Viva Mercado's Mexican Restaurant

this place was recommended to me by my co-worker, my hubby and I went there last night and WE LOVE EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS PLACE!!!
the parking space looked packed but we were seated right away within 5 mins, the place is big inside, every table has a little candle which made it romantic but the place is loud with festive music and place has great decor and set up makes u feel that the place is authentic mexican..chips, salsa and refried beans were offered and it's the best especially their house salsa!! our server is very friendly, salsa and refried beans were refilled quickly yes we asked for a refill that's how good it was, my hubby ordered the carne asada plate and he loved it too, i ordered the pollo asado quesadilla and it was the BOMB!!
server very attentive and gave us refills on our drinks before it's even halfway done etc..
this is our new fave Mexican resto :)
DEFINITELY A 5 STAR RESTO

Pros: EVERYTHING IS GOOD from parking, to ambience, servers, food literally everything! u won't regret going to this place

Cons: NO CONS

Posted 12/05/08

My husband and I tried this place at the request of Mr. Mercado's son. We were heading to Vegas for our honeymoon from upstate NY(Rochester) and a friend told us that when we got to Vegas to go to his Dad's restaurant, which we did. I had the best chicken taco's ever and my husband loved the chili rellano. Also try the mexican lemonade, you won't be disappointed. Needless to say that was 3 years ago and we are still looking for a place in upstate NY that can compare to VIva Mercado's and we just can't seem to find one. If you are heading to Vegas and love mexican there is no place better than VIVA MERCADO'S!

Pros: SALSA AND BEAN DIP!!!!

Cons: NO CONS ALL GOOD!!!!

Posted 09/19/08

One of the best in town someone should tell John Curtis to go to mexico and try the food, its not that spicy. The food at Viva Mercado's is good-well prepared and better than most in town. White beans and this guy really takes himself seriously. I have been all over mexico-new mexico-texas-california, authentic I think not Los Molwhatever. Try this place Lindo-or Viva Zapatas-or Casa Don Juan. The rest in town right now are not better than robertos or faustos. Enjoy Viva Mercardo's the roasted jalapenos and onions are a nice touch.

Pros: good food

Cons: a little far out for most

Posted 09/15/08

After you get seated, server will bring you not only chips and salsa. They will also bring you the bean dip, and it is the greatest bean you can find in a restaurant. It tastes like a real home made bean. Food is awsome, good carne asada.
Great service, clean, comfortable seating.
I had a party of 20. The server was on top of it. I live in Cali, everytime I go to Vegas. I will stop by Viva Mercado's.

Cons: Don't have one in Cali

Posted 08/01/08

First time i went and maybe the last one,th chips and salsa are great they bring right away are fresh and delicious the bin dip are perfect,the busser ask me and bring my drinks ,at this point i don't have any idea who is my server.After several minutes he comes ,he is very rude and impatient .Every one in my table have questions about the menu and he only wanna take the order.When i ask about the steak borracho he just say they put tequila ???.We order margaritas and take forever and when finally i have my margarita come with salt and frozen (i hate frozen margaritas) the same happen with the food all wrong my steak is over cook (order rare).
The server made me feel really uncornftable .I have a lot of recomendation about this place.One thing for sure you its not fair the food is amazing but their service is not up standars (when you have a really bad service you expect really bad food but is not).

They have a young lady with yellow shirt ,if belives is the manager (she never came to the table if see a few times walking around but she don't have any idea what happend at the table ).The busser are great

i unhappy with viva mercados i think lindo michoacan its the one if you don't belive me ask for my server (ALEX) and discover by yourself.

Pros: the Quality food

Cons: the poor service

Posted 06/20/08

First of all let me start off by saying that because I am mexican, I have a hard time finding GOOD mexican food RESTAURANTS. There are always places you can go for tacos and quesadillas, but to find a place that cooks like grandma, well... that's just hard to find. And then I found Viva Mercado's.

When you are seated they serve chips & dip. The salsa is very good. Not too hot.

I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw they had "nopales" (cactus) on the menu.
--To those of you who have never had it. Give it a try. All my friends who have tried it there have liked it.
They are grilled with onions and taste great. There are a lot of authentic things that are not on the menu at the regular mexican restaurants. So if you are the kind of person that always has the enchiladas, try something new. You wont be dissapointed.
To start they serve a soup that everyone in Mexico has grown up with and it really does taste like mom's.
Next, I had a chicken w/ poblano chiles in a cream sauce and it was so good. Again. I can't believe how much this taste like home. I've been there a few times, but so far that was my favorite dish.

My husband always has to finish off with the bananas 43. We share it. It's a nice finish to a wonderful meal.

Pros: The quality of the food is not reflected in inflated prices.

Cons: I haven't tried the margaritas yet. It's on my to-do list.

Posted 03/07/08

Last night my husband and I got a chance to enjoy an evening out on the town which doesn't happen as often as we'd like, but when we do get a chance to enjoy a nice meal together we have high expectations. Not only did this restaurant meet our expectations; it exceeded them by far. When we walked in we were greeted immediately by a smile and a hostess who made us feel very welcome. There was live entertainment by a gentleman playing a guitar and singing Spanish music. Not only did he have an excellent voice; he made the ambiance even more inviting. We were seated at an oversized table and immediately greeted by our server who handed us a menu that took me almost ten minutes to read through completely. The selection seemed like it never stopped. While my husband narrowed down his dinner choices, I proceeded to order a pitcher of frozen strawberry Margaritas. Our server immediately asked us on our preference for tequila and narrowed it down by describing flavors and textures of the beverage. I found this to be highly out of the ordinary , but greatly appreciated. A few minutes after I placed our drink order another gentleman arrived with tortilla chips, and two kinds of dipping sauces. The bean dip is excellent! The maragaitas came shortly after the chips and were just perfect. Smooth, and not too strong, yet not too much mix either. We placed our meal order and to our amazement were served a cup of soup while we waited for our dinner. Again, the soup was simply perfect. As our meal arrived we realized we ate way too many chips. We were served portions that were quie a bit more than anticipated. I would highly recommend this restaurant and look forward to visiting again with family and friends. It's a great place to enjoy your company and a good meal for minimal cost. Our waiter's name was Carlos and eventhough he said he only works at the restaurant one night a week; if you're lucky to get him as your waiter, you'll be in good hands.

Pros: service, food and ambiance was excellent!!

Cons: the restaurant is dimly lit on the outside making it difficult to see

Posted 02/20/08

I was disturbed to read the last review. I have visited Vegas for many years and have frequented Viva Mercado's. The food is excellent, as was the service. The seafood parillada is one of my favorites. . It is amazing, talk about melting in your mouth. I have never had a bad experience and wonder if the person writing the scathing review was in the same restaurant or just has a bad attitude? The reputation of this place has brought many travellers (I am one of them) from far and wide and has an extensive local base as well. I really like the ambiance - when you leave you feel like you have just visited and tasted a little piece of Mexico. I will continue to visit - this is the best Mexican food that I have ever had, the fresh ingredients - and unique tasty recipes make it a sure winner!!! I would highly recommend it and do.

Pros: melt in your mouth food

Cons: none

Posted 09/15/07

it says that the food is authentic but in reality it tastes like if everything came straight out of a can! The food does not taste fresh and it made me feel sick for hours after

Pros: there was A LOT to look at!!! can we say clusterf#$$?

Cons: the food was really bad. the salsa was good.

Posted 08/20/07

My family and I go here all the time. The food is great. I get nearly the same thing every time I go, a chile relleno & beef taco combo. The chile relleno is the best in the state. They use poblano chile's, which is the only chile to use if you ask me. The tacos are very tasty too. If your family is really hungry, try the queso fundido appetizer, its amazing!

Pros: exceptional chile relleno's

Cons: none

Posted 06/26/07

I now live on the opposite side of town from this place, and I still drive all the way out there to go eat the BEST mexican food in this town! And dirty cheep, huge portions, good service, great staff... I could go on and on. Been dying for the new location to open up (hopefully March?)

Pros: yum yum yum yum

Posted 02/04/07

Because I live in L.A., I had to choose a restaurant blindly for a family reunion/father-in-law's 75th birthday and am so pleased I chose this one. The staff was incredibly nice and courteous, even when I did a surprise drop-by before our reservation, just to make sure I'd picked an appropriate spot. The seating was perfect for a large family group with kids. Everyone raved about the food (and we're a SoCal group, so we've had great and authentic Mexican food), including my daughter, who doesn't do spicy. Her kid's taco was simple: tortilla, meat, cheese. The musician had a beautiful voice and wasn't overpowering, although he stood right next to our table. And talk about charming. Two different members of our party tried to tip him and he refused the second tip. The prices were completely reasonable for how great an experience we had. Six adults being served seemingly bottomless margaritas and everyone so full that even the big eaters left food on the plate. Six adults, three kids and the bill was $200 with tip. Overall, we had a great, great time. There are few restaurants in this world that I would visit again and again. I wish we actually lived in Vegas, so that we could make this a weekly tradition. I will definitely return and urge everyone to try this fantastic restaurant.

Pros: service, taste of food, environment, healthy options, value

Cons: can't think of one

Posted 12/07/06

The Tostada Aculpoco style was seriously killer!!! And of all the salsas I tried, I like the complimentary kind that come with the chips the most. I wish they didn't serve red corn chips. I hate that.

Pros: fresh and homemade

Cons: Red colored corn chips

Posted 10/22/06

Excellent restaurant with great traditional food. Extensive menu with a wide range of Mexican favorites. Every visit to Las Vegas includes a special trip to this restaurant. Our family always meets there and my daughter enjoys the kids selections as well. You've got to try their refreshing rice drink and flan dessert. Highly recommend it!

Ramona, California

Posted 08/26/06

The food is great and the service is better. My glass never got less than half full even though they were quite busy and the food was on the table in record time. Interesting location, and I only got 2 tacos,rice, and beans for 12 bucks. But overall it was great.

Pros: Service, Menu

Cons: Price, Location

Posted 07/09/06

I've been to both the Flamingo and also the Sunset location and I love it. The location on Sunset in Henderson is a lot bigger and I like it a lot better than the one on Flamingo. The food in both places is/was fantastic. I highly recommend going there. From the great Margarita's to any of the many great food specials. Try it and enjoy

Posted 05/25/06

Be careful when you order vegetarian meals at this place, it comes with rice that contains chicken stock/broth... Bad concept to list a dish as "vegetarian" when it is not....

Pros: location, great desserts, service

Cons: veg-error in menu

Posted 05/03/06

Tried a few Mexican restaurants in Vegas and the Bay Area, and this is definitely the best one. When I first heard about it, I thought it would be pricey, but I was wrong. Even for dinner (about $15 per person), you still get waaaay more food than you can handle. What I like the most is how flavorful their food is. Most other Mexican places tend to use too much cheese in comparison. Definitely worth a try if you are in Las Vegas.

Pros: food, service, value

Cons: crowded at night

Posted 11/11/05

Being a lover of margaritas and mexican cuisine, I wanted to enjoy my favorites after my wedding. Having found this restaurant online, we visited it 2 days before the wedding and received wonderful service and were offered many ways to make sure our upcoming evening was special.

When we arrived with our wedding our party, we were shown to an intimate table, next to the mariachi singer who sang requests and special songs just for us. THe food was wonderful, they took pictures for us, provided after dinner "dessert tequila". Itwas exactly what I wanted a homey and fun filled evening with wonderful food and drink!

Pros: margaritas, bean dip, atmosphere

Posted 07/28/05

After trying many mexican restaurants, my son and I have found a mexican restaurant nearly as good as the one we favored in Texas. Everything was delicious, the salsa still needs a little work, more jalapenos and less cilantro and it would be perfect. We will become regulars. A lot of food for the money. We don't drink alcohol so couldn't rate any.

Pros: ambience, quiet, warm chips

Cons: hard to find

Posted 05/11/05

WOW! If you're a margarita lover - don't miss out on these guys original Sauzarita. Fresh hot chips & salsa gets me every time too.

Pros: Margaritas, Hot Chips, Service

Posted 02/21/05

I went to Mercado's based on the reviews. I was so pleased. It was fantastic! The food was great, the atmosphere wonderful and the service top notch. I had the Carne Asada Ala Tampiquena which was very good. They start you off with chips, warm bean & cheese dip and salsa. The Sausa marguerita I had was great also. They had a guitarist/vocalist playing mexican music and the ambience was great (Saturday night about 8:30). I highly recommend this place. The only downside is that a taxi from my hotel (BALLYS) cost about $12-$14 each way without the tip. Otherwise, I would eat there a lot more on my stay. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Pros: FOOD, SERVICE, ATMOSPHERE

Posted 11/13/04

I am so glad I visited Viva Mercado's. Everything from the EXTENSIVE Menu sounds wonderful, and from my experience, it was. I will be back for more. Thank you Anna and Alex for your great reception and service.

Pros: Great Food, Great Service, Designer Salsas

Posted 05/31/04

Without a doubt we have never had warmer reception than at Viva Mercado's. The service is excellent and the food is even better. Bobby Mercado has created exactly what fine Mexican dining should be. "Love those FREE Jalapeno's and Onions." Thanks Bobby and we will see you again soon.

Posted 05/29/04

I've been going to Viva's for years now and I live about 25 miles from there, yet when I want GOOD mexican food thats where I go and I might say i go often.
The quality surpasses the others the service is quick and the staff is very friendly.

Without a doubt Viva Mercado's is the best
Thanks Roe and Patty

Posted 05/22/04

As out of towners who frequent Vegas often, we are always on the lookout for great food. Not only did we find great food, but excellent and knowledgeable service staff and a wonderful atmosphere. The menu is extensive and the salsa choices are some of the best we have ever had. There is something for everyone here.

Posted 10/02/02