Costa Vida Reviews

by A Hangry Customer

Once upon a time CostaVida allowed you to place an order for your favorite Costa Vida store to avoid waiting in line. Not anymore. I’ve tried everything to get the ordering panel, which is STILL VISIBLE AND FUNCTIONING, to accept any other form of payment besides a gift card. No luck. There isn’t a section to put your payment details anywhere, whether during your order or in your profile in CostaVida . You either pay with a gift card or you don’t order with CostaVida . If the ordering function has been removed from CostaVida , why not remove its VISIBILITY?

Added to the misfortune of the ordering process, when I discovered only a gift card could be used, I tried to find somewhere on CostaVida to reload a card. Nope. You have to buy another gift card to load it and pay for your order. This system is completely screwed up. Make up your mind. Are you going to have an ordering system in your app or not? There’s no better time to figure this out than right now with the pandemic going on.

I’ll be deleting CostaVida . With my continued misfortune being unable to connect to Costa Vida through DoorDash as well, it looks like I won’t be making a visit or placing an order. Oh well.

by Direvarg

I arrived at the store when app said the order would be ready. The order was not even started. The employee did not apologize and took about 20 minutes to get my order ready. She failed to get the jalapeños on my tacos and my wife and son’s burritos were not smothered and we were given two chicken burritos instead of one chicken and one sweet pork. I regret paying the 15% tip up front on CostaVida . I relayed all of this on a survey that Costa Vida solicits on their receipt. When the online survey asked if I would like to hear from a Costa Vida team member I said yes and supplied my phone number. I did miss a call from out of the area but there was no message left. As far as I know they didn’t call. If they did, they didn’t care enough to leave a message. I guess Costa Vida does not care about this ex-Customer. That’s ok. Chipotle is almost as close to my house.

by Pchild168

To begin with this is a piece of crap app. It wouldn't scan the barcode after many tries so I had to do it manually. This is not a reward program when you have to force your customers to scan it within 48hrs or it's not valid. I feel like I'm being more penalized than rewarded. Costa Vida you have to do better than that. What difference does it make if I scanned the receipts within 48hrs or a week later. Your system already has a record of the sales. It is not like we're trying to cheat you. Don't think that you're doing a good service to us just because you have CostaVida. I'll take my business to somewhere that really cares about their customers.

by RelizabethB

Update: the new app won't let me order now. I have an iPhone and it just stays on a loading screen forever. My friend with an iPhone has the same problem but another with a Samsung can load the menu just fine.

I love eating here and was so excited that they got an app (I’m an app/order ahead junky) but CostaVida is way behind the times as far as ease of ordering/rewards.

It really needs to streamline the rewards so that if you order in app you don’t have to scan your receipt afterwards (which doesn’t always work anyway). Also the first time I clicked “redeem” for my $4.00 it then tells me I have to use it in store instead of through CostaVida ordering and that I only have 2 hours to redeem it or I lose it. I work in a mall and don’t have time to wait in the 30 minute long lunch lines which is why I like ordering ahead.

Please update CostaVida so that it’s easier to order on, and so that you get points just from ordering on CostaVida , instead of hav

by Realfunguyjim

Occasionally you’ll receive offers in CostaVida . I’ve found that the offers are not always valid and the company doesn’t honor them.

I received a push notification of double reward points on one day and let this sway my decision for lunch. Took my family. Food was fine. I used CostaVida to scan my receipt, received 28 points (you receive 1 point for every dollar spent). I threw the receipt out because I had no need for it. I figured the double points would be added later, they never were. I thought it was worthwhile to make an inquiry through CostaVida about the missing double points, I got an email back saying they would need a copy of my receipt to investigate. After this experience I was soured and CostaVida was of little value to me and made sure to turn off push notifications.

by Songbird1299

As I approached the counter and told the girl I needed gluten free she threw down the tongs she was holding, rolled her eyes at me, and stalked away. When she came back after changing her gloves she was quite gruff with me. I ordered the nachos and to say my chips were a soggy mess is an understatement. I basically received nacho soup and that was with the cheese sauce served on the side. I know it is extra work to have to switch gloves for us gluten free people but we come to you because you supposedly offer gluten free. If it’s that hard to change gloves maybe don’t offer gluten free. We aren’t gluten free by choice and there are other places that are more than happy to serve us.

by Tylercsorenson

I love costa vida but am very frustrated with CostaVida . First, the UI is confusing and difficult to navigate at times. In the middle of an order, if you navigate to the wrong page it clears your cart. Second, when I arrived for curbside pickup I couldn’t tell any way to easily notify the store I had arrived and to enter my stall number. Third, several valid rewards which I have tried to redeem on CostaVida haven’t worked. It simply says “the reward isn’t valid” but then doesn’t give any explanation or instructions for properly redeeming the reward.

by SecuritySam

1) always get my food to go, so I like the lettuce & pico on the side so my burrito does not get soggy on the way home. With the “special instructions” or whatever it used to be called, I could tell them to put them in a separate cup, same thing for sour cream.

2) please allow us to use our rewards when ordering from CostaVida !! Seems kind of strange (actually bordering on ludicrous) that you can’t use the rewards from CostaVida that is tracking them!!! 😧😳

3) Costa Vida is my favorite restaurant bar none, & I generally eat there multiple times per week, & I was doing it more often when CostaVida allowed me to give special instructions, now I can no longer order ahead because it I do, my burrito is soggy & the sour cream is hot & has run completely off of the burrito!!

PLEASE BRING BACK THE SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS OPTION!!!

One of the managers I spoke to at the restaurant said he had been told it would be put back in CostaVida , but it has been MONTHS & NOTHING has happened!!!

Finally, Costa Vida (the restaurant) gets 5+ stars, but removing the special instructions option knocked CostaVida down to where I now only use it to track my rewards... how difficult can it be to add some bounds checking to CostaVida ? Can’t imagine why you might want to do anything but capture the text & transfer it to the order screen or printout... did someone actually hack you via that field??

by Slill

Yes, you can order your food through CostaVida, but the whole process is painful. I have to scroll through a super long list of items to find what I want and each time takes me back to the top of the list so I ha e to scroll again. When it comes time to pay, I can’t take advantage of any of the benefits of my phone, doesn’t allow me to enter card that I have saved on the phone, doesn’t allow me to use Apple Pay, and sorry I’m not giving yet some other company my credit card information so it can get lost. It’s basically easier to just order in store...

by FayFaynoE

So disappointed with this visit. My husband grilled chicken salad was mostly rice and beans. And the girl making my chile Verde enchiladas was doing her best to get only the broth into the ladle. I finally had to ask her to please put at least a couple chunks of pork inside the tortilla. That’s exactly what I got. Then, when she smothered it, she again ladled out the meat and put only liquid on top. It was just a slimy tortilla and a waste of hard earned cash. I realize everyone is hurting but you can’t skimp on customers. We are doing our best to keep you in business. Next time we will think twice and choose another eatery.

by Ktmguy380

CostaVida is just OK for ordering food. Often I have trouble with buttons lining up and screens that won’t show you the next button to allow checkout. Reordering the same food you have done before is way more difficult than it should be. A simple “favorite orders” menu would be so much easier especially with all the special requests for each item.
The more frustrating part is that they force you to scan your receipt to get points even when you order within CostaVida . How does that make sense? Also, once you have earned points, you cannot use CostaVida to redeem them. You have to go the restaurant and pay there because there is no option to order in CostaVida and redeem any points. It also means you can’t even order with CostaVida and pay at the store because CostaVida only processes your order once you pay so you have to call in or order in person to redeem points. Overall, I like the food but CostaVida feels like they don’t care about rewarding customers.

by Blurr560

It’s easy to see how Costa Vida does their rewards system with the “just scan your receipt & earn points,” but the truth of the matter is it’s a cop out. It allows them to NOT reward you and puts complete ownership on the user. Half the time I forget to scan my receipt altogether. The other half, I forget to scan my receipt until I’m home from visiting the restaurant which doesn’t work because Costa Vida has hidden geolocation requirements into CostaVida prohibiting you from scanning unless you’re within walking distance of one of their restaurants. Manually entering the barcodes doesn’t help the issues either. If you’re eating with family that doesn’t have CostaVida and would like to give you their “points” too bad—CostaVida doesn’t allow that. One receipt scanned per day per visit. So much for rewarding loyalty!

All in all, it’d be a great concept if they actually cared about honoring the loyalty of customers. As it currently stands, it’s a cheap attempt to feign customer rewards while ultimately hoping they don’t have to pay out ANY rewards.

by Foreverinlove181

Why send out the texts when it’s a nightmare to redeem them. Sometimes after we have ordered four to five meals and the two drinks the texts mention if you buy two entrees and the drinks you get one half off-
We have had to walk away leaving all the food after a headache at both rested have tried to redeem. Today we got it done after 15 minutes and four or five people but I don’t get to finish my food because they took forever and we only get an hour lunch!
Gee thanks looking forward to my cold freaking meal after work at 7pm tonight!
Won’t be returning ever!

by Relient Eggs

Love the rewards that you get, and the ability is scan the receipt is great.

The functionality of CostaVida , however, needs a BIG improvement.

When looking at your cart, you better make sure you have everything because if you want to back out and add anything else, your entire cart will be cleared. Every. Single. Time.

If you’re trying to select a different store, the cart clears, as well. There are no options to “add more” items, so if your cart is complete, you have to start all the way over..

What’s even more frustrating is that when I FINALLY got my order perfect, it told me it could not fulfill it based on the time I had requested (ASAP). It suggested I change the time, and my order will be placed. Of course, you can’t change the time from that same screen. In fact, I couldn’t even find the option to change the time. Eventually, I found the ability to change the time, which is located at the very beginning of launching CostaVida .

The idea on paper is great - but wow, it needs to be much more user friendly.

by Yogurlval

CostaVida is just fine and easy to navigate. a suggestion would be to add options on the to go ordering of like “light rice” or “light beans” bc right now it’s all or nothing. my only other complaint is that the “one receipt a day” limit NEEDS to be changed!! i love Costa Vida. so much that yes, i’ve even eaten there more than once in a day, or even several days in a row. (lol pls don’t judge) but that being said, it is unfair that i am a loyal ordering customer and not able to get points for my order if that happens. other instances is I order to go and on my way out someone else in my house asks me to get them some Costa bc it’s so *yum*, so i place a separate order to pick up and then am unable to get the points for that order. i understand if you don’t want people just taking advantage of it and scanning a hundred receipts a day or something. but AT LEAST change it to maybe 3 scans/receipts a day??? PLEASE. thank you. just want my points that i’ve earned x.

by AngeleeHolt

We love Costa Vida and their food and have been faithful patrons for many years. However, the poor employees have been working without A/C for at least a month. This last weekend the temperature reached 116! I went in to pick up food on Saturday and it was sweltering in there. The employees said the A/C had been broken for quite a while. My husband went back today and it STILL hasn’t been fixed. That is totally unacceptable and does not show that the owners care a single bit about their employees. The least they could do is get some portable A/C units in there to give them some relief.

by Jerigan Scott

Me and my friends went to costa, in Rexburg, ID. The lady was obviously newer. And you could CLEARLY tell. She didn’t know how to work the rewards system. And kept asking “what kind of meet did you get” to my friend I kid you not 4 times. Like did she not listen the first time?

by Rmoldy

I just want to thank you for putting out such a great product that is always fresh and delicious!! We only have a few places that we enjoy eating out at because so many places have such poor service and are so short staffed that the whole experience suffers.

I would rank Costa Vida as our #1 go to for a great experience and excellent food every time!!

by Corinne Jenkins

We catered Costa Vida for our daughters wedding dinner, and then also a family reunion, and they were terrific both times! They were easy to work with, allowing me to text and email back and forth on details. They arrived early to set up, were friendly and flexible, served our guests with a smile, and left us equipped to take the leftover food home. We highly recommend them.

by Love5brats

My food is always enjoyable at my local Costa Vida. Today however was the first time I genuinely felt important while going through the order process. Rayne S. was a pleasing change to our customer service experience and hope you continue to employ such workers as herself. Knowledgeable, fast & efficient, friendly greeting & informative with a smile that could not be hidden behind a mask.

by Ice Lioness

They’ve got good framework but it will be several small updates or one major update before CostaVida works the way a food service app should.

For starters, in order to make a mobile/online order while using CostaVida , it opens the browser within CostaVida rather than having a built in section for making an order.

The second thing that’s really frustrating about it is you’re unable to redeem any kind of rewards you’ve earned while placing a mobile order. If you want to use these on a mobile/online order, then you need to pay when you arrive.

When these two major points are addressed, I think CostaVida will be a lot better and actually worth using. Until then, I have other options that have functioning apps that work far better.

by Themindoferic

Why, in all sensibility, do you need two logins to order food in CostaVida? You need one to look at and order from the menu, then you need one to PAY for the food - and we’re not talking about PAYPAL, VENMO, or some other actual 3rd party payment provider.

You go to a separate site - in CostaVida still, but visibly different - and pay for the food there! CV, do yourself a favor, and make CostaVida TRULY be a one stop shopping experience! CostaVida needs a SERIOUS UPDATE!

If anyone orders from CostaVida , just beware of the major inconvenience CostaVida will take you through.

by CamJam123

I hope whoever is in charge of setting up notification for Black Friday gets this. I usually get notifications once a week or so which isn’t a big deal, but on thanksgiving and Black Friday I got 14 different notifications about a sale they had going. Fourteen! It wasn’t the same one popping up multiple times, they were all different. One or two would be fine and I was planning on getting gift cards but after this I have zero desire to.

by Elifire

Costa vida is one of our favorite places to eat! That being said, CostaVida could be much more user friendly. I don’t like that you only have 48 hrs to upload receipts. The order function is extremely difficult. The last 3 times we have ordered from CostaVida , we have waited an additional 30 minutes BEYOND the estimated pickup time to get our food, and they usually get something wrong so we have to drive back 15 minutes to fix it.

by Erin Danielle

Ordering is clunky, difficult to navigate, and sometimes confusing. It’d also be really nice if you could redeem points when ordering through CostaVida . It’d be an extra bonus if your purchases made through CostaVida automatically added to your points.

by Stacym70

Many times I lose out on earning points because CostaVida pops up with an error and when you go to Need Help it says I need an email. My profile is completely up to date, I’ve deleted and reinstalled, logged out and logged in but it’s still not accepting the receipt or says I have no email. It’s still our favorite go to, and CostaVida really is a great idea, but needs to be updated or fixed.

by Ejmeidell

I really like CostaVida . It’s one of the first restaurant apps I have gotten that’s not just totally obnoxious. The one thing I would like to see changed is the store favorites. Once you favorite a store you can’t un-favorite it. It pops up a message saying “oops you already favorited that location”. Thanks, I know, I want it gone. I moved! Haha

by St Janeen Music Patroness

Big fan of this chain! Sometimes go more than once a week! The $4 benefit you get comes more quickly than you think. I've had problems too with CostaVida but the customer service was really nice and helpful. It's not that big of a deal to key in the barcode! It's the fab food that really matters!

by Ansjakdbx482

I always scan my receipts right after I get them. I wish the rewards were a little more or CostaVida has special offers like additional discounts. But all in all, easy to use and to save money. This is my favorite place to eat and they always have great service and food.