We went on a Tuesday night for "Taco Tuesday" We had planned a double date since we figured it would be a lively place for food and music. I've actually come here quite a bit but not on Taco Tuesday. We got there around 9. Waited in line for about 15min. We requested a seat near one of the fireplaces but all were reserved for bottle service of course. Got to our table and the waitress was very nonchalant, not much personality and not very friendly. We ordered our drinks and food. The food took a really long time. Every time we'd order another round of drinks, seemed as if she was being bothered. The vibe we got was a much younger, cool crowd and we caught her talking and talking with her regulars that got bottles as we'd wait for drinks or food. I feel as if because we weren't getting bottle service then we were treated differently. The food was ok. Didn't really care for the fish tacos and the fajitas tasted bland. The place itself is really nice, very cool ambience. I'd only recommend to go if your in a big group ready to party and ordering bottle service. More of a social club then good food or service. read more

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La Vida is basically an outdoor bar. An awesome lively place, it's preferably not a place you want to take a family, at least in the evenings. People are DRANKING, music is playing, it's a vibe. Most of the seating is outdoors beneath these straw umbrellas, plenty of tables. There's a few fire pits, good music and string lights everywhere --great place to go for a good time. Drinks 5/5 the margs are good and we're just strong enough. The pineapple jalapeño had bits of pineapples that were fun to drink, the spice in it was a good kick. I didn't have food but my friends said it was mid. Service was nice but don't expect it to be as attentive as a regular restaurant-- this is pretty much a bar. There's a 2 hour limit and they do enforce this. We came on a Tuesday night for $3 taco Tuesday at 830pm. There's a roped off line for general admission. It was a 5 minute wait to get seated for 3 people. They checked our ID's and looked inside our bags. There's a free parking garage, drive up to the second floor until you see La Vida on the walls and that's the entrance that leads right to the restaurant. read more

La Vida Cantina - House marg and jalapeño pineapple marg GOOD - Mexican Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

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It was a nice spot to have dinner with friends/couples for my birthday. Saturday before my bday and surprisingly not busy. Unfortunately no DJ for the night because he cancelled. If you are looking for a lounge type spot with a DJ, call to confirm they will have one. Otherwise. Nice little spot! read more

I went there with my son to celebrate,, the place was slow with only couple people in the bar we ordered two drinks on the rocks and nachos for appetizer . $ 62 dollars later for two drinks and 1 appetizer seems pretty expensive. When I got the check I realized that they charge for everything. 3 dollar for a side of salsa 3 dollars for jalapeños and 4 dollars for ice plus 4 dollars for service charge . I will never going back and definitely not recommend to any of my friends. After that I was hesitate to ask for limes or water . read more

Boy has service gone seriously downhill here. The hostess is just nasty as hell too. I guess it's fun to be rude to customers yay. The food here is just ok. This has never been a dining destination. The lure has always been meeting people and mingling in the scene. The scene has moved on though. I noticed they've got a crowd but it's not the Newport crowd anymore. Food wise- their brunch is ok. Nobody is going to rave about their dishes but they're not going to toss it in the garbage either. You'll be safe ordering the eggs or a cheese enchilada. I'm on the hunt for a new restaurant near the house with a patio. What a shame this place has gone so downhill. read more

Very good service + good chips and salsa!!! Ambiance is very good, more of a drinking scene to catch up with friends. Would recommend & visit again! read more

Love the pomegranate Marita's and the chille verde is amazing, favorite roof top bar.

The food is ok but the outdoor umbrella is no good its red and it ruins everything all you see is red! It ruins all the pictures we took! read more

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Ash gave us the best bottle service experience... QUEEEEEN love her . Bottle good chasers good refills good A+

Came here for my birthday deep house brunch. I totally forgot the name of our waitress but she had lots of tats and fuchsia colored hair. She really made my birthday special She was prompt and had perfect service considering they were slammed. The food was good the drinks were tasty and the music was lit. Also the manager I believe who took my reservation was pleasant. The staff is legit. read more

La Vida Cantina - Mexican Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

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The place is prefect for a friend outing, and it has become my go-to place for Taco Tuesday. Ambience: 10/10 Spacious, nicely designed and decorated. I love the fire places and the outdoor area. The inside turns into a small "club" after 10pm and we love that! Food: 10/10 The taco/drink deals are great on Tuesday/Thursday, and their tacos are so so addictive!! I did not even like crispy tacos before but this place changed my mind! Now I am here every week for their Crispy tacos and mahi mahi tacos! Drinks here are great too! The margaritas is strong and not watered down. Service: 6.5/10 I have to say that the service here is not the best. We have occurred some bad service for some of the time we had been here unfortunately. On our last hangout, our waiter messed up our ordered twice and did not bring us any utensils (until we let us know). It is almost impossible to get their attention (Understandable though as it was busy), but we felt a little let down because of this. read more

Had a great experience . Our service was top notch with our server Ash. Will definitely be coming back read more

La Vida Cantina - Mexican Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

Ashley is AMAZING! Ask for her and you'll have a great experience! We came for dinner and she made it overall amazing.

Great food, strong drink. I got the Al pastor quesadilla and it was sick. Definitely go with the double shots for drinks and you'll be on ur ass in no time! Ashley and her trainee were both amazing! read more

This place is amazing! Ashley is the best! Order the tocos and there margs it's are fire

Wish I could leave 0/5 star review for our experience tonight but it's not possible. This is for our server Sergio who provided lazy, mediocre service and yet included 20% gratuity for himself. This is my 3rd time coming here and all the other times I've come I've had great experiences. Yet, this was by far THE WORST SERVICE IVE EVER HAD (and before you come for me, I'm a cocktail server myself in Newport Beach and understand good customer service). We had reservations for our birthday girl and came a little before 11pm. Wasn't that busy either. Our hostess was kind and seated us at a table. We waited 30min for our "server" to come greet us. Unfortunately we got stuck with our server due to assigned sections. The other server we talked to was great and seemed very sweet. Never got her name but she was blonde and we watched her hustling all night. We had to flag him down both times to order our drinks and food. We ordered bottle service and only then did our "server" care to come check on us and ask if we're doing good but even then, forgot to grab our round of water and had to ask for again (glass bottles we were charged $5.95 each by the way). He poured us the first round of shots but that was it. On a $546 bill we'd expect to receive at least decent service but nope. He didn't care to give good service knowing he was going to be tipped out 20% automatically and left early too. The epitome of laziness. Everyone else was great though. I talked to a barback (wish I got his name too) who kept it real and explained the reason we got charged 20% gratuity for bottle service. Erika the security was also super cool and helpful. This place is fun and had good vibes. Good music. Food was decent. However, I will not be coming back here due to bad service. read more

La Vida Cantina - 20% gratuity charged for crappy service - Mexican Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

I have heard so much about this place and seen countless photos and videos of la vida being the "it place" to party. I finally gave them a try but didn't want to deal with a huge/ crazy crowd and swamped servers. So me and my gf met up on Taco Tuesday for happy hour at 4. This is probably the best time to avoid crowds on a taco Tuesday night because it was mellow and our bartender was super attentive. Happy hour and taco Tuesday deals are pretty solid here. I do find this spot to be more of a fun place to vibe, get drinks, watch a game, etc. The food was good for happy hour and drinks not too strong but done well. Service got a little sketch towards the end when the crowd started to seep in but overall a fun spot in the OC. read more

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We had dinner here before going out to Time nightclub downstairs. We all wanted different entrees and Ash, our server, gave us great recommendations of the Birria quesadilla and chicken nacho's. Would definitely come back here again just to hang out and have drinks and the great service! read more

I love my serve Ashley she's the absolute best!!! Made my birthday so much fun! The food is literally the best and the drinks are AMAZING!

Amazing food and service the drinks are delicious and fairly priced Ray And Jose were really helpful and offered great recommendations and just overall amazing vibes read more

Well we had read about this place as being #1 for Happy hour & bar hang in the OC Register. Made a reservation, however...Rod our server was not really stretched thin, just appeared to be annoyed to be a server. We ordered some tacos and Margaritas, but the menus being a tad confusing we asked for further clarification questions...It did not appear he was happy with this "normal" customer interaction. OK, but beyond that initial we had to ask and re ask reminders for spoons, napkins, etc. Got thru everything but ordered the last margarita 3-4 minutes after happy hour, so the bill came charging full price for a small margarita. Asked for it to be $7 like the other 3 and the manager came over and simply said nope, it's posted everwhere... OK, but we ordered just a few minutes late and it came 15 minutes later...Her response was too bad, want to watch the video of when we ordered? WOW, Just WOW. OK then, way to take care of a couple whom just spent $80 bucks on 4 margaritas and 4 tacos. Bottom line, it should not be named best Happy Hour, because right below is Yard House with a much better one! Food was a 4 out of 10, small street tacos and barely worth the "happy hour" price. Also service was not anywhere near what you would expect at a place named best! So 2 customers will not be going back there and it's their loss over $7, slow service, sub par food. read more

I'm conflicted but overall, 3 stars. If you're Latino and have expectations on Latin food, chances are you won't be as impressed, I wasn't at least. I can only speak for the chilequiles plate. The chilequiles were adequate. 7/10 not the best I've had but not the worst. The chicken 6/10, a little dry. My issue is w the potato's and beans... they were not the best at all. Potato's were dry and the beans had no taste. If you're coming for drinks this is a really dope place. I enjoyed the vibe, music, and drinks! It's a really good place for drinks but I based my experience / food off a very simple Latin plate as a result, I wouldn't recommend the food as much. The picture of my food was right before I left... I'm a pretty big guy and I eat like a tank. As you can see in the picture, I barely touched my food. Gave it an extra star due to the ambiance and drinks but food was not good and our server wasn't as attentive read more

La Vida Cantina - My food when I left. I barely touched it. Wasn't great. - Mexican Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

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We decided to go to La Vida Cantina for Taco Tuesday during lunch. We were quickly seated at the bar and our bartender/server gave excellent service by regularly checking on us. The margarita was just the way my husband likes it - not too sweet. The warm chips came with tasty salsa. The potato tacos were good, but they needed more salt. Unfortunately, the mahi tacos were overcooked and lacking in flavor. Overall, this restaurant is better enjoyed in the evening, but it needs a thorough cleaning from the floors to the walls. read more

La Vida Cantina - Soft Taco Mahi - Mexican Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

Our family had an awesome time!! We came out for Brunch and Ashley insured she we had a GREAT time! Definitely will be recommending and coming back! Thank you for making it an experience for us Ash! read more

Group of 9 came here for a 21st birthday. The food was delicious, but unfortunately the service was not attentive and felt very disorganized. I ordered the birria tacos and I was given the wrong order. We had to request warm tortillas 3x before we got anything and it took over 20 minutes which kind of killed the vibe. read more

Great customer service by Ash! Food was great, service topped it.would def be coming back, thank you Ashhhhh!

I love this place it is so awesome and the bartender GIgi is the best. She always makes you feel welcome and will be on top of your orders regardless if she has a full bar and she's the only one. I came by today to have some food with some coworkers and she was not here. However, her coworker Jasmine is here and she is such a beautiful soul. She is also providing the best customer service a customer can have. I hope this business knows how valuable their employees really are because they are who make the customers come back or never want to come back. Thank you lovely ladies. read more

La Vida Cantina - Beef & Chicken Taquitos. - Mexican Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

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Came here on a Thursday night and it wasn't as packed as I thought It would be It was sprinkling a little bit so I'm happy we got a table by the fire place it was so cozy! Our server Sergio really went above and beyond to make sure we were taken care of & made sure we had some shots or water lol Food was good I got steak & shrimp fajitas and the meat so goooood & tender The drinks are good too I loveee my mango Margaritas! Again, thank you Sergio for taking care of us! read more

La Vida Cantina - Selfie!! - Mexican Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

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We had reservation for our office event with 15 people here at noon on Friday. When checked in, we were told "Ok, go ahead and find a table." Say what, aren't you supposed to have it ready for us? From 12:00 to around 1:30 pm, we were the only one table in the whole restaurant. Service was super slow. We sat outside so it was a bit chilly. I ordered albondigas soup as an appetizer, it took forever and the when soup finally came out, it was luke warm and the meatballs were not fully cooked. It took a very long time for the rest of our group to get our foods. Couldn't flag anyone down. When I finally got a hold of one of the waiters, he said he'll have the kitchen fix the soup and will bring it back. Well, you guess it right. I waited and waited and waited but never saw the soup again. I also ordered the carne asada platter. Told the server I wanted black beans instead of refried beans. When the order was brought out, it came with refried beans instead of black beans, and the carne asada did not taste good, The meat was tough and lacked of flavor. It did not taste as the typical carne asada. We also ordered a few dessert at the end, which took more than 45 minutes to receive. We ended spending 3 hours for lunch here. Slowest lunch spot ever! Apparently, they are not used to serve lunch here. We thought they maybe more of a hang out & happy hour joint? Too bad. We won't be back. Foods were not great and service was super slow, even with just our table and later on, 3 more tables (with 2-3 guests each by the time we left) in the whole restaurant. :( read more

For a Sunday if you want to have a beer a chill out in the open this spot is cool I just came for the drink so I can't really comment on the food the but the bar has a chill vibe read more

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I came to have dinner and drinks with the girls before going to time nightclub. All the food and margaritas were absolutely delicious, shout out to the kitchen! Ask for Ash as a server! She made great recommendations. Will be coming back here again! 10/10! read more

Came for dinner and ash was awesome! She gave us a good food recommendation and was really accommodating. Cant wait to come back!

Ash was very attentive and made sure that we were having a good time (: i got the breakfast burrito and i would rate it a 8/10.

Ash gave Amazing service!!! so kind and food was delicious and quick!! great music also

I had so much fun here !! The food is amazing and our waitress Ash was so wonderful. She attended us with so much grace and made our experience here so fun! read more

Went for an outing with Friends. They sat us down right away. Sergio our server was incredible. He made our evening better with his drink suggestions and kindness. He kept checking in on us even when they were busy with a large crowd watching a sporting event. The drinks are absolutely delicious. The chips and Salsa too. Food is good, nothing out of the ordinary. Prices are a little high but it's a good place to hang out. read more

I think this was an off day for them but this was also my first time here. The inside was so hot and almost unbearable if I didn't keep getting up to move. The shade/blinds were broken so we couldn't close it. So if you have a choice please sit outside! Our drink order was taken and it took forever to get them/had to re-order. Also took a long time for someone to come and take our food order too. I ordered the steak and eggs and it was alright. After sitting for over a hour I just wanted to go outside because it was 100% cooler. read more

I came here for my friend's birthday and wasn't planning on eating but as I consumed more and more alcohol I decided I should eat something. I ordered the carnitas plate and it was delicious. Drinks were great. Service was mixed, depending on the person. Nice environment. Would come back. read more

Been coming here for years, but came here for my besties birthday and Ashely was very attentive, and had the best energy! I forgot how fun it is here on taco Tuesday! read more

Great tacos. Will definitely be back ! Had Sergio as our server , and he provided great drink recommendations and great service ! :)