Rich D.
Yelp
I'm my regular search up and down Drew Street, I'm always on the lookout for new Mexican restaurants/taquerias. (See my lists of 45+ reviews of most authentic Mexican restaurants in North and South Pinellas, Tampa/Sarasota). The turnover of closings can be high, but it's not long before another place pops up.
So when I spotted Taqueria Viva Mexico one evening I made sure to get back within a few days to check it out. Turns out it's been open about 3 months, and shares an open doorway with the Viva Mexico market right next door. The atmosphere of Viva Mexico is about as basic as you can get...one big room with about 6 tables and open kitchen. The feeling is definitely spacious/empty, but I'm assuming like many Mexican places on Drew, the startup building may be low budget, but they put the focus on food. The 6 tables are probably plenty as during my time there there was a pretty brisk takeout business happening.
Note: bring your best Spanish (or a dictionary) with you, as the menu board is all in Spanish. Fortunately, the owner's English is probably better than my weak Spanish skills. Not to fear though, with some finger pointing at menu choices and with the owner's help, we navigated the menu together.
I didn't have much time to spare, so ordered 3 tacos....carnitas, pastor and campechanos, and they were delivered up promptly. At the most basic level, a great taco requires a fresh, house-made corn tortilla, so I was encouraged to see Viva Mexico has this covered, along with the standards of onion, cilantro and limes.
The carnitas was moist, but fairly bland. But the pastor and campechanos (usually a combination of beef and pork) were both very flavorful and fairly moist. But any dryness was quickly resolved by some of the most rockin' salsa I've ever had.....a creamy smooth, light green mix that I'm guessing was guacamole-based. Lots of flavorful heat and a perfect match for the mix of flavors in the taco.
I hope to get back soon to check out the rest of the menu, but with a pretty good showing on the tacos ($2/each, which is pretty standard throughout the Tampa region), I'm hopeful the rest of the menu is as good. I'll definitely update my review after future visits.
Atmosphere: 2
Service: 3
Food: 4
Value: 4