Costa Vida

Chris didn’t switch gloves after ringing someone up. Asked if we would wait a moment while he ringed someone ahead in line up. Ran their cards and handled the pen he handed them all with his gloves on, only to come back and make our food with the same gloves. Not as sanitary and clean as you’d expect.

Came here with 2 buddies recently, they were out of the 2 things I tried to order and their point system was down. Not impressed.

Low grade dog food. Beans, more like soup. Enchiladas were just bad. The food just doesn’t taste good. Wouldn’t return.
I was here with a co worker who is Mexican, he was embarrassed to see local Mexican people eating here. On the positive side they do cook their tortillas fresh. And the soda was good according to my friend.

There are three types of people in this world. Café Rio fans, Costa Vida fans, and people who have no preference. I happen to be a Costa Vida fan. I love, no adore the one on State Street across from South Towne, but this one. UGH!
I don’t know why I keep trying this location. Maybe because it’s so close to my house? Maybe because it’s never really busy? Maybe because I’m a big dumb idiot? But every 3 – 6 months I go here. And each time I’m disappointed.
I like Costa Vida. But this one. It’s just not right. First off it’s not as clean as other locations. Tiles have been ripped off the counter. Spider webs cover the pendant lighting. And you can see dust all over. Secondly, none of the foods are ever really great. The pico is always super watery (which I always forget and ask for extra and greatly regret it), the «spicy» sauce tastes insanely powdery and is not at all spicy, and the grilled steak seems to be stored in a closed container after cooking so the nice crispy grilled flavors and textures all fade away.
Honestly, this place is just not worth it. Take an extra 10 minutes. Drive down to State Street and get your food there. I almost wish that this location would close.

Café Rio copycat. I remember when the owner ran a excellent, more traditional Mexican restaurant in Sandy, then sold his soul when the non-​authentic Café Rio stole all his business. Overnight he rebranded his entire business to mock Café Rio.

I’ve always liked Costa Vida, the sweet pork burrito is awesome smothered and the salad is to die for! Always a good gasam

Love this place. Make sure you get the pork burrito with red sauce. It’s to die for. I do have to say that if you are going to this location that the morning crew is AMAZING. The manager their Kelly, and her wing girl Liliana are amazing. They keep the place so clean and are so fast with the food and customers. They stay on top of everything. The night crew is definitely another story, so go in before 2pm. If it’s after 2pm the food is still amazing, the employees just don’t want to be there is all.

Don’t bother going here. I don’t know why I keep giving this place a chance every 2 months or so… probably just because it is close to my house. I really wish they’d clean the high chairs, the drink machine, the floors, the bathrooms… you get the picture. I really wish the food was consistently fresh and good, but alas, time after time it is not. I really wish the people working here seemed to care, but nah, they don’t. I decided after tonight’s visit with my kids (who would not eat their food and they are not picky eaters by any means — and it was just so gross and in need of a good scrub down) that tonight would be my visit to this place. I feel better already!

Chili verde great but very spicey. Nice size portions, clean and quick. Price per plate averages 8. Like Salsa Rio just no line.

I will say that most of the good Mexican food has been deported from the Utah hatred for anyone not from here.
This is a cali-​mex restaurant and is much like Café Rio without all of the stupid people that end up thinking Rio is the best food on earth. Let me get to the meat and potatoes of my review.
The Good– Not too busy, clean restaurant, consistently decent food quality, grilled chicken tacos are real good, fast service compared to Café Rio,
The Bad– Location is tough because it is in a less traveled plaza. Pico was not very fresh, took a couple of mins even tho they weren’t busy.

Our favorite! Plus it’s gluten free! Everyone here is SO nice. I get ill everytime I eat at Café Rio because of my Celiac Disease. This restaurant is so clean and friendly, I’d recommend to everyone.

Ouch! Judging from the other reviews, this place needs a little love!
It’s no Café Rio. It’s similar. One of my kids has a gluten sensitivity and all she gets are salads. For some reason, the chicken salad at Café Rio gives her a stomachache. Not so much at Costa Vida.
A buddy of mine thinks this place rocks. He couldn’t contain himself when they switched from Bajio Grill. I never have shared his enthusiasm. I thought Bajio was only slightly less inferior to Café Rio than Costa Vida. Whatever. I was tired of Café Rio about 6 months after they opened up. Like Chipotle… If you’ve been there once, you’ve tasted essentially everything they have to offer.
Anyway, I’ll say this much about Costa Vida — it’s consistent. Believe me, it’s often all my daughter can/​will eat when we go out for fast food and we’re there ALL THE TIME!
The staff are nice, price and portions are fair. I’ve got a Costa Vida card which means 10% back towards a future meal. There’s seldom long lines and the place is clean.
They show these Go-​Pro adventure videos on all these monitors hung up around the restaurant. They’re skiing, snowboarding, biking and surfing. We have ice fights where we blow tiny pieces of ice through straws at each other. How can you hate someplace like this where you spend so much time as a family?
It’s no Tarahumara or Red Iguana. Then again, I only have to drive about a mile to get here and it makes my daughter happy.

Uhhh… ok, this place is really mess up. It was actually the first Costa Vida I visited. The setup is very similar to a Café Rio, but with 90% less people. The menu items resemble each other very closely with a slight twist like chipotle sauce and such.
I ended up going for the chipotle chicken burrito just for the new experience. The tortillas were sitting stone cold with an old color on it at the start of line rather than freshly made. The sauce and cheese ended up covering those strange colors. The plate was about half full by the time I got the dish, and price is about the same as Café Rio. Anyway, the sauce is little awkward, I really could not taste anything special from the chipotle sauce, and there were that lack of freshness flavor and odor in the food. I think I threw whole thing away after forcing my way through half of it.
Costa Vida, a disappointing copycat with zero innovation… Seriously, your money is better spent if you drive about a mile to the west.

Pretty good, but if a Café Rio was closer to home I would go there. Not a big fan of their tortillas.

All I have to say is that this place sucks. I’m ashamed to have to admit that I’ve even stepped foot in here, and eaten their food. The food sucks, and to add insult to injury, I got food poisoning, most likely from the guacamole. Let’s start with the chicken burrito. The tortilla had a bizarre texture akin to a thin pancake. I’m pretty sure a burrito tortilla should not be spongy like a thin pancake. After a few bites I just cut the burrito open an started picking around, to eat just the chicken and rice (the only things that were edible). The part that pissed me off the most was the hot sauce. WTF is this watery, red nonsense? Because it certainly was not salsa, or spicy. Maybe a sad attempt at copying Taco Bell’s hot sauce? (which is pretty pathetic, if Taco Bell is what they’re trying to emulate). To top it all off, the guacamole they gave us was brown, and funny tasting. I didn’t think anything of the brown color, since avocado turns brown as it oxidizes. It wasn’t until later that I realized the brown color was probably due to it rotting. Why else would guacamole be brown at 11:30 in the morning? When was the last time you were served brown guacamole at a Mexican restaurant? Shame on me for not noticing this huge red flag. I thought it tasted funny, but I didn’t know if it was the guacamole, the chips, or the chicken. Anyway, 12 hours later, I was still being punished for eating here, with a stomach in knots, and multiple, unpleasant encounters with the toilet.
I will never, ever eat at Costa Vida again. Taco Bell could be considered gourmet cuisine in comparison. Save your time, money, and dignity, and find one of the taco stands in downtown SLC, that serve real Mexican food.