Cafe Rio Mexican Grill

Out of all the «build your own» via a restaurant employee while you watch restaurants, this is probably my favorite.
First off, when I walked in, there was clearly a remodel that had recently taken place. Even as the same restaurant, it the ambience was a lot different. They added about 5 feet to the west side of the restaurant.
Now to my meal. I usually stick with the enchiladas. I’ve tried other options, but usually go with Sweet Pulled pork for one and then either chicken or beef for the second. This time I picked shredded chicken. They pack it nice and tight and ask me if I want Hot, Medium, or mild sauce on it. And then sprinkled with some cheese and run through the little oven. After it comes out they ask you for your choice of beans, I get a little of both. And this is topped with a little bit of lettuce because I’m not a big fan of pico de gallo.
The sweet pork is probably my favorite meat at Café Rio. I will keep coming back as long as I keep getting the same great device and same great experience.

This was my first time to this restaurant and was quite pleased. I got the salad with the roast beef and it was good. The meat was a little salty so I might try the chicken next time but the dressing was delicious! They also have an extensive beverage bar, the mango limeade was refreshing and delicious. Reasonably priced, $ 20 for 2 people to have dinner. I’ll be back!

This location is getting a low rating because of how terrible the bathrooms were. This location is newly remodeled inside and I must say, while I liked the previous look, the new look is very nice and it appears to have more seating. However, my kid needed to use the restroom, I walked in and walked right back out. It was disgusting and it was the beginning of the day so it obviously wasn’t cleaned from the day before.
The food was good, as far as the quality goes it was on par for other café rio locations. Happy with my meal.

I wanted to like this place because Mexican food is my absolute favorite but the only adjective I can think of is… meh. Meh food, meh service, meh prices.

Another bad experience I shouldn’t have come knowing it’s always dirty and the experience is just not good

The food is AMAZING. I go here frequently and always get the same thing. This review is not about the food but about the service. Every time I go here, the service is. Not up to par. They are often rude and short with you. I would like to see better management, but the food is always AMAZING.

I’m kicking myself in the rear for not placing an order online! I made a last minute decision to swing in and pick up a salad on my way to work today. I felt like I was in a cattle shoot being herded along the lunch line. It’s been several months since I’ve been here but today seemed unusually chaotic behind the counter… May have just been because I was at the tail end of the lunch rush.
I ordered a Barbacoa pork salad to go. If you haven’t tried the sweet pork you’re missing out! As they were preparing my food I asked if I could get the mixed cheese instead of the cotja cheese that comes standard. I was told it would be $ 1 up charge for the change, which I was fine with, UNTIL I saw the tiny amount he sprinkled on top. After questioning why they charge $ 1 up charge for such a small change and a small amount of cheese he tossed some more on them and herded me along. The salad was $ 9 out the door and when I checked my receipt I had not been uncharged for the cheese swap :)
I’m currently sitting at my desk enjoying this delicious salad as I type this. The FRESH tortilla and the creamy dressing make it extra yummy!

As far as the food taste goes this place hits the mark. Were it falls short is its consistency. You might go in and order an entrée and i.e. a burrito and it’s stuffed to the gills and smothered with tons of such and just amazing. Then you will go back another day and you have to hunt for the meet and it’s so dry from no sauce you can barely get it down. If they got there consistency down they would be golden. It’s almost a flip if your going to have a good or bad experience.

I came here about two weeks ago after hearing rave reviews from others who have been going to Café Rio in other states for years. I hope that this location doesn’t reflect the standards of the Café Rio brand overall. The place was dirty. All of the tables that were empty had not been wiped recently. The floors were filthy with garbage. The soda machine was overflowing with spilled ice. The worst part of all was the food line. I could tell that they were likely under-​staffed so things were being thrown about and spilled everywhere in the rush to get out orders. The grills were dirty and so were all of the prep counters. Menu items were being emptied out and not refilled. It was completely off-​putting and I would be extremely hesitant to come back to this location until they get their act together.

Food is really good! Some of the best. But the service is shitty. Staff was rude, place looked like it belongs in garden city it was so dirty. There was food left over on every table I tried to sit at and the beverages were empty. There was a dirty rag stuffed in one of the ice dispensers and the other was dumping ice on the floor. Seemed like everyone was using the «not my job» line that day.

Ok it’s convenient and priced reasonable, clean and most of the staff are friendly. When you put ranchero sauce on top of that steak burrito the cost jumps up to 9.49.The enchilada have the. ranchero sauce and less money. Steak to me is the best filler my wife likes the sweat pork. Consistent is the key for this restaurant that’s way it’s a franchise.

This review is no knock on their food. That part is great. I find Café Rio to have some of the best tasting food in this category.
One big, huge issue is their online ordering system. I prefer to order lunch online as it allows me to save a good amount of time on my lunch break. I appreciate that this generally allows a fast and efficient transaction. Three of the last four times I’ve ordered online from this location, my food had not even been started by the time I arrived, at my predetermined time. Two of the four times, I watched an entire line filter through the front end before I received my order. That’s right, it would’ve been FASTER for me to simply walk in and order. I understand that things get crazy around the lunch rush, but don’t sit your online customers three feet away from a sign that says «SKIP THE LINE, ORDER ONLINE!» if they are actually waiting longer than those in line. Never once received an apology or so much as an acknowledgment that it was taking so long.
It takes a lot for me to write a bad review, but the infuriating nature of these interactions have made me no longer frequent Café Rio. Not because I don’t like their food, but simply because I can’t afford to blow half of a lunch break waiting for it.

Love love love
Perfect food! Perfect service! I always find a Café rio where ever I visit and LOVe it always

I was extremely disappointed with Rio. We got there around 8 and they wouldn’t sell us sodas and wouldn’t open new guacamole so they scrapped what was left and then filled the rest with salsa, charged us for guacamole, and then seem offended when I asked why it was 90% salsa when we ordered guacamole… So, there’s that.
My food was salty. I got the enchiladas and they were subpar. I do not think that the more expensive chicken is worth it, there’s no real kick to it, it just seemed very blah for the additional charge.
I will not being going back here.

I had the Pork Burrito, $ 7.79 … a teeny 1 oz. scoop of guacamole, $ 1.19 … and a «regular» soda (12 oz, I guess), $ 2.19 (okay to get refills), for a total of $ 11.84 (including tax of $ 0.67). It is all served within an aluminum foil dish and there is no table service … plastic knives, forks and spoons, wax paper cups.
So, here is the deal: the burrito was good … the guacamole was okay … for a «soda» I had the Mint Lemonade, which was delicious. HOWEVER, the ambiance in the place just sucks.
Customers are herded to the service counter by a labyrinth of railings. I felt like I might get branded at the end of the line, like a cow.
The acoustics are horrible, noisy, LOUD.
The floor is concrete. So, when customers slide back their chairs to seat themselves at a table, the chair legs make a screeching sound, kinda like scratching one’s fingernails on a blackboard.
The place was busy, so, people are enjoying the food. However, I’d argue they’d have even more customers if they made an effort to deal with the acoustics and gave the place a deep-​cleaning. The concrete floor seemed way past the due date for a deep scrubbing.
The only reason this place is earning three stars from me is that there is no denying the food is tasty.

Pretty, pretty, pretty… good!
Best Mexican fast food style food in town. It trumps chipotle by far, chapalas and Baja Fresh.
Personally I think Café Olé has the best blue corn tacos on the planet but for everything else café Rio is great. Especially the grilled chicken tostadas!

Their Salads are exceptional. Especially the Pork Borbacoa which is regularily tried to be copied, but none as successful as Café Rio. The staff are very responsive, bright and efficient. The line could move a little faster, but they send out a lot of food so.. .
The dining area can get a little crowded as well.

I’m basing my review on takeout that someone else picked up for me — so I didn’t get to experience the actual restaurant experience. The other reviews imply that this place gets crazy packed. I have no idea what it was like because I was sitting by the fire waiting for my brother and sister in law to bring my food to me.
I had a mixed black and pinto bean burrito with rice, and cheese served wet with green sauce and cheese and it was extremely tasty. My 14 month old shared it with me and it was pretty much the only thing she wanted to eat. They also brought us a large bag of chips… yummmmmm. I said that I’m glad we don’t have one of those restaurants because I’d probably eat those enormous fattening burritos all the time.
My husband also enjoyed the burrito. The fresh tortillas were great.
Everyone else got different things including a steak taco and a couple of salads — everyone liked their food — no complaints here and I’d eat there again. Granted, I can’t really eat a lot of items on their menu because I’m pescatarian — but the burrito is enough to make me a fan!

After being disappointed by Smashburger, I was ready to be disappointed at the joint next door, Café Rio. Thank goodness, Rio didn’t let me down; this experience was pretty nasty and I will not be returning.
To their credit, a few of my complaints are out of their control. Rarely do my wife and I get to eat a quiet lunch together, and this was no exception. The place was LOUD! Part of this was due to their employees (fast-​paced assembly line at the front) and their many obnoxious customers. Most of the people there were loud, had loud children running around, bumping into people and screaming, and rude. When I first moved to Boise, I loved how nice people were. However, I’m on a string of rude experiences. I opened the door for my wife, continued to hold it for a nice, elderly couple, who proceeded to speed-​walk past my wife so they could be get in line first. Not the Café’s fault… just sayin’…
We’d never been here before, so as the line of employees shouted unintelligible questions at us, we were understandably confused and had to ask for clarification. They weren’t mean or rude, just a little brusque.
The food itself was nothing special for being so darn expensive. If you’ve never been, it’s almost identical to Chipotle. I was hoping for some nice little street tacos, but realized it was pick your filling, pick your shell, pick your toppings style. I opted for a burrito and paid an extra $ 1 for grilled (instead of shredded) chicken. I think I had four or five solid bites of chicken, so that was a pisser. I also paid $ 1.50 for a side of guacamole, which equated to a tiny scoop, maybe 2 – 4 bites of guac. The burrito was mostly beans and overcooked rice. My wife’s salad was fine, but still pretty expensive for what you get.
Anyway, I stick my tongue out and make fart noises at this restaurant. Won’t be returning. If you like loud restaurants with overpriced food, unexplained crowds and unruly toddlers, this is your jam!

I came here with a friend after she had been raving about how great this place was. When I first walked in and saw some of the entrees on the different tables as i waited in a long line that wrapped around wooden poles, it honestly didn’t seem like the most appealing food to me. My eyes lit up when i saw how long the line was and i figured we would be waiting 20 minutes just to put our order in. But they move fairly fast here.
I like the décor its cute and clean. I ended up ordering the chicken salad. They have different days with different specials. And this was the special for the day. My friend got the quesadilla. The best part was how fresh the tortillas were which they fried up on the grill nice and crispy! They give a generous amount of chicken and the taste was juicy and amazing!
To drink they have everything you can think of thats your list of general coke products. But they also had a very nice selection of traditional mexican style drinks. I chose to go with horchata which was very good, cinnamony, and heavy.
I would have given 5 stars but feel they were over priced when it came to add ons. My friend paid $ 1 for guacamole and $.50 for sour cream. And this was for nothing more then a small spoon full.