La Buena Vida - Cary

My family and I tried La Buena Vida for this first time and we were very impressed and pleased. The food was great and the drink selection is really fun with an extensive menu with drawings of the drinks. Interesting names and glasses they serve them in makes it fun. Cora was our waitress and she was really great. Attentive, friendly, and detail oriented, really enjoyed her helping us! Very confident we will be back!

So I’m going to be as fair with this review as possible. The food is decent here and I will say management was extremely reasonable with the way things were handled, where I would come back. I got take out from this place a little bit ago and ordered a fair amount of food. I ordered the Chilaquiles. These were decent. Not the greatest presentation, and unfortunately they were soggy when I got to eat it (due to me doing take out) but again they were decent. I also got the Empanadas de Tinga, which were disappointing because of the amount of chicken you get with it, which was barely any. I could have imagined they would have been incredible had there been a normal amount of chicken in there. I also got the Enchiladas Verde, which also was an ok to good dish, it was a nice portion and the enchiladas were tasty. The best item that I ended up have by a mile was the Platano Rellano. This dish was outstanding, with the plantains which were cooked beautifully and the chicken and sauce on it was a dish I’ve never had before. I definitely would be ordering this again. Lastly, one dish I had to return was the steak tacos. Which all of this was ordered online and on toast, the photo of the steak tacos were completely different from the ones I received. All different ingredients and the amount of steak that came with it was again, barely any at all. Fortunately management rectified my refund for the steak tacos and even refunded the empanadas, which I didn’t say anything about because of the time it took to get the refund initiated.

Beautiful venue. I fell in love with the ambience. The food is deliciously authentic and the drinks look exactly as they do on the menu, and they were well made; not watered down. Friendly service, didnt take too long for order to arrive but we also went on a Wednesday night. The guac was better than Mi Cancun - can you believe that?! The steak tacos were perfect. I held onto 1 of 3 tacos just to savor it later bc it was so good. Bingo nights are on Fridays- I think I'm going to make this a regular spot for my Bingo nights simply bc the drinks were impressive and not crazy price considering the quality. Great for a date night or girls night!

I LOVE coming here. This is the spot I take out of town friends and family. It's fun, a vibe, fantastic drinks, shows if you order bottle service, good music, and incredible food. Dustin was my server tonight and I adore him. I ordered my husband the "golden shower" drink and Dustin poured it in his mouth and it was SO much fun.

I had seen the restaurant from the outside a while ago, and today my family and I decided to try it. It was the best decision. Of all the dishes we ate, I couldn't decide which one was the best. Every dish, every sauce, the dessert, and the best part, the service! Manuel served us; he was excellent with us, very attentive, gave us good recommendations, and was attentive at every moment.

Great food, drinks and service. Dishes are great size didn't expect a burrito to be a big size like we got. Birthday celebrations are well celebrated with the staff with drinks and a little cake. We really enjoyed dinning in.

Greyber was a great host! My husband was new to this place and he hooked us up! He told us about the horchata and it is 10/10 thee BEST horchata of my life. We loved the food and everything about the restaurant. The vibes were amazing and we had nothing but laughs 😝 the manager even gave us a free gift card!

Monday Margarita night....sooo cool & chill. Dancing with the Manager & Staff was everything. I absolutely love Viviana and Gabriel. This Saturday is about to be soooo fun, with full bar karaoke, where the whole place sings along. Thank you for a memorable night loves. XoXo LaLa 💋

I'd heard of this place but never visited the Cary location. I'm so glad I did. The staff and service were exceptional! The food was a bonus! Everything was delicious and left me wanting more!! The decor and art give this place a very upbeat and sensational vibe. I will definitely be back to try more drinks and more food. I started with the guacamole and birria roll apps from the lunch menu and had the Tiras de pollo which to me was the star of the show! P.S. Margarita Mondays mean house margs are on sale on Mondays!

This is a lively and vibrant restaurant, perfect for a fun night out. We visited on a Saturday evening and had a great time. The DJ started around 8 PM, adding a fantastic energy with music that kept the atmosphere upbeat. The Mexican food was delicious, with some unique and creative twists that added plenty of flair. We opted to sit at the bar since the restaurant was busy with large groups, likely due to holiday gatherings. The service was generally good, though a bit slow at times--but we didn't mind, as it gave us more time to enjoy the experience. For dessert, we tried the flan, which was an interesting take on the classic. It served and had a texture more akin to cheesecake and was topped with Fruity Pebbles for a fun twist. While it wasn't the traditional flan we expected, it was still enjoyable.

Nine of our family met to celebrate a birthday. A very pleasant atmosphere with adequate room for small or large number of patrons. We found the menu to offer dozens of options from sushi, chicken dishes, beef dishes, and fish. This made it an excellent choice since we had a wide variety of food preferences. We also brought a homemade dessert and they graciously provided serving items. The service was excellent, attentive but not overwhelming. Will definitely go again.

La Buena Vida has a vast menu with lots of options and selections. They have a very nice interior and vibes for a fun night out. I think the food was alright, but the drink menu and energy inside make up for it. I got some enchiladas and thought they were alright. They have these "shows" you can order, where the staff come out and do a dance to music and present several drinks to the table, it was really fun to watch, and I think it would be really fun for a special occasion. Overall, it was an interesting spot, I wouldn't come just for food though. I would come to have a good time and order some drinks.

The decor of this restaurant was so much fun! The vibes were lively and it almost felt like I was stepping into a dance bar. Service was relatively fast, especially given how busy they were. I got the chicken empanadas and the mole enchiladas. The empanadas were pretty good, it was your standard fried empanada. The mole enchilada was also just ok - my only complaint is about the multiples pieces of bones and cartilage I had to pick out. I'm giving this restaurant 4 stars instead of 3 because of how fun it was inside. I'd definitely come back for drinks with friends!

My boyfriend and I came in because I heard about this place from a coworker. The decor is very fancy, and it seems upscale as a result. The menus had really small font, and the restaurant was pretty dark. That might not be the best for people who can't see well. I ordered the platano relleno. It was good, very flavorful. The plantains were delicious, and I'm not sure what all was on top. I ate the whole plate clean. Our server was Viviana. She was pretty attentive and recommended a bacon-wrapped shrimp dish. Unfortunately, they didn't have it in stock anymore, which was disappointing. All in all, good experience. Food is a little pricey tho! But the quality is good. I think I still prefer Esmerelda Grill for more authentic and less expensive options.

I wanted to love it since I love the Raleigh location. The food consistently changes as does the customer service experience. Celebrated a birthday, party of 13 and all of us received our food at different times which sucked! The food presentation is always a hit, portions are just right and selection of food is good:

Great party atmosphere on a Saturday night. In house DJ played great up beat music to set the vibe. Birthday celebrations are definitely a hit! We had the guacamole which was excellent and very refreshing. The mango passion sushi roll was a wonderful! The agave chicken tacos had a great blend of ingredients with a perfect amount of char to the chicken. We will definitely return for the fun high energy experience!

Food is good and the drinks is spectacular Service is good as well, our server is pretty nice and friendly. Ambiance is nice as well.

This was our first time getting food from La Buena Vida even though we live close by. We got take out food. All was delicious and well made. We look forward to going back and having a meal there.

The drink menu is great. Try the La Tóxica. This is a great place for groups and celebrations as well as a date night.

Our experience dining at this restaurant wasn't exactly what we expected...The waitress was rude and not knowledgeable. When I asked if they can substitute a grilled shrimp with a boiled one, which was also on the menu, she said of course NOT! But then the manager came and said that of course they can. I guess the waitress was just too lazy to go and ask the cook. The food didn't taste that great, the portions were small. The silverware was old and dirty as well as the menus. The design was okay but not great. The advertisement of this place was more attractive than this place in reality.

At first I was super sad to see that Topopos wasn't here anymore but then we tried La Buena Vida and it was great! I thought the decor was fun before but I love what they've done with the place now. It looks like it was decorated by Justina Blakeney of Jungalow. I loved the music videos on the screens throughout as well. Oh, and the food and drink - fantastic! The manager came by our table to ask how everything was going and seemed genuinely interested in our impressions. Can't wait to go back!

This evening was our first time visiting. Not your typical Mexican food restaurant. No chips and salsa to start unless they are ordered hence the order of nachos. The service was good but they seem to try too hard. The decorations are cute but just not enough to encourage me to go back to this restaurant. Especially when the tip is part of one's bill and not my choice on what I want to give.

Food was great with good portion size for the price. Love the atmosphere as well it's like dinner and a show !

3-4 stars for the food and drinks, but 5 stars for the experience. It's a fun place for parties, but the food can be good or average depending what you order.

The service was amazing. Food was even better. The atmosphere & vibe is very warming.

La Buena Vida is located in the space that was formerly occupied by Totopos and Chili's. The service started off slow but was good afterwards, I did see two tables walk out because of that. To start it was a Modelo then a top shelf margarita for me, a house margarita for my husband and an order of the queso dip to split. For food it was the chicken agave tacos for me and the fried avocado tacos for my husband. The top shelf margarita was not worth it for the price, the citrus mix was not fresh. I would recommend sticking to the house. The queso dip was small and I wish that we got complimentary salsa. The chicken agave tacos were really good but had a kick and the fried avocado tacos were just okay. We did feel like we were at the club so did not enjoy that. The music was bumping and the servers were walking around in all black with ear pieces. This space seems more focused on the social media experience.

Not a fan of the chips but the queso was outstanding. The Agave chicken tacos were pretty good and my husband loved the trio enchiladas. Service was excellent. A little loud with the music but overall good. We will go back!

Their flan is very dry and bland when I tasted it. I told the waiter it had a dry texture and very bland (they just added condensed milk and cream all over it but the flan itself is dry and bland) but he said I can't return if I have tasted it already. How will I know that it was not good if I haven't tasted it? Ridiculous right? I said, maybe i can just have another dessert and pay the difference but the waiter said no i can't do that. I just left because he insisted that the flan was good even if it was very dry. It was even flat. They also released fog almost every 5 minutes and music is loud.

It was a vibe, went for my birthday. They seemed to be overly concerned with leaving tables open for potential guests that weren't even there. But our waiter was great! And that lobster ravioli

Food was a solid 9.5/10 literally hit the spot but atmosphere gives off a good aura. But a bit noisy but I ain't trippen tho, the food made up for it.

My first experience at the viral la beuna Vida restaurant it was great. I'm not much for crowds and things so the Cary location on a Sunday was awesome! Not much of a crowd and great food with amazing drinks.

We came here for our granddaughters graduation after lunch gathering. There was only 4 of us at the table. The food was good but it came out in staggered shifts. They took 15 minutes to finally get all of us served. My biggest complaint was that the server only showed up once with a thumbs up on how the food was but didn't say a word. We only had 4 people at our table but included a 18% tip to our bill. Really!! NOT that great of service and automatically expected to pay 18% for just 4 people at our table?? Not sure we will come back.

Service was very good. Delicious food, fun cocktails, and party vibes! We would definitely come back.

Guac, beans & rice were all was too spicey. Told waiter about food allergies & were served items containing those allergens. Staff needs to make conscious effort to listen to customers. Quesadilla was delicious and huge!

First check in and dinner here. Lovely evening, excellent staff. Yummy food and drinks. Thank you so much, Roberto!

First time visiting the Cary location. Food and drinks both great. Great music and atmosphere! Entertainment seemed to be a bit toned down when comparing to the Raleigh location.

I don't know why the reviews are relatively low but the food, service, ambiance, and did I mention the food are all amazing. They did a great job here. The food was so fresh and tasted like scratch made recipes. Great job with this place. Cary needs this place and I hope more people will go here and keep this pace not only in business but thriving.

Excellent food, reasonable prices, fun decor/vibe. What more could you ask for? Just be aware it's on the loud side.

The Sangria here is amazing! It's our third time ordering and it's stellar every time. IMHO, it rivals the well known Sangria at The Columbia Restaurant in St. Armands Circle, Sarasota, Fla. Not to mention the great price here! Our third visit to this new restaurant will definitely bring us back again.

Delicious food. Fun and happy place I will be going back again soon. Loved the steak tacos.

Enjoyed my first visit to La Buena Vida since opening in Cary. Bernice, our server, was so helpful finding my husband a paper version of the menu when he couldn't get the online menu to work on his phone. Service was great. If you really want to experience the ambiance, I suggest making a dinner reservation for 8:00 so you are enjoying drinks and appetizers when the fun starts at 8:30. I recommend the al pastor tacos!

The food was terrible I would never go back It was my bday and they recommended snapper it was the bottom fish it was tough and nasty

Let's begin with the service... Roberto isn't just the face of La Buena Vida, he might be my new best friend! He was amazing and created a customer for life. The food? We were there for nearly 3 hours and while the company certainly part of the enjoyment, the staff and atmosphere were an addition! Highly recommend this place! Just make sure to ask for Roberto!

Had an amazing experience here! I came to celebrate my sisters birthday with my family and we all had a great time. The drinks and carne asada are amazing!

La Buena Vida replaced Totopos in Cary. The ambience is upscale and very cute. They had amazing music videos playing in the screen. On a weeknight, the music was not too loud and we were able to carry on our conversations. Our food was pretty good, especially the Birria Rolls and ACP. The Churros was alright but the presentation was cool tho. We were a table of 3 people and they automatically added an 18% gratuity to our bill. That was odd and new since that's usually done with a large table. I'd like to come back again on a weekend and see the vibe. It's awesome to have a lively place in good old Cary.

The ambience and vibe were awesome - very well decorated place, great music, birthday celebrations are fun. Was a bit loud, so you'll have to talk loud if you're having a conversation. Super creative drink menu. The service was also good , although our food came out a bit staggered. The food was very mediocre - not really anything super special - a bit bland to be honest. I would go back if a group of friends wanted to have a good time, but I don't think we would really go back specifically for the food. Still excited to have a little posh place in Cary!

Reserved this Cary location for my birthday. I had experienced the Raleigh location for a previous birthday (great experience!) Party of 6 reservations for 8:00...hostess first told us we couldn't sit until all of our party was there...ok so my party was there by 8:05...then she said they were running behind on reservations & they will sit us as soon as some ppl started clearing out. 9:05...they took us to a table. 1 hour later! So unprofessional! No apology, they didn't even offer us a drink while we waited. 1 of my guests left while we waited the hour bc they were taking too long. I love celebrating my birthday but I hate a bad experience that I have no control of. I will have to stick to the Raleigh location whenever I want La Buena Vida again

To start, food was pretty good. Nothing to really complain about there other than the queso dip was a little spicier than needed. And having tk pay for chips and salsa. The big complaint? We were there at 5pm on a Saturday evening and the music was insanely loud. Like nightclub loud. Like the waitress had to lean into my ear and scream to be heard. I could feel the bass in my chest. At 5pm, it was wholly unnecessary. Turn the music up at 8. Before then, could I just have a conversation with my table mates? Also, we asked for milk for our kids to drink. Waitress said sure - they were $5 A PIECE when we got the bill. I wish she would have let us know. Two entrees, two kids meals, a queso and a margarita ended up being $115 with tip. Expensive is fine but it seemed excessive. I know they have a kids menu, but not a family friendly place in the least bit. Maybe that's what they're going for? In a former Chili's in suburban Cary, it seems like a weird choice. Stay away if you have kids.

Literally my first time at this place and if anyone was excited to come, it was ME!!! The place was mad lit and the food was actually not bad, but when I tell you the service was GARBAGEEEEE. Pure nasty waste trash can garbage. It just seemed like the staff was more worried about "turning up" than actually making sure their guest was happy. I came with my friend and family. My FOUR YEAR OLD SON who got a pepperoni pizza, was the very LAST person to receive his meal. They kept trying to say because it was "busy" and "the food comes out made to order"???? So why was a kids pepperoni RED BARON pizza the LAST to come out??? Then when we complained, my guest who also got her food the same time as the pizza (basically an hour and a half later from everyone else getting food) the manager decides to comp my son's food and my aunt's food which she didn't like but her food wasn't even delayed. All around poor management in my opinion based on a former hospitality manager. Really wanted to have the La Buena Vida experience but the service was so bad, if food is too hard to push out. Just make it a bar

Great ambience, food and drinks!! Enchiladas, salsa trio, and mango drink alot of fun. Thanks great experience.

This is not your parents Mexican restaurant. it's more high end, cleaner, more waiters (wearing sanitary gloves) and no free chips or dips. we had a party of six adults on a Saturday night around 5:00 PM. we were seated immediately and ordered at a good pace. We did order chips and salsa as an appetizer. it came quickly although the quantity was less than we expected. We all ordered entrees. The entrees came out individually over a ten minute stretch. A little unusual and somewhat inconvenient. However, we contributed this to preparing each entree individually. The food was tasty and everyone in the party was happy with both quantity and taste. one aside, the dinner menu does not allow for ground beef, was told that was only available at lunch. S steak it was. This made things a little more expensive but not terrible. I would rank this about a 3.75. Atmosp was great and the mixed drinks looked coole and expensive. Sodas came in tall and skinny 8 ounce glasses. A little strange.

Bad experience. No menus. They finally brought us an old menu, however some pages were missing. Food was NOT good. Very expensive. We will not be going back to this new restaurant.

The food is amazing! This place is so fun if you love music and lively. Go get the skinny margarita or Bath Tub. Service is top notch. Great place to celebrate your birthday!

Hidden gem for lunch! The current $6.99 lunch special is delicious and a generous serving. Our server Maria was attentive and so professional!

The drinks were fantastic, but all of our food came out at completely different times. They let us know food would take a while when we ordered, but one us had their order come out 5 minutes later. 15 minutes later two of our orders came out. Then 30 minutes later my husband finally got his. The service was great, but someone comes by to talk to you every couple minutes which was a bit much and not one of those servers apologized for the food. When my husband asked about where his food was he was blown off. It was actually kind of funny because they said "Octopus takes a while to cook" but then after my husband got his food they cooked octopus at another group's table by lighting it on fire there soooo....idk maybe it was already cooked before lit it on fire lol. Atmosphere is awesome though!

This place was great!!! Service food and drinks was amazing. Definitely a great vibe. Party time. Great for birthday parties. Bridal parties or just living life. I highly recommend

This place was an EXPERIENCE. The food is amazing as well as the atmosphere. There are multiple shows like live music and all shots and some food come with a show. After around 8 it is very much club vibes with loud music but the music is good just be prepared for it to be loud at times! Our serve German was very helpful and fun. Overall such a good time unlike any other place in Cary!