From Costa Vida Fresh Mexican Grill:

It's Baseball Season and we have some exciting news!



Costa Vida Fresh Mexican Grill will have a concession stand at Olsen Field down the third base line! Our menu will consist of: Chile Lime Chicken and Sweet Pork Burritos, Chile Lime Chicken and Sweet Pork Baja Bowls, Chips and Queso, Key Lime Pie, and for cooler weather Mexican Hot Chocolate.



In-store, we now have the Costa Vida Home Run Combo, a favorite option of Jace LaViolette and #12 Ryan Targac. The Home Run Combo is an Entree with Sweet Pork Enchiladas, Smothered in House-made Queso with Rice and Beans and a Large Drink for $11.99.



See y'all at the Coast!

Holly '99 and Nick '02 Johnston
4501 Mills Park Cir, Ste 100, College Station
Phone: 979-701-8801
Costa Vida Fresh Mexican Grill

Dang it. I was hoping for a non meat option from y'all for tonight.

17 bucks for a bowl so empty I could see the bottom. Criminal.

Killzone3abc said:

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17 bucks for a bowl so empty I could see the bottom. Criminal.

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The problem of trying to sell food at A&M sporting events is that A&M takes about 37% of sales off the top and by the time you pay expenses, your profit left is typically miniscule. Businesses have to go into it without the expectation of making a great profit but using it as marketing exposure for the business.

It's all about the money.

We can make the Baja Bowl without meat for you.

Good to know! These Friday dinner time games during Lent are tough.

Killzone3abc said:

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I get it's rough when A&M is taking a large cut. Still you can't serve that small of a portion for that much money and expect anyone to not take it as a spit in their face. I actually thought the food was decent, but that was such an insulting amount of food relative to the price that I have no interest in ever eating at that stall in blue bell or the actual restaurant ever again.

Edit: you understand how cheap rice and beans are right?

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You know how cheap our fans are and how little they are willing to spend more to fund the athletics they want winning national championships??? They even want to pay general admission and sit behind the plate at mid-week games!

Seriously: work with them to provide an offering you will pay more for. Don't use TexAgs where they pay to advertise to haggle in public with them. That's beyond childish and obnoxious.

Killzone3abc said:

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17 bucks for a bowl so empty I could see the bottom. Criminal.

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Nobody forced you to handover your money.

You pay before you get your food genius

What would you have me do? Call them and complain about the portion size? They aren't going to care. No businesses do nowadays.

Killzone3abc said:

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What would you have me do? Call them and complain about the portion size? They aren't going to care. No businesses do nowadays.

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Grow up. Yes calling them to discuss would be more grown up. But if you are demanding and don't understand the economics they deal with then you will be an ass. Read what I write about Levy's upfront for the concession of ALL on-campus food service for athletics. This vendor's working under Levy's structure and has a non-disclosure on the share of gross they pay to Levy's. Now work that into your cheap rice and beans comment.

Actually, I do care. Anyone that knows me will tell you that as well.

The amount of details that have to happen by all parties involved does lead to a significant portion of menu prices not making it to the subcontractors selling in concessions and that is definitely factored into decisions.

We had a lot of positive comments from restaurant regulars and those trying us for the first time. I am disappointed that you were not happy with your food. My team and I are always happy to try and resolve an issue. However, if you are going to preface the conversation with rice and beans are cheap, that is not a reasonable talking point. Our food is made from scratch from fresh, whole ingredients. The rice and beans are made with fresh ingredients added in. Your food also had protein, queso, pico de gallo, and tortilla chips. Then factor in supplies, labor, and all of the other overhead costs of doing business.

I'm personally inviting you to stop by and speak with me sometime at Olsen or the restaurant.

Holly

I appreciate the response. I thought the food tasted great. The portion was just really small, and for 17 bucks that's really frustrating. The base of the Baja bowl is rice and beans no? Just a larger portion of that would have been fantastic. I understand it's not plain rice and beans, but it's still the cheapest part of the dish. There was plenty of everything else.

Killzone3abc said:

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You pay before you get your food genius

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So you handed over your money at a concession stand at a TAMU sporting event, and you expected not to overpay? Yes, you are definitely not the food genius on this thread.

Killzone3abc said:

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There's overpriced and then there's insulting. You seem to comfortable with the latter.

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Assuming I agreed with your arbitrary distinction between the two, I'm not comfortable with either, which is why I don't buy food at sporting events.

Actually, I take that back. Walking out of the Alabama game one concessions stand had leftover hot dogs they needed to get rid of. I bought 4 for $1.50 each.

It's roughly a 3 hour baseball game. You can't plan ahead enough to not eat for 3 hours?

Also, I'm looking forward to trying the restaurant. Thought about it this weekend, but timing didn't work out. Maybe next time I'm in town.

I don't typically buy food at sporting events here. I saw their post and thought I'd support a local business and try it. My portion was so small everyone I was with commented on it when I got back to my seat.

Killzone3abc said:

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I don't typically buy food at sporting events here. I saw their post and thought I'd support a local business and try it. My portion was so small everyone I was with commented on it when I got back to my seat.

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Fair enough.

Or maybe take a picture and reach out to the restaurant? No one is saying just don't complain. But screaming and yelling here are rarely going to change anything.

Concession prices are notoriously high at sporting events/concerts/etc. It sucks. We all know it sucks. If it sucks to the point that you feel robbed, reach out to someone who can do something about it. Even if all that person can do is apologize.

Lots of local businesses do care. It's really hard for a local business to be at Olsen or even Kyle for that matter.

trouble said:

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Lots of local businesses do care. It's really hard for a local business to be at Olsen or even Kyle for that matter.

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Honestly, I don't understand why they do it. Seems like a whole lot of hassle for not much benefit.

I agree. And many of them call it quits after a season.

trouble said:

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I agree. And many of them call it quits after a season.

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I did like the Doube Daves and Chick-Filet with the tents. There needs to be some reasonable pricing that allows the vendors to do well too.

The choices at baseball are much better than football. We're in a nice area of football and not great selections.

McAlister's moved away from us so now my choices at football suck.

trouble said:

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McAlister's moved away from us so now my choices at football suck.

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Send Mr Trouble down a level to grab your mcalister's. Or ask Charles to grab you something when he goes on a tea run. Heck, you might even be able to convince Mrs BiochemAg97 to make a run for you, as long as it isn't halftime.

CostaVidaMexicanGrill said:

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Actually, I do care. Anyone that knows me will tell you that as well.

The amount of details that have to happen by all parties involved does lead to a significant portion of menu prices not making it to the subcontractors selling in concessions and that is definitely factored into decisions.

We had a lot of positive comments from restaurant regulars and those trying us for the first time. I am disappointed that you were not happy with your food. My team and I are always happy to try and resolve an issue. However, if you are going to preface the conversation with rice and beans are cheap, that is not a reasonable talking point. Our food is made from scratch from fresh, whole ingredients. The rice and beans are made with fresh ingredients added in. Your food also had protein, queso, pico de gallo, and tortilla chips. Then factor in supplies, labor, and all of the other overhead costs of doing business.

I'm personally inviting you to stop by and speak with me sometime at Olsen or the restaurant.

Holly

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Thanks for the response Holly. I have never had anything but excellent food and service from Costa Vida.

Gig 'em and God bless!

It's just inconvenient now!!!! And Charles brings me tea.

Thank you!

Just get the sausage in a pretzel! Dang, that thing is good!

This poster simply cannot be helped if he cannot understand that running to a public forum to run down a locally owned Aggie business and following it up with "Yeah I could talk to the owner, but they won't give a flip", is a little more than unreasonable. Complaining is one thing, but his delivery was way over the top and came off as extremely childish. I paid 18.63 after tax last week for a regular burrito and soft drink at freebirds. I wasn't necessarily thrilled about it, but look around. Inflation in both food and labor has absolutely hammered the restaurant/hospitality industry.

He's like 21 so........

annie88 said:

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trouble said:

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I agree. And many of them call it quits after a season.

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I did like the Doube Daves and Chick-Filet with the tents. There needs to be some reasonable pricing that allows the vendors to do well too.

The choices at baseball are much better than football. We're in a nice area of football and not great selections.

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Double Dave's bailed because the effort to prepare for a football game was too much, then they didn't make much money for the effort.

woodiewood said:

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Killzone3abc said:

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17 bucks for a bowl so empty I could see the bottom. Criminal.

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The problem of trying to sell food at A&M sporting events is that A&M takes about 37% of sales off the top and by the time you pay expenses, your profit left is typically miniscule. Businesses have to go into it without the expectation of making a great profit but using it as marketing exposure for the business.

It's all about the money.

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Bingo -- this is far and away the #1 problem

and the athletic department knows it, but...

EMY92 said:

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annie88 said:

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trouble said:

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I agree. And many of them call it quits after a season.

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I did like the Doube Daves and Chick-Filet with the tents. There needs to be some reasonable pricing that allows the vendors to do well too.

The choices at baseball are much better than football. We're in a nice area of football and not great selections.

---

Double Dave's bailed because the effort to prepare for a football game was too much, then they didn't make much money for the effort.

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Local CFA operator did the same thing. It was literally a labor of love for them to do game day sales on campus. The juice got to be not even close to worth the squeeze for them once Levy and the university did their thing.

RafterAg223 said:

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EMY92 said:

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annie88 said:

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trouble said:

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I agree. And many of them call it quits after a season.

---

I did like the Doube Daves and Chick-Filet with the tents. There needs to be some reasonable pricing that allows the vendors to do well too.

The choices at baseball are much better than football. We're in a nice area of football and not great selections.

---

Double Dave's bailed because the effort to prepare for a football game was too much, then they didn't make much money for the effort.

---

Local CFA operator did the same thing. It was literally a labor of love for them to do game day sales on campus. The juice got to be not even close to worth the squeeze for them once Levy and the university did their thing.

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And casa ole, Macalister's, and so on and so on

And these guys will get run along with Rudy's if levy keeps,the contract

If you paid 19 bucks for a burrito at FreeBirds that was by choice. My delivery wasn't professional, but yalls asses are way too chapped over it. Clearly I had lower expectations of businesses than yall. The discussion here has enlightened me to just how much A&M takes (which is unreasonable all things considered), and lessens my ire with the actual businesses that run these stalls. The owner was nice and replied so clearly my complaint was seen and I hope they improve the product for the rest of yall. I on the other hand have learned my lesson and will go back to my previous ways of avoiding A&M concessions as much as possible. But please keep crying about this every few days since it means so much to yall.

Killzone3abc said:

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If you paid 19 bucks for a burrito at FreeBirds that was by choice. My delivery wasn't professional, but yalls asses are way too chapped over it. Clearly I had lower expectations of businesses than yall. The discussion here has enlightened me to just how much A&M takes (which is unreasonable all things considered), and lessens my ire with the actual businesses that run these stalls. The owner was nice and replied so clearly my complaint was seen and I hope they improve the product for the rest of yall. I on the other hand have learned my lesson and will go back to my previous ways of avoiding A&M concessions as much as possible. But please keep crying about this every few days since it means so much to yall.

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Yeah, how bout go away and just shut it. You are clearly immature and have way more self import than you should. And who the hell put a gun to your head and made you purchase the product. I know damn well what I bought was by choice. I was citing an example. Again, get off yourself and grow up a little.