Por Vida Mezcal & Mexican

The atmosphere at the restaurant was nice, creating a cozy ambiance on the heated patio. However, the service and food quality were disappointing. We arrived as a group of four at 8:15 on a Monday and were seated within 5 minutes. I decided to try the all-you-can-eat tacos, while my friends ordered various entrees. Our fifth member joined us around 9:00, at which point only my first order of two tiny tacos had arrived, while the rest of us had been waiting for almost 45 minutes with just drinks, chips, and guacamole. The slow service caused confusion when our late-arriving friend saw that I had finished my tacos and thought we had all eaten. For the next 10 minutes, we tried to explain that no one had received their food except for me cause he didn’t believe the service was that slow! Eventually, I got my second round of tacos, and everyone except one person received their entrees. Unfortunately, the missing entree belonged to one of us who had arrived at 8:15. Time passed and everyone was eating their food but still we had one entree missing, at this point the wait was so long that the friend with the missing entree chose to cancel it. The server apologized and agreed to cancel the order. We had specific dietary requests at our table: one person is gluten-free (no problem, as the tortillas are corn); one dislikes tomatoes (no pico); one doesn't like cilantro; and one is lactose intolerant (no crema). Despite these requests, the kitchen made several mistakes. My tacos arrived with cilantro, which I asked to be fixed. They returned with cilantro simply picked off, which was still visible and unappetizing to me. The gluten-free guest, who also does not drink alcohol, received a mango margarita instead of the non-alcoholic mango drink he ordered (they removed this from the bill). The guest who dislikes tomatoes received carne asada tacos with no pico and avocado on the side, which was not requested like that but wasn't a major issue. Lastly, the lactose-intolerant guest received a bowl with no crema or cheese, but the pico de gallo was forgotten, leaving him with an unappealing and dry dish of rice, steak, avocado, and greens that he barely touched. After waiting for what felt like an unreasonable amount of time and with one friend’s meal still missing, the lactose-intolerant guest and his girlfriend, (the one who had cancelled her entree), decided to leave and get McDonald’s from around the corner. This was particularly disappointing since we had not all been together in over a year and a half and had hoped for a nice, enjoyable dinner. To make matters worse, we were charged for the canceled entree. We only found out after paying ! Overall, the experience was frustrating and marred what should have been a joyful reunion.

Great interior and great food. The server was amazing and provided multiple options for someone who was gluten free. We had the tacos as well as the bowls, which were amazing!