Sherryll Chester

When returning to Ithaca post-graduation, Viva was the first spot my husband and I had to hit up. I feared that my memory of their nachos were better than they would be upon returning but I was wrong! The Macho Nachos were, and still are, the best nachos I have ever had. It is THE item to get here. Don't leave without ordering it. They also have vegan nachos, which I haven't tried, but they sounded delicious! I also got The Purist margarita and it was delicious. Our waiter recommended it as something less sweet and it totally hit the mark. The service was absolutely fantastic. Our waiter was helpful in guiding our choices, super friendly, and attentive to checking in on us. Viva is my favorite restaurant in Ithaca and I cannot recommend those nachos enough!

+11

Andy Noyes

It's fine! My kid loves it. The food is good. Basic southwestern fair. The Cheatin Vegan Nachos are the best, no I'm not vegan in neither is the dish. The bar is fun. Lotsa tequila great margaritas, the Smokey Joint is my favorite. The old place across the street had this vibe to it that didn't quite follow them to the new spot but it's still a good spot.

Jenn G

Sure! Here’s a polished Google review you can use for Viva Taqueria in Ithaca: ⸻ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ We stopped in at Viva and tried the Macho Nachos—delicious! Generous, fresh toppings and great flavor. We added a side of guacamole, which was a perfect match. The service was friendly and quick, making the whole experience enjoyable. Would definitely come back!

+1

Rebecca McNellis

We had a couple cocktails and a snack of nachos. Nachos were very good. Atmosphere was bright and cheerful. We sat outside. Our server was busy, and was okay. She could've been a little more attentive. Overall, everything was good.

+2

Not many outdoors dining options in the area so we went to this place, there was a wait but nothing too long – considering that it was raining and not a lot of tables. The food was average and very limited menu at the time. Service was great, decent portion sizes and decent prices. Staff was very friendly.

Olivia Murray

Haven’t been since they moved until today. I used to like their quesadillas. Was pretty disappointed with the food, just did not taste good, lacked flavor (both the burrito and chips and salsa were very bland to me), and not what I look for in Mexican food. I got my food quickly at 12:30 pm from the taco bar side, service and ambience were good. The food just will not get a return visit again sadly.

Going here 20 years, defending it against the haters, but think we just had our last takeout burritos. Three burritos, all practically inedible, full of re-cooked and/or under-cooked rice. The kicker was the rancid hot sauce (the mild, green). Adios.

C R

Ever since the new owner in January 2025, the place has gone downhill. The chicken is gristly most of the time, the service is so incredibly slow, and the take out is a joke. We’ve been coming here every week/every other week for 10 yrs so I can post forthrightly. Our last time here we waited over an hour for our food to be ready. We ordered online, waited a 1/2hr then when we got there for pickup still had to wait another 40mins. When asked about it, they said they prioritized the diners and were just now getting to the take out people. That’s horrible business. Just stop taking online orders/doing carry out. There were a lot of us waiting and we all agreed. On top of that, all the ways they’ve changed the takeout menu/takeout ordering is atrocious.It’s unfortunate. This used to be a fun place to quickly get yummy food. Now it’s a pain on all fronts. We won’t be coming back for awhile.

Emily Miller

They changed ownership, and I wish they didn’t bc I will never return. The burrito was so spicy, we hardly ate any of it. The guacamole taste like it’s out of a bag it’s not good. Would not recommend go to Taco Bell instead and save your money

Good ambiance and decor, service was not the greatest but it was acceptable. Food was terrible. Bland, not Mexican at all and will never come back again because of that. Chips and salsa was chips with pico de gallo. Chips were lacking salt. Chilis Chips and salsa are way better and that's a lot to say. If your food is not authentic, then don't advertise as such. Seems like it's a common occurrence in Ithaca in restaurants that claim to have "mexican" food 🇲🇽

Walter Hartman

Awful! Order chicken and you get beef! Happened 5 different times! Place seems dysfunctional and going downhill. When I received the right order, it was different every time; different amounts, different taste. Overpriced for okay food. Never again.

Gabriel Borden

Ordered a burrito and a side of rice and beans, it was all pretty bland. I don't even think the food was seasoned. Also not having fountain drinks kind of threw me, but the beverage selection is pretty standard for a Mexican restaurant.

Danielle K

Visited during apple fest, and due to the fest, could reasonably understand some chaos had it been busy, but we came at 4:30 well before dinner rush, and our section was very empty. We sat for several mins before we were greeted by a woman and she said nick would be right with us and she grabbed us waters. Several minutes after that we were greeted by Gabe, and we put an order of 2 tequila shots, 2 frozen raspberry margaritas one w sugar and one w salt rim, and an app. When ordering he said oh I put that one in as virgin you didnt want that did you? We confirmed, not virgin. The shots arrived visibly uneven and we had to pour from one to even them out, and one of the margaritas tasted like it didnt have any alcohol. We both tasted each multiple times before concluding the one didnt have the very specific after taste that agave has. We've been here close to an hour now and havent been able to put our entrees in. We tried to grab our server Gabe a few times, (which at one point nick did come over and say, hi, i'm nick ill be your server to which we said oh, it looks like gabe grabbed us, nick and gabe then had a weird little encounter at our table). After flagging Gabe and having to ask to put in our food order we mentioned the one drink tasted off and he pushed back, said it was from the same batch but then asked if we wanted a new one, we said we wouldn't mind a remake just for peace of mind. He takes the drink away, then a different guy, bartender i think comes out with the same drink and tells us they wont remake it and that it definitely has alcohol. He was standoffish and made us feel bad for mentioning it. We both have worked in food service and its not easy for us to make a complaint, but we were originally going to stay until the concert at the theater and we wanted to order a few rounds of drinks, and $15 for a drink that doesn't taste like the other "identical" drink was too much. We say ok to them not remaking it, but we arent gonna drink the original one because they took it back to the kitchen and returned it, and the general tone/vibe has been unpleasant now and we just want to pay and go, we're super uncomfortable at this point. The drink is visibly undrank minus the sips we took when trying to determine if it had tequila in it. We then are approached by Sofia who could tell something was awry, she asks if everything is ok. we explained what happened and she said she'd talk to our server. She came back and said the drink wouldn't be comped, but then our server Gabe then came over and said the drink would be comped. At this point we've spoken to 5 staff members none of which have been on the same page, the girls were nice but the guys were varying degrees of discombobulated, and unprofessional. We felt we had been very apologetic and nice, we dont like conflict and we didnt want to cause a scene we just didn't want to pay for a drink we didnt like or had more than a few sips of. Overall experience, the service was rough, it took a very long time for a non busy restaurant to greet us, take our drink order, we had to flag the server down to put in our food order and when it arrived it was medicore. In the end they did comp the drink but the whole back and forth ordeal was uncomfortable, the miscommunication between multiple servers, slow service and the drink errors made for an unpleasant experience and we will not be returning.

Brian Kaplan

1 cm rock found in my tofu burrito. Manager refunded my money but still charged me $6 for a Spindrift seltzer! Least you could have done was comp the entire meal and be glad I didn’t have to send you dental bill. I had one decent meal prior at this place but will never go back. Lots of other bad reviews and seems the new owners are failing at running this establishment.