Viva México! Cantina and Grill

Another Mexican restaurant trying hard to take the torch from El Sombrero, and doing a great job in ambiance and location, but falling short on the food.

FINAL VERDICT

AUTHENTICITY: 3 out of 5

AMBIANCE: 4 out of 5

FOOD: 3 out of 5

PRICE: Not so affordable, $12 to $15 dishes at lunch.

The place is nicely decorated, painted tables and chairs, cool tin piñata-inspired lamps. A long bar on the right. 5 gringos and I decided to try it out for lunch this Friday. There was Jim, Colin, John, Jon, Patrick and I. Very friendly, they got a table setup for us right away. The front of the place was full, so they put us all the way in the back, but it was a nice back. They were so attentive it was a bit confusing: a lady walks you in, another guy brings the table settings, another woman asks if we want any drinks and another guy actually takes our order. I wasn't sure who our waiter/tress was. No crazy ranchero music blasting in this one, just the NFL network on a couple large TVs. Nice Manus with color photos with traditional mexican fare like enchiladas, tortas, tamales, mole, tacos, and a few fancier dishes.The food took a little longer than I would've liked, specially for a lunch crowd. They had Mexican Coke! This was a bit hit with the gringos. I guess when you've grown up tasting only High Fructose Corn Syrup, getting some actual sugar in your blood is a treat. I had the Jamaica and John the Horchata.

This is what we ordered:

Colin: Tacos (Carnitas, Chicken and ??)

John: Fish Tacos

Jim: Camarones al Mojo de Ajo (grilled Shrimp with garlic)

Patrick: Pork Combo (Taco, enchilada, flauta)

Jon: Chicken Combo

Me: Torta de Milanesa and Tacos (Pastor, Asada, Tripa)

So, get this: No free chips and salsa! May be like the only Mexican restaurant I've been to that does not serve chips and salsa. This is not going well.

I always say that I rate a good Mexican restaurant by their salsa and their tacos. It is the basics. If you cannot get these right, there's no hope for anything more complicated. Well, we ordered 2 sides of chips, and they came with red, green and refried beans. The red salsa was disappointing; no flavor, no intensity, no spice, none of that woodiness from dried chili pepper. The green salsa was no better. The refried beans were average, bland. Chips were good. Yeah!!

The food finally arrived. They got Jim's order wrong but they were very nice about it and they let him have the dish for free (he got fish in green salsa by mistake ) and they made his dish right away.

To the food:

Tacos (2 Carnitas, 1 Chicken) - Made the traditional way: 2 soft corn tortillas, meat, onion and cilantro.Colin: The Carnitas were not very good. He was disappointed by the dish overall. 2 out of 5.

Fish Tacos - 4 tacos, with lettuce and avocado.
John: He thought they were pretty good. Not Baja good, but good. 4.5 out of 5

Camarones al mojo de ajo - They came with rice.
Jim: They were good. 4 out of 5.
The Fish in green salsa rated as terrible by Jim. He only took one bit. Overly strong. 1 out of 5.

Combos - Pork and Chicken, with shredded lettuce
Patrick and Jon: They were good. 4 out of 5.

MeMilanesa de Pork - Big sandwich with Pork chicken-fried-steak, fresh cheese, avocado, beans. Pretty good, a little dry but good. The best thing I ate. 4 out of 5.Tacos (Pastor, Asada, Tripa). The pastor was ah, nothing special, the Tripe was mushy, not crispy like it's supposed to be. Didn't taste good. The carne asada was average. 2 out of 5.

I don't know about this place dude...

Torta de Milaneza, hmmm.

2 tacos de carnitas, 1 chicken

Pork Combo

Chicken Combo

Fish Tacos, yummy!

Pastor, Tripe and Asada Tacos. Skip the Tripe for sure.

CONCLUSION: Overall, not bad, but they need to work harder at their food. Maybe trim the menu down and focus on less things but make them better. Seems like a good place to hang out and have a few beers. They're trying to be authentic, but the preparation and seasonings didn't reflect that. Pricey for lunch. They need to focus more on their lunch crowd. It's worth a shot.

129 Washington Street

Providence, RI

(401) 369-7974

www.vivamexicocantinagrill.com