no idea what that was so I didnt try it. Will have to research if the dressing is allergy friendly. I am sure you can ask to receive the salad without the dressing. The Mexican rice and Mexican beans are allergy friendly and prepared fresh. No creams, no butter, no nuts, no dairy, or any allergens. The soft taco are also made from fresh corn tortillas and are allergy friendly as well. I tried my food, waited 5 min to see if I get any allergy reactions, saw that I got no reactions and then proceeded to eat my food. There seems to be No Cross Contamination of food thankfully. MY ADVICE: If you have allergies, always discuss your specific allergies with the restaurant regardless of my review. I would specifically talk with the Bartender and Chef as they seem to have the most knowledge. Not sure if they have more than 1 Bartender but the one I spoke with was a short, very understanding, Spanish woman. My drink was also clean and very good and delicious. OVERALL EXPERIENCE: Overall the restaurant and staff and food was amazing. They earned their 5 stars and I will be coming back again in the future. Allergy friendly as well and a great experience and atmosphere!

Dommie P

The staff was very friendly, the food was delicious, and I like the fact that there are essentially two different styles of restaurant in one establishment. Tapas style upstairs, tacos and the like downstairs.

Rollinson Williams

I went to have dinner with my kids !!! And we have a great experience my daughter loves the fried platains .. My son really enjoyed the quesadillas. Personally I love all the dishes that we ordered specially the Quezo Fundido. Very good service management were very polite and friendly thank much , I highly recommend this place outstanding food and attentive service!!

Amit

This is a Mexican tapas place. The food is very good. Definitely recommend their quesadillas. Lots of options for meat lovers.

Heidi Walsh

Delicious food and drinks. It's a tapas place, but we got the all you can eat special. I felt like it was post-Thanksgiving because everything was soooooo good I couldn't stop eating! Ambiance is perfect for a gathering of friends. Decor is cool, and the chairs at the table are like sitting on comfy loveseats.

sarah paige

Straight up delicious. Nice open atmosphere. Kinda loud though.

Kadallah Burrowes

Delicious tortas, great service.

#growithLisa DC

Service was slow but the food was great. I had a shrimp torta with a Cesar salad and the Jamaican drink.

Johana Marroquin

Wonderful!! Great service! Be on the lookout for parking though it is hard to find nearby!

Valerie Palacios

Love having the tacos with bib lettuce, though their tortillas are great too. Their margaritas are delicious and they use real lime juice instead of that store bought mix. The downstairs bar is less crowded and chill during the week, compared to upstairs... just depends on what you feel like. We've had great service during our numerous visits.

J Walls

Fabulous Mexican restaurant! Beautiful decor and atmosphere. We got the bottomless drinks/dinner and had the time of our lives for $49! Our server was AWESOME. He was very kind, sweet, and attentive. He even put in orders before we asked for another round, so we didn't have to wait! All of his suggestions were spot on!! But the most delicious items of all: the lamb ribs and the shrimp

Austin Hawk

Good tacos. I noticed the menu has less emphasis on small tapas plates. Instead they offer more tacos combos with rice and beans.

Josh Poland

All you can eat tapas of the best quality. Relaxing environment with very friendly and attentive staff. The tacos are phenomenal. Almost every dish our table ordered was delicious. This is definitely a new favorite spot. The price of the all you can eat is typical for the area, as are the ala carte menu items.

Alexis Reed

Fantastic brunch, great atmosphere, delicious food!

Sofie Niang

Had dinner here on Saturday night with a friend it was great! Beautiful restaurant and staff was nice. Besides having a minor situation with payment charges on my card, the general manager Danilo resolved it very quickly! He was very prompt and nice. I will recommend this place to a friend and will be coming back again.

Lyndale Dacosta

This will probably be my go to brunch spot! The food is seasoned so well, I've loved everything I've had so far (determined to try every taco). I also love the fact that they get their ingredients from local farms. The customer service was superb (Oscar is dope) and loved the atmosphere.

Michelle Charles

Food was pretty good. Service was slow on a very slow day. Decor was better than anticipated. Food was a wee bit pricey for quality.

Elizabeth Stelter

Had a reservation, waited 30 mim, but still no table and hosts didn't seem concerned so we left.

Crystal G. Smith

Cute Spot... the garlic shrimp tacos were amazing!

Maggie Carrick

Buena Vida did a fantastic job with our large party. the food was delicious and there were plenty of options for vegan and gluten free. The atmosphere was lovely, light, and fun, and the waitstaff was attentive and knowledgeable. We were a table full of professional chefs, and we had a great time, and loved the food.

Shenica Knowles

Fun atmosphere, great drinks and fun bar staff. Highly recommend.

Christopher Durkin

Solid Al pastor tacos, pineapple added some nice sweetness that rounded out the savory, slightly spicy pork. Minus a star for value- $16 for three tacos with a half cup of rice and beans is a little overpriced.

walter kerbis

Nice place, good food. Had a party here in the upstairs for a brunch and it was great

Chien Wang

Food here is so good. Churros and ice cream here is a must

Jackie Luch

I would rate this place 10 stars if I could. I have a severe onion sensitivity/allergy and the staff and chefs took the time to talk to me and prepare a special dish that I could enjoy. Not only was it nice of them, the food was out of this world. I don't often write reviews of restaurants, but I want to tell the world about this place.

Lorraine Clarke

Wow, delicious! Just finished a top rated brunch. Go for the AYCE experience! Great Sangria and really good chips. Best bites: steak and egg tacos and potato Oaxaca cheese flautas. A welcome addition to the El Salvadorean/Peruvian overload in this region.

BB

This has been one of our favorites places since it opened. We have been several times and have had a great experience each time with the exception of our last visit. Our group of four opted for the $49 Buena Vida experience. We ordered guacamole and a couple appetizers to start. Then we each ordered a few small plates. The food was great, but the service was unlike anything I've experienced. Our server walked by our table constantly because we were next to the kitchen, but he seemed reluctant to check in on us for drinks and more small plates. We ordered a second round of food and received some of it. It was very obvious they were trying to cut our table off from ordering more and they made it very uncomfortable. A manager came by and asked if we were done with our menus. Then someone came over and asked if we were done with our empty glasses. She proceeded to clear the whole table even though we asked her to leave our individual plates and silverware. She made it seem as if she didn't understand us and replied "it's fine" and "sorry". The drinks took forever to come out and the server blamed the bar staff. I would understand if the restaurant was busy, but they were not. He also blamed the kitchen staff for our missing items. He said they often overlook items. I don't think we ordered an unreasonable amount of food or drinks. It's unfortunate the restaurant recommends their unlimited experience and then makes their guests feel uncomfortable. Also, on our way out we overheard two managers complaining about a large party who only tipped 15%. Seems like a poor choice to be having a conversation like that where guests can hear you. We were hoping this would be a fun experience for our out of town guests, but it is unlikely we will be back.

Mauricio Ayala

Great food! Everything we ordered was great. We were seated quickly and our food came out quickly and was delicious. the most surprising dish of the night were the goat cheese and apple empanadas. DELISH! I will be visiting this place again sometime soon!

Mario Panameno

Excellent!, it did not disappoint!, I tried the $35 + tax and tip sampler and it was good. Plenty of food and I got to tried whatever was in the menu. The offer applies for 1 person only and can not be shared with a companion. But it is worth it, all kinds of dishes, entrees, starters, salads, soups. Gosh I did not know Mexicans have an extensive, great cuisine. No drinks included, beers are $6 and sorry but NO happy hour. Good luck folks!

Charles Gilman

So happy with this place. Relaxing mellow spot. Super service. And food is tight. I would punch a baby for these grits. Really great place. I expect to return regularly. Oh good juice drinks too.

Joshua Engel

The taco part was delicious. Fabulous guac and a really interesting menu. I am looking forward to going back to try the tapas part, which looks brilliant.

Haider Alwahab

Very nice place i liked the ambiance, the staff are super friendly the food is awesome and plus they are super generous excellent and great place

Denisse Hernandez

Amazing !!! It is a must and I can see awards given to this place. I stepped in here and the atmosphere instantaneously brought me down to paradise. The place is so chick. The staff is so nice and courteous. Now let’s talk about the good stuff. Food was a bit overpriced BUT they offer the $35/$49 bottomless menu. And let me tell you that is the true value. They are small dishes and for that price you can sample many of them. I tried a few and every single one was amazing. The restaurant says it is authentic. As a Mexican, I must say that even though the dishes are not traditional; they are remix of dishes with authentic flavors. The drinks

Kevin Sneed

Great food! Good service and the margaritas were great as usual.

Rigel W-H

Leaves more to be desired on a vegetarian side. Offers tacos but seems to have changed on the sandwich end of things. Chips could be more generous in serving size.

Zeljko Radjenovic

Always enjoyed quick lunch or dinner here. The food tastes great and I love easy going stuff attitude.

Joel Samuel

Great food and drinks, cool vibe, great staff, awesome happy hour deals

Sam Greenberg

Some of the food was weirdly flavored, but it was a great experience. Loved the fixed price deal.

Marianna Gokool

The food and service was excellent. I would definitely be going back again.

Daniel Lookenbill

Friendly staff, great food and atmosphere, and a great all you can eat brunch deal with a great variety of choices. Highly recommend!

Rachel Holmer

This restaurant was fun and delicious. We were seated promptly. Our food came out slowly but I believe there was a miscommunication with the kitchen. The food came out hot. Everything tasted amazing and the prices are fair for the area. The manager (or owner?) came to our table and checked on us a couple of times. The atmosphere here is great. Good for celebrating or eating out as a family.