Pura Vida Tapas & Bar

03/10/09

Flavor, fun and fabulous!

by qutegirl at Citysearch

I loved this place. I was seeing people of all kinds here. Out of town, family, friends, first dates....good people watching. Great place to meet up. Easy to find. You can tell that they care. The staff has fun but the real WOW factor is in the freshness of the ingrediants. You can just tell that everything is hand picked and super fresh from the beans and produce to the meet. Really authentic and the best part is you can afford it!

• Pros: service!!!
• Cons: parking

03/02/09

RE: ABSOLUTE RIPOFF.OVERHYPED

by MRSKIPPY at Citysearch

Dear Mr. buckheadman,

Might I suggest, next time you go to a restaurant you're not familiar with, read the menu as soon as you walk in the door. Also, if it was such a bad experience, why did you stay and go through with the dining experience?? My guess is that you couldn't afford it and you didn't want to embarrass yourself in front of your date?! Or, maybe your date was terrible and you just needed to vent your frustrations.

Mr. Buckheadman, you need to find something to do with your time! There's way to many restaurateurs that will always venture and frequent Pura Vida. The buck doesn't stop with you!!

• Pros: Awesome food, eclectic art work, amazing drinks

03/01/09

Hands down best tapas in Atlanta

by hutchcleveland at Citysearch

I have been a devoted fan of Hector Santiago for years. I have never had a bad experience at Pura Vida. This restaurant has something that is so important yet lacking in so many restaurants and that is consistency. Also, chef Hector deserves the utmost respect for using fresh local ingredients and supporting our local farmers and small businesses. I went in today to try their acclaimed brunch menu which was what I expected, nothing less than spectacular. I originally wanted to write about all of the great items we tried but am choosing instead to use my words to respond to the incredibly rude and INACCURATE review written by jerkoffman, excuse me, I mean buckheadman. Sir, you sure sound like an awfully miserable person. I pity you for that. I'm sorry that your life is so lousy and dull that you have nothing better to do with your time than try and trash a local business and it's hard working chef. Hector Santiago is extremely talented and your hateful ranting is completely fallacious and ridiculous. If you've ever eaten tapas, like you claim you have, you would know the portions and prices there are average. There is a reason Pura Vida has won NUMEROUS awards and the chef is one of only 3 Atlanta chefs who are semi finalists for a James Beard award. Since you obviously don't appreciate creative and innovative cuisine, I'm sure you'd be a much happier person if you stuck to the boring cookie cutter restaurants in Buckhead, or maybe try a Happy Meal at McDonalds. Better yet, why don't you just cook for yourself? And what exactly should Pura Vida be ashamed of? Receiving the first honored AJC Restaurant of the Year? Star Chef award? Or maybe making the best of tapas list year after year in Creative Loafing and Atlanta magazine? You sir, are the one who should be ashamed for wishing failure on an established restaurant and it's dedicated employees. I am appalled that during these difficult financial times someone would say something so malicious.

• Pros: tapas, drinks, service
• Cons: Can be a wait, go during "off" times