La Buena Vida Mexican Restaurant

Truly the most unappealing Mexican food I have ever had. I stopped by late in the evening so I ordered food to go. I ordered the combination chicken enchilada with green salsa and cheese chile relleno. The enchilada was dry (no green salsa as requested) but not too bad. The chile relleno was so gross it was not even edible. It was a chile (no batter coating, as is typical) with barely melted, greasy cheese and a disgusting, lumpy queso. I've really never seen a chile relleno like this. On top of that, although my order was to go, I was not given a napkin or utensils to eat it with. (Good thing my hotel could provide a fork.)

First time visit 4/26. Wonderful restaurant. Menu has a large selection of gluten free. Staff is great as is the manager. Manager refilled our drinks. Food was filled with flavor. Prices very reasonable.

Our server Lilly was incredible! The whole staff anticipated all of mine and my husband's needs and were very attentive, without being invasive! The food was incredible and the atmosphere was very cute and fun! It's been a long time since I have had such a pleasant experience going out to eat!

Depending on what you get, this place isn't so bad. I didn't give the full five starts because I could taste the dirty Fort Collins water on my lettuce. I went back the next day for ceviche and it tasted of dirty water too. I think if they just took the time to dry it, then it would raise the value of the food. Other than that, the food isn't too bad here. I always love beans. The seafood chile relleno didn't have much meat but the cheese was still good. I also got sopapillas but they arrived flat to my hotel. Maybe fresh they are tastier?

First time, and the staff was wonderful, the food was amazing. Our Server had gratuity added automatically because we were a large party, which was great to see. I think it's a total green flag when a company makes sure their people are compensated for their skills. We will be back!!

Great Food, Great Beverages, and a Huge Patio! The Service has always been first rate. We love this place! It's not for the budget minded, unless you hit Happy Hour, but we'll worth the price in our humble opinion. Pura Vida 😁

Very impressed with my food, drinks, and service! The restaurant had a 30 min wait when I arrived, very busy! This was a solo business trip dinner, so I got a seat at the bar. Ordered the carnitas street tacos, served with refried black beans and fresh guacamole. I also had complimentary chips and 2 delicious salsas! Sooo good! Two for one house margaritas for Thursday Ladies Night, and they were cringingly strong and delish (only $10!) Tacos dinner was $18. Nice atmosphere here and service was excellent from all staff. Highly recommend.

Absolutely delicious! We were looking for a late dinner on a Tuesday night when we came across this place. There was less than an hour until closing, but it didn't take anything away from the quality of the food or service at all. The flavors were bold, unique and FRESH!! We will definitely be going back to try the other menu items.

First time dining here and I now understand the crowds I always observe as I drive by. The menu selection and taste remind me of the Rio with a subtle advantage on quality. We will be back!

We always end our trip visiting our daughter at La Buena Vida. Love their Chile Rellenos. The poblano cream sauce is so good.

Eat here about every week. Love the carne asada, the chile relleno, and the mole here. It a great place with the best margs in town. Get the La Buena Vida margs - they don't disappoint. It's better than the place in old town that get all of the lip service.

What I thought was gonna be a great meal turned out to be quite sad. First off, the food is way too expensive for the portion you get. Second, the food is really not that good. My sister got the quesadilla, which was like $16 and got 3 small pieces. And they charged an extra $3.50 for sour cream.

The food is wonderful-especially the molè. I REALLY wish they would turn the music down. It's far too loud every time I've been. Even with the place half full over lunch hour it's hard to have a conversation.

AMAZING!! The best Mexican food I've had in a while. Delicious all around from the Chips & salsa, meal and margaritas. I wish I lived in Fort Collins so that I could go here every weekend. Lots of seating inside and great space and the servers were great as well. Trying to go back ASAP.

Good place for intimate conversations, High back booths give fine privacy and easy conversations, but not a typical party atmosphere. Charming fun staff make dining fun. I had me some shrimp chili rellenos, They have the best tasting, chewy stringy cheese, and delicious sauce, but can't say I ever found the shrimp. Very delicious overall! The order of Guacamole was huge, and had real solid advacado chunks, that were deliciously fresh.

This is the best Mexican food I have ever eaten! Made from scratch and sooo good! Best Margarita and chips and salsa!

This place is walking distance from my house. I heard it had great margaritas, sadly that is not the case. I have never wanted to send a margarita back, but I did with this one, instead I just asked for some lime wedges to try and make it better myself. It was so sweet, a gross kind of sweet that is hard to describe. I love real homemade margaritas and this place says that they are but yuck, it was the worst marg I've ever had. Now let's talk about the food, I had the soup and a street taco. The soup was just weird, it had a decent flavor but there was nothing but these weird French fry type things in it. The carnitas in the taco was very dry. My date had fajitas, I had a couple of bites, they tasted like they had Kroger's generic taco seasoning poured all over the contents. The service was not great - not particularly friendly and forgot things we asked for. I will not be back.

Had a wonderful lunch here for my birthday. My friend and I both chose the three taco plate. The tacos were street taco size with generous portions of chicken, beef, shrimp. We tried all but the shrimp. a side of black beans with a small amount of cheese and a side of rice. Everything was quite tasty. I had a margarita to celebrate as my friend was driving, good that she was as they are generous with the tequila! I was given the choice of a dish of ice cream or a shot of tequila for my birthday, which was certainly nice! Enjoyed the ambience, the service was great and despite being quite busy our server was very attentive and the the food arrived quickly at just the right temperature. ! I highly recommend giving this place a try. You won't be disappointed! I'm going back to try the chili rellenos! It was hard to choose from all the tasty choices!

Our Fort Collins favorite for Mexican! Great food, wonderful margs. Ladies night Thursdays two for one! Excellent service, seating outside for nice weather days. Delicious.

First time trying this place and I'm so glad that we did. Best date night ever!! The food was completely authentic and I came from The Bay in Cali! The Al pastor tacos were out of this world. Definitely going to come back again and again!

Hands down the best Mexican restaurant in Fort Collins! The food is consistently delicious, the service is amazing, and the owners are outstanding people. In the many years we've been dining here, we have yet to have a negative experience. Highly recommend everything about La Buena Vida!

Delicious food and margaritas. I have the Chile Rellenos and they were great. fabulous weight staff, who gave wonderful service, and had a fun sense of humor.

Buena Vida has become one of our recent go-to restaurants, but we've had our share of learning what we like and don't and the best times to go. Our favorite times to visit are Thursdays (ladies day) or Sundays (men's day) where it's 2-1 house and Cadillac margaritas OR everyday happy hour from 4-6. For food we stick with a few trusty items such as carne asada with chipotle marinade, chili verde and brochetas de camaron. The staff is always friendly and bustling to serve. We can't wait for the patios to be open again soon!

Our daughter was visiting from out of state, so we were in Fort Collins for the day. We had never been to La Buena Vida before. We were greeted and seated on the back patio. We were asked for our drink order, then our food order. It went downhill from there. After our food was served, the waiter disappeared. My food was ok. Nothing was warm. My husband ordered a relent and enchilada combo. He asked for green sauce and got red. The sauce on the relleno was cold. My daughter said her food was ok. I asked for a refill on my ice tea from three separate wait staff. Only after the third request, did I get the refill. We weren't impressed with both the service and food. We will not be coming back.

Kept with a classic and had a bean and cheese burrito and a margarita. I love their refried black beans. So yummy! Great service every time.

I haven't eaten in restaurants at all during the now two-year pandemic. But, the situation is getting better and so my wife and I decided to head back to La Buena Vida and sit outside for a change. So glad we did. The service was great, as usual. Their margs are pretty good, not sweet, so I ordered one. Our entrees were chile rellenos for me and a combo platter for my wife. These were dishes that we hadn't tried before. I'm not quite sure of the ingredients in the white cream sauce that covered the rellenos, but it was delicious. The chiles were poblano, not Anaheim, and the beans were black. All as expected. I asked for a side of hot salsa and was given a wonderfully spicy hot mixture. Flan was our dessert and it was 4/5, but I'm picky that way. The outside tables have individual fire pits built-in, although we didn't need to use ours. Very cool, though.

I had the poblano peppers with shrimp and tilapia, and it was absolutely one of the best, Mexican dishes, very unique, one of the best I've ever had! Everything was fresh, not too greasy even the homemade chips were not too greasy. The tomatillo sauce is outstanding.

This has got to be the best Mexican restaurant in the area! The food is consistently great, the service is unbeatable, and the atmosphere is nice. The majority of the menu is gluten-free, for folks that prefer that - this is a place you can go and enjoy basically everything.

Insure that you enjoy the good life: visit La Buena Vida! As a native of San Antonio, TX, I am qualified to rate Tex-Mex and authentic Mexican cuisine; La Buena Vida is a superb example of the latter. How often do you find quail on a menu? The chile relleno was not too spicy for one of us, and the fan of chipotle declared his carne asada perfect. The margaritas were memorable, the green sauce was piquant and had just enough bite. La Buena Vida handled everything perfectly, from the reservation to the service to the menu. I can't wait to return!

Great for celiacs! Most of the menu is gluten free and all the non gluten items (including tortilla chips) are done in a dedicated gf fryer. The carne asada and potatoes were so good! Only downside is that it was a bit pricey.

If I could give 0 stars, I would! Worst restaurant in town. I've grown up in Fort Collins, and this place is one we will NEVER return to. Food is awful and WAY overpriced. The service is terrible. We waited for our waiter to show up for at least 15 min after we were seated. The food took even longer. When I asked to speak to the Manager, he was "too busy" and the hostess said they could call us back. Then I spoke to the Owner and he was not helpful at all. They can't give discounts or comps apparently, like a lot of places do. Which, whatever, but he didn't even apologize for the nightmarish experience we had. Hope they're out of business soon! Maybe if he had acted like a good service business owner and treated us right and was apologetic we would've considered going back someday. But....nope! BYE. We'll tell everyone we know how terrible it was.

Always great food! I love the rosemary charbroiled tacos and their margaritas . The best! Outdoor patio with table fire pits really helps to set the ambiance on chilly days/nights.

Totally surprising and really, really good. Hidden gem. Ignore the cheesy sign. Once you walk in you will understand. Yum!

In search of great Mexican food here in Colorado! Found it! La Buena Vida gets 5++ stars. Food: I know it's not always about the chips & salsa but we devoured two baskets of their chips with a couple of dishes of salsa & a side of guacamole which were great! We ordered tacos al pastor, shrimp tacos and grilled shrimp. Everything was great. The grilled shrimp came out on 3 sticks and were cooked & seasoned great, hope you like spicy! Atmosphere: they built a beautiful patio during Covid for outdoor seating, which is probably staying, but we sat inside and everyone was enjoying their food and it felt like we were enjoying a meal in Mexico! Service: our waiter Abraham was fantastic, he! He obliged our attempts at ordering in Spanish and was super fun! Tips: you can't go wrong with the Brochetas de Camaron, it's spicy and good!

First off I want to say I love that that menu is not so extensive! For us, this is important! We stopped by on a Sunday and had buy one get one house margaritas and drafts! We also tried their Micheladas and they are delicious!!!! They use Clamato juice which make a difference!!!! More authentic with Clamato! The building is unique with tons of cultural decor. Patio area has heaters however I will wait till summer :-)) Service was fantastic! Can't wait to go back!

Definitely will not be going to La Buena Vida for a while. I called to make a reservation a week in advance for a party of 8 to celebrate Cinco de Mayo. The reservation was confirmed with another follow up call two days later, to then find out when we all arrived that they do not take reservations on Cinco de mayo and forced to be placed an a 2 hour wait time! Once we were seated, it got worse. My order was wrong and when I pointed it out, I was told that I forgot what I ordered. One of my guests asked for a specific margarita but was told that it could not be accommodated since it was too busy and that the margaritas were already premade. Overall very disappointed as I frequent this location and it's a restaurant I hold at a high regard.

Great service, tasty food, good portions. Prices are reasonable. Plus good Mexican lagers on tap.

La Buena Vida has always been my family and I'd go to. We know most servers and look forward to the delicious margaritas and food. We've never run into an issue until tonight with a manager we had never seen or met before. It's my dads 65th birthday and we made reservations for 6PM tonight for 11 people at the big corner booth table. We showed up at 6 to be told our reservation was at 5. The restaurant took 0 accountability and the hostesses just kept saying we made our reservation for 5 which we didn't. Eventually my mom asked to speak with the manager who literally just blew her off and walked away. He later told me he "didn't condone being yelled at" which is reasonable had he been yelled at in the first place. My mom had a right to be upset and the way the staff handled the issue and took no accountability nor did they try to correct their mistake was wrong and upsetting.

Decent Mexican food restaurant in south Fort Collins. I easily found a parking spot in the shopping center area, so that isn't an issue. I was seated right away and noticed they have a large dining area and a lot of space on two different outdoor patios. Hot chips and fresh salsas came out right away. The salsa was lacking flavor for me. Our server was great! She was helpful with ordering and very polite, being attentive through the visit. They have a pretty good Mexican beer selection on draft and in bottles, and fun margarita options as well. I ordered the lunch special with a chicken enchilada and carnitas taco, which came with rice and refried black beans on the side. The presentation was really nice on the plate. The chicken enchilada with creamy poblano sauce was outstanding, with lots of flavor! I wish I got chicken for my taco as well because I wasn't impressed with the carnitas. The rice was also lacking in flavor, but the refried black beans were very tasty. This is a good option in south Fort Collins, but in my opinion, there are a few better options further north.

The La Buena Vida Pomegranate margarita. A tasty and well balanced drink served in a pretty glass. Service is friendly, fast and efficient.

Keep in mind this is definitely a more expensive place to eat. But their tacos are to die for the flavor is unreal

The relleno were fantastic. I had the seafood and my daughter had the vegetarian! Yum! Service was terrific as always!

I love the food here and it is a regular go to spot for us. Today, however, they experienced a major hiccup. Twenty or more people were waiting outside until the restaurant opened at noon. Why don't you open at 11:30 as many other restaurants do? Needless to say, it was impossible for the wait staff to keep up with that huge influx all at once. Not surprisingly, I watched our waiter serve people who had been seated a long time after we were seated before even taking our order. When the food arrived it was lukewarm, the cheese in the rellenos congealed. We will continue to come here because the food is usually amazing. I hope management will reconsider its hours of operation to avoid this in the future, though.

Good food. Good value. Good service. Great people! La Buena Vida has them all. I've gone there many times and the food quality has been consistently yummy. The staff and servers are attentive and make you feel at home. And the margaritas? Delicious. I had the opportunity to try their margarita flight for Valentine's Day and liked them all (although I did have my favorites). I highly recommend stopping in there for food and drinks!

A great place to bring family and friends for great food and service. The ambiance is amazing and the outdoor dining area is gorgeous.

This place is absolutely fantastic. It is so hard to find a great meal in FoCo but La Buena Vida really stands out for me. This is my first visit (about to be a regular) and things were perfect. I got the Carne Asada in the Rosemary marinade and it is the best Carne Asada I have ever had. It was so flavorful and the marinade just had this perfect coating on the meat. The potatoes....oh my gosh the potatoes could be cut with a fork and were perfectly spiced. The staff were incredibly warm and friendly while being incredibly attentive.

I am super glad this place was open during COVID they spaced everyone properly and all were wearing masks! Food and service: Service was good our waiter was great, my only note was at times she did take a while to come and check on us but it didn't bother my friend and I too much since we were having a layed back day! The food was ok, I wish I could say it was amazing because it certainly looked that way when it came out but the flavors just wern't as yummy as we had wished. Also we orded sopaipillas for dessert and they were . . . Unique. They tasted like spoaipillas but they were flat and crispy. I'm all for a different twist on old classics but I'm sorry I prefer puffy warm sopaipillas with honey!! Also my friend ordered a melon margarita and it came out tasting very plain the waitress was very nice and brought out a shot of the melon flavor and that made it better!! I reccomend that!! Not sure when or if I'd come back I prefer going to mom and pop places that make family recipes! But I'm also the kind of person who likes to check a place out for myself before I form an opinion so please give this place a try and see what you think for your self!

Amazing food!!! Service was fun and friendly. DO NOT MISS anything that has their poblano crema sauce. It is soooo delicious!! Recommend the Queso con crema appetizer and the guacamole fresco.

If you don't continuously order drinks during happy hour they ask you to leave "its understood" Never going here again. You'd think they'd be more concerned about customers making it home safely than padding their pockets. Total b S

This time I had the jalapeño margarita and sopapillas wiith vanilla ice cream. Both were delicious.

Stopped in for lunch and We think we have found our go to Mexican restaurant in Fort Collins. Delicious meals and a fair price. Excellent service and just the right quantities!

I've been to this place a couple of times now. The food is a solid "meh". It reminds me of Mexican chain type fare. The downside is just how expensive it is for the portions and quality. I do not recommend.

This place was ok if don't know any better. Unfortunately I do and I was disappointed. The restaurant is beautiful though and the menu is great. Maybe a new cook?i will go back and try again.

Really Mexican food? barf! Nowhere near it. What are they trying to pull off here. Booo! I'll eat dog food before I go back. Call them like see them.

It sucks to give this restaurant a one star rating but we had an extremely poor experience with them this evening and it felt important for other customers to be aware. We called in with a to go order this evening asking for one entree to be completely dairy free as I have a dairy allergy. This is something we have done with them before with no issue. The item I ordered only has to be made without cheese in order to be dairy free. They confirmed the order (including the no cheese part) and my husband set out to get it. We live on the opposite side of town, but this place has killer enchilada sauce so it has always felt worth it to us. He got home about an hour later and we open my meal to find it...made with cheese. So we called the restaurant to just ask that the meal be refunded since we alerted them of the dairy allergy and asked for no cheese. They told us we would have to drive across town to get the refund and that they couldn't possibly void the transaction in their system. Having worked in banking and merchant services for the past 8 years, I know that simply isn't the case. There is no system that doesn't have the ability to void a transaction. They offered to make us the meal tomorrow as a way to remedy the situation...unfortunately not helpful for me not getting a meal tonight (the night we planned to eat out this week). This place does have good food but their customer service is lacking. If you have no allergies and don't need food modifications, you should do fine.

We love this place. I posted a review years ago and must have been in a 'mood' to only give them 4 stars. Chicken molé is awesome, and the jalapeño margaritas are bangin'. Go here. Eat tasty foods.

Was in town for a special event over a weekend and had a hankering to try their Mexican food to see how authentic it was. Discovered La Buena Vida just a few blocks from my hotel, and it was fantastic! The wait was virtually non-existent even though it was right at 6 p.m. and I was by myself, the staff was uniformly friendly, and the food and drink were out of this world! I started out with some standard tortilla chips and a couple of salsas that looked different but tasted practically identical and neither had any heat (could have drunk them), so the waitress offered me a third one, and it was definitely spicier! Much appreciated! Ordered a house margarita that tasted top-shelf! For the main course I ordered the shrimp with cream/Jalapeno sauce, which came with rice and tortillas (I chose corn). It was so good I actually proceeded to order a second one of the same entree when I was done with the first (I hardly ever do that!). If I am ever back in town, I am totally going to return here! Also the atmosphere was lovely with both indoor and outdoor seating options. You've gotta check it out!