Viva Cantina

Disappointed… Big time. A friend took me there for lunch and it is really cool inside and has 2 rooms both with cool kitsch décor. Cowboy set meets lounge meets mexican vibe. Second room had a loungey vibe with a big band playing at 1pm.Insane. Margarita is big. that scares me. Means not good. Mix was rancid. Did not drink it. Salsa, bland, no flavor and asked for spicier. Was hotter but no flavor. Guacamole, strange color. Neon green. not good. Food, service was pretty lame. May go back for music but won’t eat or drink.

Viva isn’t the cantina to end cantinas…
But it isn’t trying to be.
It is your neighborhood Mexican joint. It has good food and great music and EXCELLENT margaritas. If you live in Burbank, you come to Viva. That’s just the way it is. But I’d come here just for the music and margs. But it helps that food is just fine. Especially when you are about to put so much tequila into your body.

Last night I went with a friend to a wonderful local restaurant and bar called Viva Cantina. The chips and salsa were delish and the server’s were so friendly and helpful. They had a CW band in the main room AND an awesome classic rock band called Wheelhouse in the backroom. Dancing in both rooms and no cover charge! What a great venue, can’t wait to go back.

I love this place. The whole vibe of it gives me an old school, small town, Way out West kind of feeling. Any night you come here there will be live music playing, most nights on two stages. The bands vary from country /​western music, to big brass band, swingy jazz, to every form of rock and roll and blues. There are people on horseback riding all over this neighborhood, and a wonderful bowling alley across the street with plenty of parking for both businesses. This is LA, and it’s super cool.
The place is loud, and very fun. The margaritas are too sweet, like every other reviewer has said, stick with beer or iced tea. And the place could use a massive clean up and renovation, like everybody said, it’s kind of gross and dirty. But it’s also kind of a roadhouse, so, I think it’s good that there are cheap and cheesy roadhouse places like this. And their guac is not what you’d expect, it has mayo or sour cream or something mixed into it. So don’t splurge if you’re imagining perfect guacamole, cause this isn’t it. But everything else I’ve ever had here was pretty delicious, for basic, cheesy, Americanized Mexican food. I love their chips and salsa, beans & rice are always good, the cheese enchilada is always delicious. But the best thing about this place is just the place. It’s a perfect corner of Burbank, a perfect corner of the great Southwest. Check it out, you will have fun for sure.

Why have I never been here before? Everyone was so nice. There was good music playing, and people dancing. We had fresh chips and salsa and really fresh Chicken fajitas. Its kind of dark in the room we sat in, which I love. The bars are huge. I will absolutely be back.

Kudos. You have to work really, really hard to screw up Mexican food this badly. Just disgusting. A simple combo plate with a taco and small burrito came floating in a puddle of reddish, runny water a quarter inch deep. What this did to the structural integrity of the cheddar cheese bomb of a «crispy» «chicken» taco I need not tell you.
Chile Verde is one of the easiest things to make. Almost foolproof. A very expert fool indeed made this burrito. Tasted like canned shredded pork pan tossed in chicken broth. No discernable chile or tomatillo flavor whatsoever. Just… wow.
If you MUST come here to hear your friend’s old timey hick band or whatevs, stick to the very good chips and passable salsa. But definitely skip the terrible, giant, weak, sugary margaritas and go for a tipple of premium booze. The bartenders seem to have pity on their unfortunate patrons, and are quite generous with their pours.

This place hasn’t just go downhill, it plummeted head first off a cliff. The service was the worst I’ve experienced in recent memory and the food is not just horrible, it’s sick-​making — — the rice was dried out, the refried beans had a scary, rotten aftertaste, and the guacamole was unholy… was that tree moss mixed with mayonnaise?
After seating us, the unhappy waiter fetched a margarita from the bar for me and then disappeared. A full half an hour went by before he magically reappeared near the bar and we were able to get his attention by waving our arms wildly in the air (keep in mind that the place was only ¼ full). After we ordered, we settled in for another long wait. When the food arrived it looked like it had been sitting out under warming lights since 1982, possibly earlier.
My date had ordered grilled veggies but received steamed ones instead — she decided she could live with it since she was famished. I was a little surprised at the stingy fixings for my chicken fajitas but worse yet, there were no tortillas (they’re supposed to come with them, of course). The waiter asked if we needed anything else and I said, «Sure, I’d like some corn tortillas please.» He promised to be right back with them but he never returned to our table. In fact, we never saw him again. I ate the fajitas without tortillas, reluctantly, and against my will.
During the meal I longed to order a beer to wash down the too-​sugary margarita I had polished off many moons earlier, but the waiters ignored our attempts to coax them over, even after making eye contact them. I went to use the restroom at one point and immediately wished I hadn’t. Let’s just say they’re sure to fail their next health inspection.
We sat for another 30 minutes after we had finished eating before I had to get up and ask the bartender to send someone over with our bill. A strange waiter swung by and plopped the bill down and didn’t come back to pick it up, in fact, he disappeared as well. I had to get up a third time to grab a third waiter to run my credit card. Third time’s a charm!
This is the first time I’ve left ZERO tip, but they went out of their way to earn it.
If you go here to see a band, skip the food and order bottled beer directly at the bar — it’s your safest bet.

I live in miami now but still dream about getting a margarita and bowl of chips around 4pm at vivas. Fun crowd, old school LA vibe

We went during the day, and maybe it’s better when it’s night (and dark) and you can’t tell quite what a dive it is. Also, perhaps the entertainment helps at night. I can’t imagine it helping enough to give the place five stars, though, but different people have different standards.
The food was just okay and the service was just okay as well. I don’t really want to eat food that is just okay. Their salsa was good, though, but let’s face it, I am not there just for the salsa. Average burrito, average quesadilla. Not enough to recommend a return trip.
There were people eating outside. It made me cringe every time a group of riders trotted by, kicking up dust particles of horse —- well, you know. Ugh!

What a joint! Loving the dual live bands on a Friday night. iViva Cantina! Great ambience and tasty drinks. Spicy salsa. Dig it, and right across the street from a bowling alley! Feels like a local spot.

I come here as I am a local. I love the equestrian friendly atmosphere, the food is pretty good… I have 1 issue. Why do they have a brass band in such a tiny place on weeknights when there is also a country band in the front? Stopped in for dinner and am having to yell across a tiny table to speak to my companion. She now has a headache from the trumpets blaring sharply in our ears. I get it — Viva wants to be extra cool abd cater to the music crowd. But this is too much for such a tiny space — this band would ve better suited for a large ballroom or something. At least keep it to the weekends.

Prime location for what could be a great restaurant. Wouldn’t it be nice to park your horse here if it was a clean, delicious, up-​to-​health code restaurant?
Come here if you enjoy to eat at a place where the PEST CONTROL trucks spend most of their days. Read into their letter grade and you will see they FAILED in the area of «insects and small rodents.»
DISGUSTING !!! Smells like filthy oil outside and smells like dirty mildew rags inside.

I love places that are just a little shitty. And this place fit the bill. I walked in to live music and grandparents dancing between tables. Dream. Come. True.
The place was packed so I got seated between the two rooms that had live music. I can’t fault them for that. The waiter was hurried because you can tell he was slammed.
We almost left when the waiter said they don’t have cheese dip. Their house salsa has a bit of heat on it. I got a margarita and it was OK. They make it sound really special, but it’s fairly standard maybe a bit better than other places that don’t just use lime juice.
I got a taco and an enchilada. The taco could have been amazing, but it was filled with like a tablespoon of water, I guess from the pico. I held it while it drained for what seemed like forever and the shell was soggy for all the water. Slotted spoon? The enchiladas were both pretty standard.
We went to pay and got large bills in return, an annoying wait staff trick. Sorry, nobody’s giving you $ 10 on $ 28. Just annoying.
From 5 stars, –1 for water in taco and –1 for big bill change
I’d go again.

More later but food great, music excellent, ambience unbelievable
I’ve eaten here several times and really enjoyed everything. Never been disappointed.
The music is what makes this place special. Cody Bryant apparently plans all the gigs. He does and excellent job.
Monday nights is blue grass with the Brombies, I brought my nephew from China to hear them he loved it.

This place gets two stars for the entertainment. Debra Ortega usually invites my Mom to her shows and parties at this place. So we’ve gone a few times in the past couple years.
Her shows are the main reason this place gets a two. I’m not really the biggest fan of the location itself. The bathrooms are gross. There were COBWEBS hanging from the walls in the bathroom stall of the men’s bathroom.
I’ll pass on this place if this was a regular day. As long as I’m at a party table, I’ll be fine. But I’m not gonna use the bathroom at this place. Or order food from it.

This place is a bit of a dive, but super nice service and okay food.
It’s perfect for after horseback riding when I want to go someplace that doesn’t mind if I’m in riding gear.
Solid middle of the road.

WESTERN STYLE RESTAURANT!
2 Stages.
2 Bars.
AMAZING service and such great entertainment.
Ask for Benjamin! He is a total sweetheart bartender.
Food is so good and the drinks are dope!!!
I love coming to this restaurant

Oh Viva Cantina, how you pride yourself in the size of your margaritas. Tsk tsk. It’s not the size, in my opinion, rather the quality.
This place is ok, food is ok, drinks are ok, but it’s great for people watching.
Also, you can rent horses nearby, traverse the gorgeous hills of Griffith Park, then finish with an enormous, sugary margarita here at sunset.

If you want to swivel your hips to different types of music this is the place for you. I dig this place but my wallet didn’t. Normally cantinas (bars) don’t bother my wallet but this one kinda did.
I guess this place is special than. It won’t stop me from going back though. Rock n roll

Service: 0. Our waitress was rude and inattentive. She could care less about drink refills or how our food tasted (note– I found a long 6inch piece of what I hope was plastic inside my burrito)
Food: 1. I forgive the above plastic but honestly the food was lackluster and bland. There was no flavor at all. I will admit the chips and salsa was almost good… almost.
Out of respect I gave this place a 2. I usually reserve my 1’s for purposely bad service. This was very close.