Costa Vida – Fresh Mexican Grill – Eating out with kids in Calgary

With three young kids ranging in age from 6 to 6 months, it can be easy to get stuck in a fast food chain rut. Now and then I’m going to encourage my kids to be food adventurers and try some place new.

Address: 9737 Macleod Trail SE and 8650 112 Ave NW (also in Airdrie and other locations primarily in the Western US) https://www.costavida.com/

Restaurant Type: Quick service
Food Options: tacos, burritos, enchiladas, quesadillas, salads and nachos.

Kid Menu: Taco, quesadilla or enchilada served with rice and beans, a sweet cinnamon tortilla roll and a small drink.
Seating: tables and bar seating.

Kid friendly features: Highchairs
Kid comfort level: 10/10 – you won’t be stressed out if your kids act like kids here.

My husband and I had met up for tacos with friends a few times before and really enjoyed it. We considering going to McDonalds (again) but decided to go on a ‘food adventure’ with the kids instead.

The restaurant is casual and a little bit noisy which I tend to actually like because it masks some of the kid noise. You order and pay up at the counter and take your food to your table on trays.

The tortillas are hand made and if you get the tacos they melt the cheese onto the tortillas first before adding the rest of the ingredients. It takes a tiny bit more time but I think that’s what makes them taste so good. We usually get the two taco meal which comes with rice and beans. You have your choice of meat – I usually get raspberry chicken and rotate between shredded beef or sweet pork.

I’ve also had the salad with sweet pork – if you’ve heard of the Cafe Rio salad, it’s basically the same thing. It has meat, lots of lettuce, tomatoes, tortilla chips, cheese, rice, beans and a cilantro dressing (you can also get different dressings).

I also really enjoyed their burritos but found it to be more food than I really needed.

My kids both ended up loving their meals. I got them both tacos one with beef and one with grilled chicken. Gordie (6) added beans and rice to his taco and surprised me by actually wanting to eat it like a taco. Nicky (3) preferred to eat the meat and tortilla by themselves but liked the rice and beans mixed together.

Some options to try for kids who may be a little unsure about mexican food: just rice and beans alone, cheese quesadillas, or ask for your taco to have the tortilla alone and grilled chicken or beef on the side.

I was pleasantly surprised how much my kids liked the food at Costa Vida and we will definitely be back for more family meals.