Viva Mercado's Mexican Restaurant

08/02/2008 Posted by Spam06

After you get seated, server will bring you not only chips and salsa. They will also bring you the bean dip, and it is the greatest bean you can find in a restaurant. It tastes like a real home made bean. Food is awsome, good carne asada. Great service, clean, comfortable seating. I had a party of 20. The server was on top of it. I live in Cali, everytime I go to Vegas. I will stop by Viva Mercado's.

Cons: Don't have one in Cali

06/21/2008 Posted by robertallice

First time i went and maybe the last one,th chips and salsa are great they bring right away are fresh and delicious the bin dip are perfect,the busser ask me and bring my drinks ,at this point i don't have any idea who is my server.After several minutes he comes ,he is very rude and impatient .Every one in my table have questions about the menu and he only wanna take the order.When i ask about the steak borracho he just say they put tequila ???.We order margaritas and take forever and when finally i have my margarita come with salt and frozen (i hate frozen margaritas) the same happen with the food all wrong my steak is over cook (order rare). The server made me feel really uncornftable .I have a lot of recomendation about this place.One thing for sure you its not fair the food is amazing but their service is not up standars (when you have a really bad service you expect really bad food but is not). They have a young lady with yellow shirt ,if belives is the manager (she never came to the table if see a few times walking around but she don't have any idea what happend at the table ).The busser are great i unhappy with viva mercados i think lindo michoacan its the one if you don't belive me ask for my server (ALEX) and discover by yourself.

Pros: the Quality food

Cons: the poor service

03/08/2008 Posted by shey237

First of all let me start off by saying that because I am mexican, I have a hard time finding GOOD mexican food RESTAURANTS. There are always places you can go for tacos and quesadillas, but to find a place that cooks like grandma, well... that's just hard to find. And then I found Viva Mercado's. When you are seated they serve chips & dip. The salsa is very good. Not too hot. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw they had "nopales" (cactus) on the menu. --To those of you who have never had it. Give it a try. All my friends who have tried it there have liked it. They are grilled with onions and taste great. There are a lot of authentic things that are not on the menu at the regular mexican restaurants. So if you are the kind of person that always has the enchiladas, try something new. You wont be dissapointed. To start they serve a soup that everyone in Mexico has grown up with and it really does taste like mom's. Next, I had a chicken w/ poblano chiles in a cream sauce and it was so good. Again. I can't believe how much this taste like home. I've been there a few times, but so far that was my favorite dish. My husband always has to finish off with the bananas 43. We share it. It's a nice finish to a wonderful meal.

Pros: The quality of the food is not reflected in inflated prices.

Cons: I haven't tried the margaritas yet. It's on my to-do list.

02/21/2008 Posted by MelissaLF

Last night my husband and I got a chance to enjoy an evening out on the town which doesn't happen as often as we'd like, but when we do get a chance to enjoy a nice meal together we have high expectations. Not only did this restaurant meet our expectations; it exceeded them by far. When we walked in we were greeted immediately by a smile and a hostess who made us feel very welcome. There was live entertainment by a gentleman playing a guitar and singing Spanish music. Not only did he have an excellent voice; he made the ambiance even more inviting. We were seated at an oversized table and immediately greeted by our server who handed us a menu that took me almost ten minutes to read through completely. The selection seemed like it never stopped. While my husband narrowed down his dinner choices, I proceeded to order a pitcher of frozen strawberry Margaritas. Our server immediately asked us on our preference for tequila and narrowed it down by describing flavors and textures of the beverage. I found this to be highly out of the ordinary , but greatly appreciated. A few minutes after I placed our drink order another gentleman arrived with tortilla chips, and two kinds of dipping sauces. The bean dip is excellent! The maragaitas came shortly after the chips and were just perfect. Smooth, and not too strong, yet not too much mix either. We placed our meal order and to our amazement were served a cup of soup while we waited for our dinner. Again, the soup was simply perfect. As our meal arrived we realized we ate way too many chips. We were served portions that were quie a bit more than anticipated. I would highly recommend this restaurant and look forward to visiting again with family and friends. It's a great place to enjoy your company and a good meal for minimal cost. Our waiter's name was Carlos and eventhough he said he only works at the restaurant one night a week; if you're lucky to get him as your waiter, you'll be in good hands.

Pros: service, food and ambiance was excellent!!

Cons: the restaurant is dimly lit on the outside making it difficult to see

09/16/2007 Posted by traveller26

I was disturbed to read the last review. I have visited Vegas for many years and have frequented Viva Mercado's. The food is excellent, as was the service. The seafood parillada is one of my favorites. . It is amazing, talk about melting in your mouth. I have never had a bad experience and wonder if the person writing the scathing review was in the same restaurant or just has a bad attitude? The reputation of this place has brought many travellers (I am one of them) from far and wide and has an extensive local base as well. I really like the ambiance - when you leave you feel like you have just visited and tasted a little piece of Mexico. I will continue to visit - this is the best Mexican food that I have ever had, the fresh ingredients - and unique tasty recipes make it a sure winner!!! I would highly recommend it and do.

Pros: melt in your mouth food

Cons: none

08/21/2007 Posted by biljo

it says that the food is authentic but in reality it tastes like if everything came straight out of a can! The food does not taste fresh and it made me feel sick for hours after

Pros: there was A LOT to look at!!! can we say clusterf#$$?

Cons: the food was really bad. the salsa was good.

06/27/2007 Posted by eatdrinkrob

My family and I go here all the time. The food is great. I get nearly the same thing every time I go, a chile relleno & beef taco combo. The chile relleno is the best in the state. They use poblano chile's, which is the only chile to use if you ask me. The tacos are very tasty too. If your family is really hungry, try the queso fundido appetizer, its amazing!

Pros: exceptional chile relleno's

Cons: none

02/05/2007 Posted by ladylegs

I now live on the opposite side of town from this place, and I still drive all the way out there to go eat the BEST mexican food in this town! And dirty cheep, huge portions, good service, great staff... I could go on and on. Been dying for the new location to open up (hopefully March?)

Pros: yum yum yum yum

12/08/2006 Posted by jfnovak

Because I live in L.A., I had to choose a restaurant blindly for a family reunion/father-in-law's 75th birthday and am so pleased I chose this one. The staff was incredibly nice and courteous, even when I did a surprise drop-by before our reservation, just to make sure I'd picked an appropriate spot. The seating was perfect for a large family group with kids. Everyone raved about the food (and we're a SoCal group, so we've had great and authentic Mexican food), including my daughter, who doesn't do spicy. Her kid's taco was simple: tortilla, meat, cheese. The musician had a beautiful voice and wasn't overpowering, although he stood right next to our table. And talk about charming. Two different members of our party tried to tip him and he refused the second tip. The prices were completely reasonable for how great an experience we had. Six adults being served seemingly bottomless margaritas and everyone so full that even the big eaters left food on the plate. Six adults, three kids and the bill was $200 with tip. Overall, we had a great, great time. There are few restaurants in this world that I would visit again and again. I wish we actually lived in Vegas, so that we could make this a weekly tradition. I will definitely return and urge everyone to try this fantastic restaurant.

Pros: service, taste of food, environment, healthy options, value

Cons: can't think of one

10/23/2006 Posted by ejergens

The Tostada Aculpoco style was seriously killer!!! And of all the salsas I tried, I like the complimentary kind that come with the chips the most. I wish they didn't serve red corn chips. I hate that.

Pros: fresh and homemade

Cons: Red colored corn chips