La Buena Vida / Akumal

PlayadelSoul · #1 (**permalink**) 12-26-2007, 06:56 PM

For years, I have been taking my family and friends to this restaurant. We love the setting and the food has always been good and reasonably priced. Unfortunately, that tradition has officially ended, as of today.

The view of Half Moon Bay is the only redeeming feature left, it seems.

On our visit today, I immediately noticed an increase in the prices (and not a small one, either), which is to be expected. Price increases are inevitable. The problem arises when the price increase is not justified by the quality or quantity of the food. Therein lies the problem.

We ordered some shrimp tacos. 90 pesos for 3, which is a bit steep to start with. The orders were brought to our table and to my utter amazement, each taco contained exactly ONE shrimp. ONE! My wife, who is the patron saint of nice, was livid. The shrimp took up about a third of the tortilla.

We commented to the waiter, and he couldn't hide his shame. This is the way it is, now, he explained. We ate, and left. No manager or owner (I believe this place is owned by a paisano, which really pisses me off) to complain to, so I have brought it here. La Buena Vida has been scratched off my list of must do recommendations. Shame for them and on them. There are plenty of places with a view of the sea to choose from. Most will actually feed you.

Libby · #2 (**permalink**) 12-26-2007, 08:04 PM

I have to agree with you about La Buena Vida. We've always gone there for the magnificent view. Our visitors love to take pictures there. It's a nice stop after or before snorkeling at Yal-ku or Akumal bay. I've always found the food to be okay but nothing special. It's never been about the food in my opinion.

My biggest complaint there has always been the service. We've waited up to 1/2 hour for menus (even after getting up to ask the waiter for them), and an hour for food. Now, I know you gotta be patient in paradise, but when you've just been snorkeling your heart out all morning, it's really tough to patiently wait 1 1/2 hours for your food!!

So, what Akumal restaurants do you like? I'd love to find a great beachfront restaurant in Akumal. What about Lol-Ha?

We've eaten at Turtle Bay and La Cueva del Pescador (neither are on the beach), and found them both to be good but nothing that I got too excited about. I do love the loncheria restaurant that you see on your right side when you first enter the town. I'm not sure if they have a more official name than that. And the ice cream at Lucy's is to die for!!

SUNBABY · #3 (**permalink**) 12-26-2007, 08:46 PM

Thanks for the warning.... I prefer the Lol-ha and the luncheria. Last time I was at Lucy's, she was serving shrimp tacos, but I didn't get to try one. I wonder if La Bueno vida is catering more to the cruisers?

Michele · #4 (**permalink**) 12-26-2007, 10:36 PM

While we have always enjoyed ourselves at La Buena Vida..great place for the kids to run around and play...I have never been one to jump up and down about either the food or the service. We may, of course, be seeing the customary "Holiday Price Bump" that I have grown to to accept in the past three years.
We LOVE Akumal but tend to stay in the main bay area now. Generally, we lug a cooler with all the fixins and goodies for a day at the beach. We also love the "loncheria" next to the "Rob ya' Blind" grocery store (don't get me started there and it's not just the prices that annoy me). Good honest food at reasonable prices. Lol Ha is certainly pricier, but we have had good food and service there as well. That view isn't free, ya' know.

Tony&Cheri · #5 (**permalink**) 12-26-2007, 11:57 PM

This sucks! It's one thing when PDS gets pissed off, but when Doña PDS gets pissed off...well that's the end of it. Unfortunately we have also seen the fall off in service if not the rise in prices in the past months. And from what Mark has said, this is not simply a holiday raise in price. You don't reprint your menus for a holiday bump. AND ONE FRICKIN' SHRIMP?!?!?! NOT ACCEPTABLE!

We've always recommended La Buena Vida, but we trust Mark's call on this (or at least Graciela's call

). As an alternative, we agree with other comments about Lol-Ha. A decent little restaurant bar on Akumal Bay. Maybe if the locals start hanging out there, LBV will get the word. Or, we can all wait until Michele and Rob go and raid their cooler when they're in the water.

Tony is trying how to figure out how to blame this on George Bush. He'll get back to you later on that.

SUNBABY · #6 (**permalink**) 12-27-2007, 12:04 AM

I just won't stand for Tony blaming this on Bush!

jx2 · #7 (**permalink**) 12-27-2007, 12:26 AM

That really stinks

. We stayed at Vista Del Mar several times and always enjoyed LBV for a nice close place to eat. We never were really impressed with the food or prices, but it did have some great ambience. I guess we'll just have to hit the corner store for a beer and enjoy HMB from there.

PlayadelSoul · #8 (**permalink**) 12-27-2007, 09:52 AM

Having slept on it, I am still PO'ed. When we take a day trip to Akumal (which we usually do a few times of year), it always includes lunch at Lol Ha or LBV. Until yesterday, I never considered stopping at Sam's Club to supplement my meal with un paquete de Hot Dog.

On a lighter note, my father joked that the menu did read "Shrimp Taco", not "Shrimps Taco".

Michele · #9 (**permalink**) 12-27-2007, 12:51 PM

You are all welcome to raid our cooler anytime!!!

"Shimp" taco....he, he, he.

Sharon · #10 (**permalink**) 12-27-2007, 04:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tony&Cheri

Tony is trying how to figure out how to blame this on George Bush. He'll get back to you later on that.

Ehh...let's just blame everything bad in the world on George Bush!

DavidB · #11 (**permalink**) 12-29-2007, 02:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tony&Cheri

Tony is trying how to figure out how to blame this on George Bush. He'll get back to you later on that.

I was thinking of Tony and DaddyB last week. Saw some calenders that were a countdown to when Bush leaves office. It included some of his "witty" quotes on each day of the countdown.

YalkuHa · #12 (**permalink**) 01-01-2008, 12:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sharon

Ehh...let's just blame everything bad in the world on George Bush!

Fine by me

Living close to Akumal Bay, the hubby and I eat often at Lol Ha. The service is not always the best (except for the new waiter, Rudy, who used to be at Al Cielo) but the food is consistent. The prices could certainly be worse based upon their location. The manager, Mario, is so nice and wants all diners to have a good experience. If something is not right, he will fix it with a smile.

I bought a roll of Lifesavers at the "local" grocery - of course, not priced on the package ~ 18 pesos!!! I didn't let one go to waste at that price...

Michele · #13 (**permalink**) 01-01-2008, 12:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by YalkuHa

Fine by me

Living close to Akumal Bay, the hubby and I eat often at Lol Ha. The service is not always the best (except for the new waiter, Rudy, who used to be at Al Cielo) but the food is consistent. The prices could certainly be worse based upon their location. The manager, Mario, is so nice and wants all diners to have a good experience. If something is not right, he will fix it with a smile.

I bought a roll of Lifesavers at the "local" grocery - of course, not priced on the package ~ 18 pesos!!! I didn't let one go to waste at that price...

The prices aren't the only problem with a certain local grocery in Akumal. The current managment treats my kids like criminals the moment they step foot inside. I don't appreciate being followed around either.

That being said, we are off to Akumal for the day!! Yippee!!

kit · #14 (**permalink**) 01-01-2008, 02:33 PM

Well daggone, this is just sad, we love us some La Buena Vida, and it is most certainly not the food that brings us back every year. We are all about the swings and the breeze and the view and the beer, oh yeah, and tequila shots!!!
For ambiance this is our favorite, we also learned early on to order 2 beers instead of 1, because the service is what it is!!! We are sad to hear prices are going up, Akumal is pricey to begin with, not that this will deter us from heading in that direction next time we are in the area. We seem to be hooked!!!

queencityfan · #15 (**permalink**) 01-02-2008, 09:31 AM

Just an opinion on Lo Ha, I have had lunch there several times and felt the service was fine and the food was pretty good. The portions are pretty large for the price as well.

MWC · #16 (**permalink**) 01-02-2008, 09:38 AM

That is really too bad. LBV was always pricey, but in the "okay-if-this-is-what-it-takes-to-keep-a-highrise-resort-out" kind of way. Which is the bracket I would put Lol-Ha in, too. We've always been happy with the food and drinks there, but the last few times down have done our "big eating" at the loncheria or Lucy's. (Then just done booze & snacks at Lol-Ha)
Lucy's food is great, all around, but they cannot handle more than two orders at a time.

Hopefully the owner will see the light, or another alternative will open up.

maliasma · #17 (**permalink**) 01-02-2008, 10:52 PM

Yeah, I nearly fell out of my swing at the bar when we got our bill at LBV last year. The view and ambiance is nice, but for the pesos we shelled out...well, I was not a happy girl...and it was my birthday, too!

StewartG · #18 (**permalink**) 01-03-2008, 11:37 AM

All this Bush bashing? I hate it when politics get into these Mexico forums...

Besides, I've heard he grills up a mean ribeye when he's at Crawford, so you can't blame bad food on him!

Seriously though... I wish there were more options in and around Akumal, as we stayed there for five days last summer and are staying there for 10 days this July! Lol ha is consistently decent food, but a bit pricey.