This is the most exciting thing to happen to Southland Crossing Mall in a looooong time. Costa Vida is a very large and clean fast food Mexican restaurant, which hails originally from the US. Walking in, the place was busy, even on a Wednesday night but were quickly greeted by friendly staff who asked us if we were newcomers. They guessed correctly, so they explained how the menu worked and I was pleasantly surprised when they asked if there were any food allergies we may have. The breads are warmed and baked fresh when you order and while the menu isn't extensive, what they do offer is very fresh and filling. For ten bucks, I got 2 fish tacos with beans and rice. The rice and beans were perfectly cooked, not gummy or dry like they tend to be in some other fast food joints. All the veggies like cabbage and cilantro were crispy and you can tell the tomatoes and lettuce are cut by hand, not the pre cut bagged business. Each day they have a different item of the menu on special. The best part is the Costa Vida card. each time you make a purchase, a percentage of your dollar amount spent goes back on your card. This eventually adds up to free $$ to spend on a meal. I am elated have a quick, healthy (ish) fast food option in my hood for those lazy nights I can't be bothered to cook. . . I'll be redeeming my card for free food in no time. read more

My brother and I went here the other day for lunch. We are used to restaurant style Mexican food but we thought since we were in the are we would give Costa Vida a try. For a fast food place Costa Vida was delicious. I got the extra spicy beef burrito smothered in cheese and sauce. It was much better than I had anticipated and they serve very large portions. I definitely will tell all my friends about this place and will be back for sure! Thanks. read more

This place is a pretty fun Mexicana joint. Their decor is surfer inspired and looks like a page out of Coastal California. There is a ton of seating inside and also a great patio outside. The salads are great and huge portions. A small is enough for a meal as it comes with rice too. I recommend the pulled pork for the salad with black beans and refried beans. If you like cilantro try the cilantro lime dressing, if not try the salsa ranch. There is a fountain of Horchada (or something like that) which is a milky cinnamon drink. and is delicious! read more

Yelp was instrumental in our finding this little gem in Southland Crossing. We were happy to have a new Mexican place to frequent but when we saw the prices we were ecstatic. I do not remember seeing anything priced over $11.99 and by that I mean a full meal. There is a different special each day and judging by the one I tried, they are an excellent bargain. I had Sweet Pork burritos with rice, re fried beans, guacamole, and pico gallo. It was a very good sized meal and cost about $8.50. She had the Mango Chicken taco salad and she can not stop talking about how fresh, crisp and tasty it was. All dishes are served in tin foil take-out tins, the kind you normally seal on top with a thin cardboard lid. This is curious to eat from when dining in. I guess it saves on dishes and doubles as your take home container if you can't finish it all. Smart people won't even try to finish it all. Someday I plan to be smart. We are going back for more very soon. read more

I have always only had great food here, it's my favorite place to eat! I'm serious, if my friends want to order pizza or grab some take-out, I always steer them towards Costa Vida. If I can't convince the group to join me then I will pick up my own Costa Vida while the pizza is being delivered. I know, that's nuts and who doesn't love pizza... but I can not get enough SWEET PORK BURITTO!! I have actually driven to Costa Vida specifically to grab some Horchada drink too, it is authentically Mexican fermented milk drink that tastes like Chai. The saladas are amazing, the enchilada's are to die for, and the Tres Leches desert is delicious but must be shared, because its too big. read more

Stumbled upon this place randomly, while we were waiting for our cars to be detailed - and it was a pleasant surprise. Ordering was quick, and there is a great selection of mexican-ish quick bites to choose from - from enchiladas to burritos and salads. The meats and vegetables tasted fresh, and it looks like they make their own tortillas and such in house. Otherwise, the bathrooms are nice and clean, and parking is pretty easy to find. Overall, a great quick bite! Worth a visit. read more

The reviews on this place are legitimate. Had the sweet pork enchiladas with a buddy for lunch. Cost us $29 total ($15 each) and we should have ordered the small. The food is fresh, it is unique, the seating is accommodating and the guy running the place is great with people, was helpful and obviously loves Mexican food as much as I do. The only drawback is that I am going to pack on the weight here unless I seriously manage the portions I order because I just ate and I already can't wait to go back. Great job on the restaurant! read more

Just witnessed the tortilla boy pile cheese in his mouth while working, lick his fingers, then pick up the tortilla dough and start kneading my tortilla for my burrito! Gross gross gross! #walkaway read more

Love their food, but this is the second time someone has moved from cleaning to serving without washing their hands or changing gloves.

I love Costa Vida, and when I found out there was one here in Canada I was so happy. The food is delicious, and unlike Mucho Burrito has more flavour than spice. Seriously, I've yet to have something here I don't like. They are fast and efficient, the store is always clean, and they are always friendly. I don't like spicy and the mild sauce is perfect for my tastes. My personal favourite here is the grilled chicken nachos with guacamole on it. YUM! read more

Great healthy fresh food,and always lovely, energetic employees! Dine here often for Mexican! I love the enchiladas and house sauce! Mmm delicious! read more

I would give them a 10 STAR if it were possible! Food is delish! No surprises, once you go a few times you can easily pick your favorite meals...we would often go here as a family after a long day working at Showhome furniture (our business) IT WAS OUR KIDS FAVORITE CHOICE! The meals are pretty big and my kids could never eat one meal by themselves...I seriously love COSTA VIDA!!! read more

Craving something different give this place a try. This is fast food that does not come out of the fryer. The four stars is for a fast food comparison. You can get your burrito or taco any way you choose. Give the horchata try. read more

Great food.. didn't understand why there was reggae and Gordon Lightfood playing and management might entertain the idea of some traditional Mexican music. The food is great and the staff very friendly.. a definite go to place !! read more

Hey it's Mexican fast food! Great food and it is very clean and cute. They have very good gluten free options for my daughter. I love fast food places that sells beer. read more

Have had only take out. Sometimes the dishes are a bit cold by the time we got them, but that may just be due to our large order (for the whole office) and transport time. I really like the tacos, although they've never been very spicy. read more

The staff are friendly and the food is a great deal. Yum for the raspberry chicken salad..added steak! guacamole and Pico. .soo good with cilantro ranch read more

Very good food. Fresh, flavourful and prepared to order. Service can be slow (usually is). Prices higher than mucho burrito. Lost of landfill waste from food packaging - very 1980's yet to catch up with environmental norms. Want tasty food though this place is a fit read more

Food is great! A little over priced lunch shouldn't cost 16+ for a quesadilla, and drink. The only concern I have is when visiting last week they were changing the holding tanks that sit in the water to keep all the food warm. The holding tank has some build up in it and the girl placed it in the ledge letting the dirty water drink into the salsa and didn't take any notice. Kindof gross. read more

What an absolute disaster...where to begin. I ordered a "Vegetarian Quesadilla" tonight at 6 pm thinking it should be top quality given its dinner time on a Saturday night. Umm...not. First, there was no choice of the shell, regardless of the options given on the sign as they only had one available. Minor issue, shrugged it off. They gave my wife's burrito to the guy in front of us. Instead of chasing him down as he left (since he ordered a Quesadilla), they just made my wife another burrito. Weird poor service and order tracking. Questioning why I came here at this point but it gets better... So I watch as the cook flips my quesadilla over with no ingredients inside except cheese. She comes over and asks if I want beans and rice on the side? I indicate that I ordered a vegetarian quesadilla, not a cheese one. Her response was "it only has cheese, we don't have any vegetables here". What? She then asks if I want some and I say yes. She adds diced tomatoes and refried beans, both which were soaking in sauce. I pay, we leave and I know its going to be sogging pile of mush, which it was. But it gets better... So the only thing I hate worse than bad food is wasting food so I try to eat some. The rice on the side was dry and hard but about 10 bites I find something harder. I pull it out and it appears to be a bone chip. Could be a rock as well..not sure looking at it but whatever it is I could have broken a tooth. And if it is bone, where the heck did it come from with only beans and rice? We went here because my wife had a nice experience previously...must of gotten lucky. I've never done a yelp review (selfishly used other yelpers to help our choices though) but felt compelled to write this as soon as I dumped the food in the trash. There wasn't just a problem with the food quality, or ordering process, or the menu but pretty much everything went bad. This was one of the worst food experiences I've ever had and at this price, $9.99 for a cheese quesadilla with dry rice and bland beans on the side, I expected one of the best. Good luck eating there, if you dare. read more

Been here 8-10 times, it was much better and the food was fresher when it first opened. Quality has gone way down

Sorry folks, if you grew up on Tex-Mex in south Texas like I did, you wouldn't go near this place. The quality of their base ingredients is substandard, I assume they are all off the back of a Sysco truck. Even the black beans are off. I wont ramble on, thanks for reading. read more

We have tried a few of the Costa Vida locations and this one is our favorite. We appreciate the friendly service and follow up from staff walking the floor making sure you are happy and satisfied with your meal. Even though the meals are all standardized, we are always satisfied with this location as they are not stingy with their portions like the other locations and the cheerful service always makes our visits an enjoyable experience. read more

We're regulars there. Have tried different items on the menu and it is consistently good and filling. Very affordable too. Pleasant staff.

I pre-ordered a chicken quesadilla on the way to work a few days ago. I loved the convenience of ordering ahead, and thought it was delicious with lots of cheese and grilled chicken (the rice and beans - meh.) However, I was really disappointed to find that it didn't include salsa and sour cream, standard quesadilla condiments. You have to pay an additional 0.79 cents each for a very small portion. Please tell me this was a mistake. read more

Not bad for Mexican but it is quite expensive. Being ethnic as well we did expect more flavour in our meal. I don't think we'd be going back any time soon. Not comparable to Mucho Burrito. read more

Nice place with a clean and refreshing look. The food is definitely not authentic Mexican nor Mexican style, it's sweet meats enclosed in tortillas, quite awful really. Nice looking eatery, good service, bad food. 2 Stars. read more

So good. Freshly made tortillas right in front of you as you order. All fresh ingredients. Finally some good Mexican food in Calgary with big American sized portions! Would love it if they opened one downtown. read more

My friend and I went to Costa Vida on Cinco de Mayo for the first time. Everything was fresh and tasty but my only complaint would be the tortilla. I had the sweet pork salad which was wonderful-unfortunately the tortilla is on the bottom and it gets really soggy. Next time, I will have it separately. The place itself is bright and colorful. I expected Mexican music but it is more American than anything else so if you are expecting an "authentic" Mexican restaurant you will be sadly disappointed but if you want an interesting take on Mexican food, this is the pkace for you. read more

This so called "Mexican food" is by far the worst most disgraceful food I have EVER had in Calgary,not to mention the service was absolutely awful as well. The enchiladas are poorly put together and the quesadilla was a pathetic piece of pita bread with some soggy chicken on it, oh and the employees will be sure to let you know you're paying extra for the side of quac that's less than a teaspoon full. Might as well just go to taco time and save yourself some money. read more

This was our first time at Costa Vida and it was fantastic. The tortilla shells are fresh, the food going on the dishes was fresh, tasty, fast...it was just great. The fellows working there were stylish/smooth with the creation of the plates. We will definitely be going back! read more

This restaurant is amazing! I love Mexican food. This place rocks! The food portions were massive and the customer service is amazing too. Hopefully one day I will own this restaurant, if not I might go broke eating there. read more