Buena Vida Cantina

I have been twice, once for lunch and once for dinner, and can confirm- great food, AMAZING STAFF, with indoor or outdoor seating. By far my new favorite place for Mexican- next time, I'll try the margaritas.

I got the salad with Carnitas and it's a big serving - more than enough to split or save a bit for later. The carnitas are not greasy, not dry but instead perfect. My table mates had tacos and and between that, my food, and the chips and dip we all ended up taking stuff to go at the end of the meal.

Don't consider this place a 'mission burrito' counter- it's got far more options and honestly some of the best staff I've seen at a restaurant in a long long time.

Over the past year this restaurant has gone through lots of changes, in my opinion the food quality, portions, and service have become inconsistent and the flavor of the food and salsa bland.

Buena Vida is frequently closed on Mondays or throughout the week even though their website and hours listed say they are open.

Bar and table service are slow, to the point where i don't sit down and have a drink and order food here anymore, I'll just use the website to order to-go, but even this process seems cumbersome now. Today I paid for chips and salsa trio + an extra green salsa for $9 , I received three green salsas in the smallest container and a half bag of chips; the super burritos I ordered we're bland and smaller than normal, all I could taste was the tortilla and sourness from the chunks of avocado.

I was out the door with two small-super burritos, half a bag of chips, 1.5 shots of green salsa, all for $45 before tax/tip/online ordering fee/other fees.

I really liked this place back in 2023, but this year something is off.
I'll give this place a break for a few months and try again.
P.S. The three stars are for my memories of prior visits.

I came here for a work luncheon and we sat outside in the parklet. I would've preferred to be inside but it was a nice day. We ordered drinks and appetizers for the table. We had esquites, guacamole & the trio dip (2 of each) for both sides of the table. I thought that each appetizer was really refreshing and good. My favorite would probably be the esquites. It was creamy and crunchy and paired well with the homemade chips.

Everyone ordered their own dish and I got the flautas. They were tasty but a little bland. I would love to try another main the next time I come in. I feel like this would be a fun lounge to hang out in with some friends before a night out.

Our server was a bit quirky but they made us feel at home. We ordered desserts and had plenty of left overs and they asked if we would give our uneaten food to a homeless man, which we were totally comfortable with. Their selfless act definitely left an impression on all of us. I would definitely venture back here.

Went to have catch up with work and stuff, suggested it as I recalled they used to have a Taco Tuesday thing. They didn't. We were only ones there and chose to be sitting in the parklet. She gave us our chips n guacamole no napkins, utensils. We both had two margaritas, one serving of guacamole, never gave us water or utensils. We were being chill about it. But then the check came out, I'm still floored. We were sitting there just talking about work, where did hot mess come from? Still shaking my head on whether that waitress was shading us. Pretty weak.

Got a steak super burrito it was great!!! Came with red sauce & some chips. When I came in everyone was so nice, great service & food!!! Will return!!

We live right across the street from Buena Vida, and finally got around to trying it. The storefront is a bit tucked away, so on a rainy day, it was hard to see the restaurant/tell if it was open. However, once you open the door, you enter a really vibrant and cheerful atmosphere.

We were greeted by one of the owners, and he was super nice and sat us down pretty quickly. We started with the chips as well as the guac (here, we messed up, didn't realize guac also came with chips). The salsas were absolutely amazing; the green one was my favorite, as it had a really nice tang with a bit of spice. The yellow/habanero one was quite spicy, and the red one had a real smokey flavor that was awesome. Really recommend getting the chips and salsa! The guac was good as well, with a very heaping portion, but nothing too special.

We got three tacos: the baja fish, the al pastor, and the campechano (carne asada). The baja fish was quite strange; they used salmon instead of white fish (as it says on their menu). Not sure if they just ran out, but salmon doesn't really work in a fish taco, and I wish they had given us a heads up about this. The coating was also not super crispy. The carne asada was decent, but a bit too chewy and stringy for my taste. The al pastor was really good though; super tender and juicy, with nice flavors. Decent pile of pineapple as well!

Will definitely stop by in the future!

Went here around 12pm on a Thursday and it was basically empty. We sat outside because it was a really nice day.

Service was great! The guy always checked on us and seemed very happy.

The food. Ummmm wow. Everything was amazing. I ordered the salsa trio, LOBSTER AND STEAK TACO and the quesabirria taco.

Salsa trio: the salsas had a kick but it wasn't too spicy. The chips were amazing! It had seasoning on it, was thin and tbh it's one of the best taqueria chips I've ever tasted. It's a must have!

Quesabirria taco: had 2 layers of tortillas and the outside was crunchy. Full of meat and it was tender af! Dip it into the sauce.. you won't regret it!

Lobster and steak taco: it was filled with meat but difficult to eat since the tortilla was wet, so I had to use a fork and knife to eat it. Also for a $19 taco, I expect it to be more worth it? It was good but not my fav esp for that price.

Overall, definitely going to come back to try more things!

We had the best time coming in to Buena Vida Cantina for dinner with friends! The staff was so nice and so helpful to our group. We all thought the food was super good too! The bathrooms are very clean as well.

Service was polite but they didn't swing by much. The birria taco was good, not super filling. Little surprised no salsa served with chips.

So lovely to find such a gem near everything in San Francisco! We walked to Macy's afterwards and the couple we ate dinner with went to Oracle Arena. The food was delicious! We had tacos (great variety and good portions) and the other couple both had the birria plate.

However, we all enjoyed the cocktails the most. The variety of margaritas allowed us to try a few each, and since it was happy hour, we indulged...

Ambiance was cozy and the service was friendly while attentive. We will be back, probably every time we are in that part of the city.