11/04/09

Awful

by CSMobileUser2

Tried to eat lunch and they would not seat our party despite having four open tables in the dining room alone. We inquired if they were short staffed and were told no, they were just holding those tables for larger parties. We stood around while they continued to make parties of four or less wait 15+ minutes. We asked to speak to a manager who immediately told us they have to serve large parties over others. When we said there were plenty of people waiting, the Manager said they would not seat any parties of less than 7 at the open tables, despite the wait list and no large party reservations. Awful service and horrible management. We won't go back.

09/17/09

Worst Restaurant Experience-- Do not go in a large group!!!

by lfit

A group of us-- about 13-- came for a pre-bachelorette night out. They don't take reservations, but the manager assured us that the wait would be 20 minutes max. 2 hours later (and a few complaints) we finally got seated about 11:00. The waiter completely dismissed our table, taking only half of the drink orders. Then, he proceeded to ignore us for another 30 minutes. By the time we got out, the night was pretty much over...Lets just say that I will never step a foot in this restaurant again!! The food is definitely not worth the wait!!!

• Pros: Hibiscus margarita is ok, but expensive
• Cons: Horrible wait staff

12/17/08

Wow, this has to be one of the worst tex-mex places in Austin.

by BobJohnson123

Decided to go there today for lunch with a group from work. The atmosphere and architecture of the restaurant has an Austin feel (I am a native Austinite and lived here for over 40 years) and is fairly well designed. The service was mediocre and the food was just awful. The three other coworkers that went with me had combos #1 & #2, fajita tacos, enchiladas, and some sort of chicken taco salad. All of us were in aggreance that the food was either bland, too salty, or cold. The prices are WAY too high for the quality of food. Our drinks were never refilled and the server dropped the tab off and never said thanks or asked if there was anything else we need. On top of that they had a 20% gratuity automatically added to our bill for a group of 4 people all on one tab!!! I asked for the manager (who we waited for almost 20 minutes and never came) - we ended up paying the tab in cash with no tip and just left. If I wanted to go to a snotty restaurant with high prices and horrible food I would live in Dallas!

• Pros: None

09/01/08

Great atmosphere, Awful bar area service

by tara2008

I have a great experience and a not so great one. I went here with a friend recently for dinner and I loved it. The atmosphere is so fun and funky, the patio is great and our server was excellent. The food is OK and the menu is limited, but everything else makes for a great time. I highly recommend the cucumber margarita! Now with this fun time in mind, I returned expecting the same great service and brought friends from out of town here. They ask if you're here for dinner or just drinks and apps. We were just there for drinks and apps, so we were seated in the bar area. This is all fine until we are totoally ignored. We had to walk up to the bar to order drinks AND food. There are FOUR people behind the bar and not one approached our table. Once the drinks were made, they simply set them on the bar without so much as telling us they were ready. This is at about 5:30 and there are maybe 3 other customers sitting at the bar...and remember there are 4 workers behind the bar. Once our so-so nachos arrived, I had to walk over to one of the "reserved for dining" tables and get our silverware. Any server knows that the money is in the drinks, not so much food especially here where one drink cost the same as an entree. We would've stayed and spent quite a bit more money, but I'd rather give my money to someone who earned it. I was highly disappointed considering my server in the dining area was so great. Wake up VIVO; you're losing major business if you neglect customer service in the bar area...$$$$$

• Pros: Atmosphere, Drinks, Patio
• Cons: Bar area service

08/24/08

Loved this place!

by ohyeahlach

Need a place to impress out of towners? This place just hits everything positive... atmosphere is everything here. Great decor inside, ambiance is provacative and hip.. outdoor patio is intimate and service all around was attentive. We didn't think the food was that hot & the menu is very small but who cares! The drinks were good, and that salsa was amazing. Will come back again and again.

• Pros: Hip and intimate, service, drinks
• Cons: Parking is horrible!

06/19/08

What? Why?

by royann

This place is for people who really don't know what to do with themselves. Why do people eat here when we are in Austin TX surrounded by great Mexican food? Ok, there is one reason: the patio/deck. It's nice. "Vegetable" or "Vegetarian" here means cheese. They really don't get it. The margaritas will knock you out, which they should for $9. I think they have everclear in them. The interior of this place is hell. I think people from West of the highway think it's adventurous but still safe enough because of valet parking. I'm really not sure. If you want to yuppy it out in East Austin, go to two doors down to El Chile where the food and drinks are actually really great. I don't know, I guess it just makes me kind of sad and confused. I only gave it one star so it would process my review.

04/09/08

When trendy Austin hippies take charge of Mexican food, Vivo happens

by bigglesbshnee

When I saw Tofu as an alternative to Beef in the Burrito section of the menu, I should have walked out of the restaurant. Vivo was recommended to me by a co-worker as, "the best Mexican food in Austin." After refusing to take another taste of the bitter salsa, and biting into an enchilada that featured salt as its main "spice" I was reminded that people in Austin have no idea what their talking about when it comes to Mexican food. I have had Taco Bell meals that were more authentic than the food I ate at Vivo, and it didn't cost me $10+/plate. The atmosphere at Vivo is great, and the patio is nice when the weather is good, but the tall, pretty hostess at Vivo is way too proud of it. There is a palpable arrogance when you walk in the door. She may as well greet you by saying, "welcome to Vivo ... how lucky are you to be eating here?" Our server was great, but the food came out a little slow. The place was not that busy, and it's Mexican food we're talking about here! Chicken or beef in some sort of tortilla surrounded by beans and rice ... kitchens should be cranking this stuff out pretty quickly. Vivo was not the worst dining experience I've ever had by any means, but if I go out of my way to go to "hip" Austin joint, fight for parking, wait 20 minutes to be seated and pay close to $15 for lunch, It better be worth it. Vivo was not.

• Pros: Ambience, Roses for the ladies, dim lighting inside, bright patio outside
• Cons: It's not Mexican food and it's too expensive.

03/03/08

Worst dinning experience I have had in a long time.

by mm72

Service was very slow, Food is overpriced and served luke warm at best. Music was so loud people at our table could not hear each other. I was in a party of 8. Restaurant does not take reservations. When one member of our party was running late, hostess threatened to give our table way to another group as they would not seat us with only 7. Fortunately, our last member arrived before this happened. I had a bar tab open while waiting to be sat. Server refused to transfer my bar tab my table bill. We asked for separate checks which server also refused to do. Half way through the meal everyone became frustrated at the loud music coming from the bar area. Asked the server to turn down the music which was never done. Gratuity of 20% was automatically added which the server did not deserve for the poor non-attentive service that was provided. Our table ended up having to pass the multiple checks around and try to figure out what they owed. This is certainly NOT what I would call having a nice night out on the town. A restaurant server is named such as they are supposed to "server" the guests. If guests ask for separate checks there is, only one acceptable answer, YES. I will never dine at Vivo Cocina again.

• Pros: None
• Cons: Just about everything

01/28/08

Best Tex Mex I've had in Austin - Highly Recommended - great atmosphere, drinks, food, service

by dcdttu

So, barring all the Austinites that will cringe at what I'm abou to say.. here it goes... I lived in Dallas <gasp!> for 6 years and moved to Austin about 9 months ago. Dallas may be an Austinite's nightmare, but Dallas has great restaurants in spades... I have been looking for something to match my Tex-Mex requirements here, and Vivo more than delivered.

After almost missing the turn in to get to the street before Vivo, you arrive in the dusty parking lot that usually doesn't have any spaces. Plenty of parking on the streets around there, so no matter (and, like Dallas, Austin is becoming inundated with those annoying valet parking services in the lot that want you to pay to have them park your car 10' away). I'll park in the street, thanks.

You walk in the back of the restaurant, up cascading decks with room for anywhere from one to several tables. They are each surrounded by plants and, in the winter, insulated and heated with portable heaters. It is very pretty out there at night, and is my preferred spot for dining. They have very small lights that keep your table intimate even if you have another table nearby. Inside the restaurant it is very bright and colorful and inviting, but I haven't eaten in there yet.

My party of 5 was seated in the deck area, and we all ordered margaritas. They were some of the finest examples of margaritas I've ever had. Very very good. Chips and salsa were served. I prefer the fresh salsa rather than that 'fire roasted' kind, which Vivo has. Oh well, it keeps me from eating too many chips and getting full early. For my meal I got the verde chicken enchiladas. They were divine. A lot of places don't do good chicken enchiladas. This place does. The dish was very flavorful and done right with a good kick too it as well.

At the end of the meal, they gave the girls at our table a rose. It was a nice touch to a great meal. Highly recommended! Now, if I could just find great Thai....

• Pros: Great atmosphere (noisy but in a good way), beautiful deck area, great food, service, drinks
• Cons: Seemingly only serve one kind of salsa, the 'fire roasted' kind...

01/09/08

Beautiful ecorating, food overpriced

by austinchickie

So today was my first time there. The place is gorgeous with all of the plants and multi-level decking. The paint inside is very dark and romantic. The food was overpriced, I paid $8 for caso with taco meat. Very limited menu, server was not friendly.

• Pros: Atmosphere, plants
• Cons: Service, prices