It’s always a party at this Raleigh restaurant. Now it’s heading to Durham. (2025)

When the tomahawk steak lands at the table, it’s lit on fire and carved into slices whiles sparklers shoot into the air. It’s a steak, yes, but it’s also an event.

This is dinner at La Buena Vida, one of the Triangle’s liveliest Mexican restaurants.

With locations in Raleigh and Cary, La Buena Vida is expanding once again, opening this week in Durham.

The new Durham La Buena Vida takes over the former Red Lobster restaurant at 4416 Durham-Chapel Hill Blvd. Following a months-long facelift and refresh, including vibrant spray-painted murals, co-owner Salvador Alvarez said remnants of the seafood chain will be hard to find.

“When you come here, this won’t look like a Red Lobster at all,” said Alvarez, who owns La Buena Vida with his wife, Biridiana Frausto, best known for her Fonda Lupita restaurants.

The new La Buena Vida opens Monday, April 28.

The original location in North Raleigh opened in 2022, followed by Cary in 2024. Of the two, Alvarez said the new La Buena Vida will be more reminiscent of Raleigh, where diners are treated to loud music and dinner is accompanied by a bit of a performance, while the vibe in Cary is a bit more subdued.

“This one is very similar to Raleigh,” Alvarez said. “The goal for us is to duplicate that atmosphere. It’s not just about good food and drinks, it’s the atmosphere, it’s entertainment. It’s a party vibe.”

While early dinner service is fairly traditional, after 9 p.m. at La Buena Vida, the lights go low and the music goes up. Shots of tequila are served in airplanes, some cocktails arrive in bathtubs with bubble bath foam, neon lights up the walls. La Buena Vida is one of the Triangle’s leaders in maximalist dining.

“We call them shows,” Alvarez said of the little extra moments sprinkled throughout the La Buena Vida dining experience.

Since opening, La Buena Vida has been one of the Triangle’s most popular Mexican restaurants. In The News & Observer’s latest taco poll, La Buena Vida finished as the Triangle’s fourth favorite out of the Triangle’s very best taco spots.

Alvarez has been one of the busiest local restaurateurs over the last several years, as a part owner in Chido Tacos, Gringo A Go Go, Yatai and La Buena Vida.

With the latter brand, Alvarez said it’s been crucial for La Buena Vida’s expansion to find existing restaurant spaces to upfit, rather than start from scratch.

For Durham, that means inheriting a 7,000 square foot restaurant in the former Red Lobster.

“It’s the perfect location,” Alvarez said. “It’s right in the middle of Durham and Chapel Hill.”

For more information, visit buenavida.art.