Pura Vida

The best place to drink wine and eat chips with various dippings. It’s an adorable
Little place

This place is amazing. We were visiting Oregon with the intent on possibly moving here. One of the things I needed was a good Mexican good place and this is it! It is NOT Tex-​Mex, and I love me some Tex-​Mex, but even better. The salsas are great, the Caipirinhas were tasty, and the good was amazing!

Latin Centric w/​world flare, this place has Authentic written all over it. There might be a Baja dish or two to choose from, but even these have ingredients hailing from the mainland. Peru: check; Argentina: check; Mexico & all its states: check; a touch of Spain, with a hint of Brazil: check.
The key here is that All of the dishes are done traditionally well, with maybe a little flip here or sway there, but nevertheless, the dishes satisfy.
Mojito Mondays– Sold!
Chips & Salsa-​Sold! Scrap the Guac & Rojo and just order copious amounts of the Pepitas Puréed Salsa. The Molé was pretty special & the Peruvian Classic– Loma Soltado is sure to be a crowd pleasier.
As for service, the waitress was knowledgeable in the preparations of the various dishes and was a lot of fun to be around.
Good spot!

Unassuming place where the food is beyond what I expected. All the food was cooked perfectly with sauces that should be bottled or jarred for purchase. Fresh, visually appealing and yummy. Wanted to lick the plates lol!

I recently had the pleasure of visiting a year after moving away, and WOW! I got padron peppers and vegan tacos, the best vegan options I think. Perfection! It’s better than ever, great atmosphere, friendly service. The management truly cares about customers and having a good time! Long live Pura Vida!

I must say they deserve all the stars they get! The food is really good. I have never liked pork belly anything before and I ate the whole plate!

We started with the chips, salsa and guac, which was alright. Nothing too special and not a lot of heat. The taquitos came next and my husband enjoyed them.
We followed that with the salmon ceviche… which was awesome. I have never had salmon ceviche before and they did a great job with the flavors! We also got some grilled peppers that were not very good or worth $ 6, but we tried them!
They use lots of local ingredients, and had strawberries from the farmers market for their drinks… we don’t drink, so we had arepas instead. Really. Fucking. Good. At this point nothing else mattered and we melted our night away in the pork belly on top. Solid 4.

Wow! We had the fresh chips with salsa verde, guacamole and black bean dip, so fresh and flavorful. The plantains are like a dessert they are so delicious. Veggie empanadas and vegan/​veggie tacos with Costa Rican black beans and rice — amazing and authentic! The Caipirinha was perfect. Our 8-​year old son ate the chicken enchilada like it was his job, and he’s generally a picky eater. Excellent options for meat eater, vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-​free!!!

Maybe I’m the one in a thousand who had a bad experience here, but my experience was truly awful. Allow me to explain.
I really wanted to like this place, I really did. I was in McMinville for the day visiting some friends who had already eaten, and I decided to look at Unilocal to see what was good locally for lunch. This place had great reviews, so I decided to eat here.
I had my ID on me, but I had forgotten my wallet in my jacket back home, so I only had $ 20 and my ID. The food on the menu looked a little expensive, but I was thinking, «Hey, I have $ 20, at least I Can get lunch.»
So I decide on the Chicken Enchiladas (the most expensive thing on the menu) at $ 14. My plate comes, and it does not look anything like enchiladas. Not at all. It was more like two corn tortillas thrown on the plate, with some chicken on top and a little bit of bean sauce on the bottom, as well as a bit of cheese & some veggies. It resembled more of a lazy couple of *small tostadas, trying to be artistic. Which brings me to my next point, the plates are tiny. A total rip off. I paid $ 14, to not get what I ordered & still be hungry. I am a 6 foot tall, 190 pound man. I don’t eat a ton of food, but I do eat a good amount and at $ 14, I should be full, especially for a Mexican restaurant in McMinville. This is not New York. So then I proceed to ask for a side of hot sauce, and they literally bring me a thimble. No joke, my waitress brings me the tiniest amount of salsa I have ever seen.
On top of all that, my waitress was pretty rude to me, because I ordered just water. She asked me if I wanted a drink and I told her, no thank you that I was good with water. She sighed and was like. «Ok.» I found that to be strange and off putting, like I was being looked down on because I wasn’t spending more money in their ‘luxury’ establishment.
Get out of here. I am a paying customer too and I feel ripped off. This place caters to rich old people who want to feel fancy by getting some sort of dish that feels artistic to them, but really is nothing special and is way too small. I have plenty of money mind you and I tipped $ 4 on my $ 14 bill, just because I didn’t need my waitress validating to herself why she gave me sub-​par service. I was polite the entire time but felt really taken advantage by the end and just bummed out that I was the one to get the bad experience.
If you can afford $ 50 on a bunch of tiny plates, then eat here, but don’t expect anything for free. Expect to be looked at like a peasant if you’re not ordering a ton of stuff or looking like old country club folks. I took my remaining $ 2 and bought some almonds at the grocery store because I was still hungry.

Probably my favorite place to eat in McMinnville. Oh man the food is so good. Never had a bad meal here. On a rare occasion the service has had a couple hiccups, but nothing major.
Highly recommend the plantains. I could just live on those. I’d recommend almost everything on the menu. Just good food.

Wow. We were absolutely blown away by our dining experience this evening. We stopped in to this little restaurant on a whim, which was the best decision ever. We got the chips and salsa to start. Thick, crispy chips, delicious guac, a black bean dip, and a pumpkin seed and garlic salsa came out. Delicious, and only $ 3! Then we had the fried avocado, croquettes of the day, pork empanadas, and a lamb empanada special. All the food was well seasoned, came with complementary slaws and garnishes, and was delicious. This was a great amount of food for two, but then our server told us about the homemade churros with dark chocolate dipping sauce, and we found a little more room. The churros were crispy on the outside, melt in your mouth on the inside, and hands down the best churros I’ve ever had.
And I haven’t even mentioned the service yet! Prompt, efficient, helpful. All of the people serving asked us if everything was alright at one point or another. All in all, an excellent dining experience. We will be back!

Great service! Amazing verde sauce!!! The food was fresh and amazing flavors. The have Negro Modelo on Tap super A+++++ Did I say everything was fresh super fresh…
Great art as well… A joy to find in MAC

This was one of those finds that makes me thankful for Unilocal.My family and I were looking for a place to eat at while at the small city of McMinnville for a wedding. We walked in and it was fairly full but it only took them 10 minutes to get us seated. The waitress, Myra, was so helpful and really friendly. I ordered the chips and salsa and the famous crispy pork belly tacos. Man was I impressed! It was bomb-​dot-​com! Seriously some of the best food that I’ve had in a long time. The chips were legit, seemed homemade and really crispy. They served the chips with puréed black beans, guacamole and pumpkin seed jalapeño salsa. I think I would have been satisfied with just that. If u dip the perfectly golden chip in the beans then guac then the salsa… its perfection in a bite! Seriously yummy! Then the crispy pork belly tacos came with a side of rice and beans. I took one bite of the tacos and Pura Vida became one of my favorite spots. Try adding some of the pumpkin seed jalapeño salsa on the tacos and it just adds a different level of goodness to this already pretty much perfect dish. This place is one for the books!
If you’re ever in the area, give this place some love. Great service, ambiance and smacking food!
P. s. I took my extended family of 18 here the next day (cuz I couldn’t get enough) and they accommodated us without a hitch. The same waitress, Myra, even thanked me for bringing in my big group. Love this place!

This is a very nice Mexican/​tapas/​fusion place. The four of us ordered a variety of items to share, including Pork Belly Tacos, Ceviche, Fried Avocado, Flank Steak, & Smoked Trout.
I thought the Pork Belly Tacos were by far the best. Pork bellies are basically thick pieces of bacon. The Ceviche was good, but the Trout not so much. The Fried Avocado, a little weird.
This, nevertheless, is a special spot.
Ambiance — 4 STARS
Service — 4 STARS
Value — 4 STARS
Food — 4 STARS

My son and I stopped for an afternoon snack. Pork belly tacos are to die for. Not a huge serving, but also reasonably priced at $ 13. Pork is crispy yet tender. The handmade corn tortillas are superb, soft and substantial but not overwhelming. Salad and veggies are fresh and just right. Caramel sauce for the flan is excellent, light and very flavorful. Custard is silky and not too sweet. The perfect finish to a great meal.

My husband and I got treated to Pura Vida for our anniversary a couple months ago. It’s one of his sisters favorite places. It’s a little place on 3^rd street with not much seating. The service was good, and the food was quite delicious.
I got fish tacos and my husband got chicken enchiladas. The plates are small, which is fine, but if you go for early dinner like we did, plan on being hungry later. The food really was exceptional and different, I loved their style of enchiladas. We also got churros for dessert which was served with warm melted chocolate. It was heaven!
I’ll definitely be going back.

I have to say, honestly probably the best tacos I’ve ever had…2 pork belly & 1 cod. They were absolutely perfect. The sauce they put on w/​the cabbage & pickled onions with just a slight crisp to the meat… it was just perfect! My husband had a seafood pasta that was also very delicious.
Great ambiance and wonderful staff!!! Can’t wait to go back… even from Salem, we’ll make the 39 minute drive… so worth it.

Friendliest sever ever, ask for Fredy! Fish special was awesome as was ginger carrot soup. Chips with salsa, guacamole and bean dip is fabulous! Great wine list at reasonable prices.

I live in San Francisco and visit my family a few times a year here in Mac. We dined last night at Pura Vida and were blown away by the food, service, and friendly owners! The originality of the menu, sauces, and presentation matched that of the mission district in San Fran. Oh and their cocktails were perfecting made! This is a must try!
I will definitely be back upon my next visit!

Heading back from the coast and needed a later (2pm) lunch spot on a Saturday. For $ 33 we had chips and guac, two house salads, two entrees and a side of rice and beans. So, off the bat, as far as price goes — pretty well priced. This isn’t tex-​mex, definitely more Puerto Rican influences.
We had some tasty dishes — Ropa Vieja for me. A little salty, but otherwise great flavors. The chips and guac were not the endless basket size at a traditional tex-​mex restaurant — but very fresh salsas and guac. Husband had Arepas with pork belly, also tasty.
I thought the atmosphere was lovely, the servings well portioned (meaning not over the top but I’m certainly full), and service was friendly and efficient. I’d definitely recommend this place.