Looking for a new and different place to grab a bite to eat? Well, you are in luck because Costa Vida Fresh Mexican Grill has just opened on Campus Drive (in the Albertsons shopping center). This restaurant offers a wide variety of Mexican food, including burritos, tacos, quesadillas, enchiladas and salads.
Overall, Costa Vida is attentive to their customers, and the food is made pretty quickly depending on what you order. This Mexican grill customizes your meal for your liking, so when you order something from the menu, they make it in front of you and ask what toppings and sauces you want to add to your meal. You then pay for your meal after it is ready and take a seat in the newly designed oasis themed restaurant. You should expect to pay around $7-$15 per meal at Costa Vida. The location is perfect for going out to lunch on a school day since it is only two blocks down the street from University High School.
Costa Vida welcomes both meat eaters and vegetarians, especially since this Mexican grill offers their well-known “Big Kahuna Vegetarian Burritos” that are filled with cilantro lime rice, cheese and your choice of beans and sauce. There are many other vegetarian meals to choose from as well, such as handmade tacos with corn or flour tortillas filled with cheese, leafy greens and pico de gallo salsa. Meals are also served with cilantro lime rice and your choice of beans. As for meat eaters, do not worry because Costa Vida offers sweet pork, grilled chicken, grilled steak and shredded beef. Freshly grilled mahi-mahi fish and shrimp are also an option to add to your tacos, burritos or salads.
Costa Vida also has an “Eat Healthier” option on their menu which includes low fat and high protein foods like their calorie-managed salads that consist of black or pinto beans, lettuce, grilled steak or shredded chicken and mango salsa with cilantro vinaigrette. You can also choose a low-calorie meal that incorporates roasted green chill or tomatillo cilantro sauce topped with your choice of salsa fresca, signature cilantro lime rice, meat topping and beans.
Make sure to save room for desert too because you can also order flan, tres leches, key lime pie or even ice cream with a sweet cinnamon tortilla.
So next time you are wondering where to go out to lunch or dinner, go check out Costa Vida in the Campus Plaza, and you can try Irvine’s newest fresh Mexican grill.
Costa Vida
4527 Campus Drive
Irvine, CA
Sunday-Thursday: 10 a.m.-10 p.m.
Friday and Saturday: 10 a.m.-11 p.m.
Written by SOPHIE MEHRINFAR
Staff Writer