THE Owners and partners of Viva La Fiesta include (from left) Abel Joany “Johnny” Fuentes, Marta Fuentes, Liliana Villanueva, Gerardo Villanueva and Luis Miranda. The restaurant was voted Best Dine-in Restaurant in this year’s Best of Springfield competition.
Photo by Bill Lackey/Staff
Viva La Fiesta, a popular eatery in Springfield, has been voted Best Dine-In Restaurant in the annual Best of Springfield contest.
“We specialize in creating food with love, the way customers like to eat it, with fresh, quality ingredients,” said Abel Joany Fuentes, the owner of Viva La Fiesta who also goes by “Johnny.”
The restaurant, known for its Tex-Mex and authentic Mexican dishes, has been open in Springfield for two years. It has an expansive menu and more than a dozen margarita flavors, like the Guava Margarita and the Rainbow Margarita with seven distinct flavors. Customers’ favorite dishes include the Boss Burrito, street-style tacos and chicken tortilla soup. Trash Can Nachos are a top seller.
“Whatever you’re looking for in a Mexican restaurant, we have it, and we have it with the right flavors, consistency and the right taste,” Fuentes said.
A “secret menu” with new, limited-time items will be introduced in the next few months, he said.
“We listen to our customers,” Fuentes said of the restaurant’s popularity with voters. “We want to make their experience better than the average Mexican restaurant. We’re fast, but we want to maintain the superior quality we’re known for.”
Fuentes and his team always go the extra mile to ensure that customers come back. The staff has decades of experience in the culinary industry.
“We pride ourselves on excellent customer service. We pay attention to details, and we know what people like. We know their names, faces, what they order and what they like to drink,” Fuentes said.
“We want our customers to feel at home here,” Fuentes said. “We tell our staff to treat people the same way they would like to be treated when they go out.”
Fuentes said he and his employees appreciate being part of the community and they are thankful to be able to provide for the people of Springfield.
“Without the community’s support, we wouldn’t be able to do the business that we do,” he said.
Fuentes said the Best of Springfield honor recognizes the hard work he and his team put into the restaurant.
“We can say the hard work is going to pay off and tell our employees, ‘Great job on being successful.’ This is for them. They come to work every day with the right attitude, wanting to work. So, without an outstanding team, we wouldn’t be able to do what we do,” Fuentes said.
He acknowledged the support of the Greater Springfield Partnership, the downtown Springfield community and Wittenberg University.
As for the customers, Fuentes said, “We are grateful for the way they support us and how they make us part of their lives and part of the Springfield community. Words cannot express how thankful we are for them. I can’t thank them enough. We genuinely appreciate their support.”
More Information
More Information
Viva La Fiesta is located at 42 N. Fountain Avenue in Springfield. The restaurant also has a second location in Troy at 836 W. Main St. For more information, call 937-717-0205, or go to {a target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer nofollow” href=”http://vivalafiestaeat.com”}vivalafiestaeat.com{/a}.
Dining and Cooking