Rio Cafe

Talk about super hidden gem, off the «eaten path» as Corey D. once said. Rio Café is cooking up some serious Nuevo Latino eats and it seems like half of Tucson is missing out! Ok, so the building is kind of odd and the interior is mixed, but what ever happened to «don’t judge a book by it cover?» Food is #1 at Rio. The bacon wrapped dates are as good as everyone states in all of their reviews. They are decadent morsels of sweet and savory in every bite. These are not to be missed when you come here for a meal. Served at lunch and dinner! The crab cakes with the guajillo sauce are another notable menu item; perfectly golden on the outside outside, allowing the flavor of the crab to come through in every bite. The mango-​chile was sauce was the perfect compliment to the dish. And $ 10.00 for this dish is just the icing on the cake. I love a delicious salad for lunch and Rio is delivered the goods. The New World Salad with grilled chicken breast topped with apple, avocado, walnuts and jicama was the perfect combo of some of my favorite ingredients. I’m definitely a fan of Rio. Their menu is creative and packed with exciting flavor combos that you don’t find in many Tucson restaurants. If you haven’t tried it yet, give a shot!
Their lunch entrees don’t exceed $ 13.00, which I think is a pretty good deal for the quality and quantity that they serve. Most are in the $ 10.00 range.
Next on my list is their Brunch!

What a treat Rio Café is! It’s been on my radar for awhile, so my birthday seemed like the perfect occasion to give it a try. And Rio did not disappoint.
We all enjoyed our meals — dishes tried were the coconut crusted pork chop, steak, chicken and mushroom enchiladas, and one of the fish dishes. We also tried the bacon covered dates — a little too sweet for me, but fun to try something new.
To finish the meal — and because no birthday dinner is complete without cake — I had the tres leches … I literally dug in before blowing out the candle — that’s how good it looked — and it tasted even better!
Rio Café is a must try. I can’t wait to go back and experience something new.

I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again. Some of THE best food in Tucson if you’re willing to venture off the eaten path.

OMG, the bacon wrapped dates are like balls of crack! And I LOVE them!
We were able to sample the appetizers, as I said you cannot go wrong with the bacon wrapped dates, except may be over eating them and then that is a whole different problem. The breaded chicken was really good as were the breaded fish balls (with the sauce, AWESOME!) was not too fond of the breaded potatoe… not much flavor on those, not a fav there.
The atmosphere was quaint and I will go again!

Ignore the décor and odd architecture, there is some definite food love going on here. After a night of tasting what Rio Café has to offer while attending the Unilocal International Supper Club event I can definitely say I’m a fan.
While the experience wasn’t typical I am definitely going to go back and try some more! The bacon wrapped dates were quite delish! I am a tapas kind of gal. Give me small bites, variety and well made food and I am one happy camper. The wine also helps! They have a decent wine list with some solid selections.
The service seemed great from what I could see as I observed other tables (our experience was wonderful but I don’t know if that is typical). Definitely will be making more forays to that side of town!

Had a great time here last night with a fun and interesting group of Unilocalers for our International Supper Club.
This was my third time having their food. The first time was about 8 months ago, when I stopped in for take-​out lunch. I had the fish tacos ~ made with crispy tilapia fillet served in a flour tortilla with mango pico de gallo, Cuban beans and rice. OMG the addition of the mango pico de gallo, YumOLicious! It was so good that I went back to dine in with my family a few days later.
We had the Criollo Chicken, (boneless chicken breast, marinated in a cilantro vinaigrette and grilled with poblano mashed potatoes). Coconut Crusted Pork Chop (pan seared pork loin chop with a honey glaze and toasted coconut. With. poblano mashed potatoes & grilled vegetables) and more Fish Tacos. All Spectacularly delicious!
The service was also pretty darn great. The server, like last night, was very friendly and attentive. I also remember when we were leaving the owner actually came up to us and thanked us for coming in, and invited us to come back to see him again. That was nice.
Fast forward to last night!
Our group had the pleasure of sampling several small plates of yummy offerings, made by Chef Eduardo and they were all pretty good. My favorites were the lovely dates wrapped in bacon, those definitely got the «eyes closed & humming» reaction, and I also LOVED the baked sonoma goat cheese with roasted tomato ranchero sauce.
Now that I live much closer, I will definitely be back with the family for dinner.
Thank you to Corey D. & Rio Café.

Unilocal International Supper Club was held here this evening. I had read a couple reviews about the place and agree that it has a really quaint atmosphere. We had a really intimate tapas style dinner where we sampled various dishes in the restaurant. Out of the 7 we sampled this evening, I am between the goat cheese dish and the bacon wrapped dates as being the best. I didn’t get to hear every description of each item we were served, however I just thought it gave me the opportunity to test my palette. The only dish that is on Rio’s actual menu that I thought could use some improvement was the brie and pear quesadilla. It was served with a mango salsa that was to die for. However the quesadilla itself fell short. I thought maybe if they included a caramel sauce on the plate that that would kick it up enough or perhaps a protein like duck. I did love the concept though, as brie dishes have always been an attractive menu item for me.
In any case, I will definitely be back to try Rio again!

This review is for the Unilocal supper club event on 2÷1÷12. Thanks to Corey for organizing this event! It was fun to meet fellow Unilocalers and taste the tasty tapas of Rio Café’!
Edwardo (the chef) and Richard (the owner) are very charming. It was a breath of fresh air to see them both interacting with all of the guests. I love that! (In so many restaurants these days, the manager or owner ends up being MIA). It feels good to know they are here, and according to Richard, they are «always here!»
They have a great menu and wine list at Rio. Although I didn’t try any of the entrees’, the tapas were very good. I especially liked the dates wrapped in bacon, and the goat cheese ranchero. Hmmm… Looks like I’ll need an extra workout tomorrow!
Will have to come back and try the entrees here. The location, just east of Tucson Blvd off Grant Road leaves a bit to be desired, as does the ‘ski chalet’ ambiance, but most folks come here for the food. My only suggestion: how about a bit of Spanish music guys? Some Spanish guitar music would be just the right touch to make Rio come alive!

Lovely place. Went and did the Unilocal International Supper Club even here today, I haven’t been to the building since it was Nonie back probably 10 years ago. We got to try a wide variety of dishes, many were fried with a similar crust. I won’t call that a plus, but also not a minus. I think my favorite dish was the first one, a baked sonoma goat cheese with a roasted tomato ranchero sauce.
I can’t speak to the service since this wasn’t a typical scenario, but it was pretty solid through the event.
The potatoes/​hash brown things, are really, really good, brunch is something I’m definitely considering going back for.

Attended an amazing Unilocal event at this venue this evening & was surprised at the diverse menu options & friendly staff. I LOVED the bacon wrapped dates! Fantastic.

Went to Rio Café for the Unilocal International Supper Club event and it was just great.
We tasted about 7 tapas that were served family style. Some of the tapas we tried are not normally on the menu so that was a nice touch from Chef Eduardo. My all time favorite is the dates wrapped in bacon. I absolutely LOVE them! You have to try them out. Another tapa that was great was the goat cheese with sauteed tomatoes & onions served on a cazuelita (as the waitress called it) it had great flavor with a kick, it made a great pair with the crusty bread it was served with.
The service was good, my water glass was never empty. I’ve been to Rio before with my husband and I can say for a fact that service has always been great.
Another great thing about this restaurant is that the owner is always there.
I definitely had a LOVELY night. Thanks to CM Corey D. & Rio Café.

I would normally give 1 star to a place that forgets to mention that they would only have 2 choices of entres on New Years Eve. You expect to have to make reservations for a place as awesome as this at least a week in advance so I called on the 27^th of December to make reservations for 2 at 7pm on the 31^st.
When I called no one said anything about having a limited menu on the 31^st. Before making reservations I even checked the website just to make sure the menu had a vegetarian options for my wife and they did. They also did not mention that there was going to be a limited menu on the 31^st on their website.
From all of that I thought everything for my anniversary would go smoothly. I couldn’t be more wrong. My wife and I showed up at about 650pm on the 31^st of December just to be a little bit early and noticed that our reservation was for 730pm. No big deal because they sat us immediately which was great, it made me a little mad that they didn’t put me down for the correct time. After being seated we were given the wine list, bar menu, and a little blue piece of paper. We thought it was weird that we didn’t get a menu. After getting our drink order, we asked the waiter where the food menu was and were told that the blue piece of paper was the menu for the night which included a 5 course meal for two at $ 40 each.
Once we found that out we checked out what the meal was and what choices we had and there was nothing vegetarian on it at all. My wife asked if they could possibly make something vegetarian for her and they said they couldn’t. After hearing that we left and went next door to an Indian restaurant named the Curry Leaf.
I really wanted to like this place as did my wife and both of us were excited to be going here for our anniversary. After our experience here we will not be going back. As I mentioned earlier I hate to give places 1 star but the only reason this place didn’t get 1 star from me is because the staff was very apologetic and seemed sincere.

I’m surprised I had not heard of this place before. The food was very good.
I ordered the Rio Relleno. This is a place that is not afraid of making their food spicy! Yum!
I also ordered a drink (can’t remember what it was called) the waitress described it as like a mojito without the mint. Also, very tasty.
I’ve been to Contigo recently (another latin style restaurant in town), while the ambiance at Contigo was better, this place wins in the food category.

So this one is part of the Unilocal has an app for that food fight. Ill be posting a review just for the app and then I’ll update at a later time once I actually have a full blown meal here!
This is stop # 8 on our adventure! I jump out of party bus and realize oh I’ve seen this place many a times, however, I have not yet eaten here. The Executive Chef Eduardo Huerta had a prepared the «Rogan Lamb Tamales» made with lamb, masa, unique blend of spices, onion, garlic, ginger and cream. Being that I am a Tucson native I was stoked to get my hands on one, or two! From the description you get a «general» idea of what was going to come out of the kitchen, but what came out was WAY better than how it reads on the flier. The tamale was very good, the taste of curry in there all the «unique blend of spices» really set this one apart. The best part of this dish though was almost NOT the tamale as good as it was. It was this amazing pile of cranberry, pineapple, mango, and some chile that blew the top off my expectations, and it wasn’t even listed in the description! Talk about surprise!
Great Job on the app! I gave this one a 4 of 5 stars.
SIDE NOTE:
The last part is just me being picky. We had a birthday girl in our midst and the waitress said that she did a small bite size cake for birthdays and brought it out and we all sung Happy Birthday. As we were settling up and leaving the waitress asks, «who’s gonna get the cake?»…screeeeeech, hold up… whaaaa! I was stunned! I second guessed putting this in the review but hey this actually happened and all 12 of us were stunned! The impression was it was one of the freebie things that most places do for fun, not that it was expensive or anything but it’s the principle.
Moral of the story: Servers be up front with your customers, don’t try to be sneaky, its my pet peeve.

YES. But here’s why: Mojito. Tortilla soup. Bread. Poblano mashed potatoes. Side salad. Chicken breast. CILANTRO VINAIGRETTE (stole my heart!). Hybrid key lime/​blueberry tart for dessert. I enjoyed everything that was placed before me.
Also the server was incredibly energetic and attentive to my needs. Great Unilocal reviews led me here while staying for business and I hope this helps another traveler or unfamiliar local zero in on a tasty experience right in the middle of town.

Delightfully different! Flavorful food, presented beautifully, with a combination of wonderful taste sensations.
My first time here. Honestly, of the millions of times I’ve driven this road, I have never noticed this little A– frame restaurant. It’s humble exterior belies the delicious food and pleasing cloth-​covered tables and relaxing décor that await you inside. Thank you, fellow Unilocalers, for your fine reviews that brought us here.
Lots of interesting choices: I ordered the shrimp on roasted corn salsa with black beans and rice and it was very good. (photo)
My partner had a chili relleno that was stuffed with potatoes and veggies, not cheese. She loved it. (photo)
It would be wonderful to come back for an evening meal and bring out-​of-​town guests.
Meanwhile, the Rio is at the top of our fine Tucson eatery list.

This the location for our engagement party last month, so we are big fans of the place!
This time around it was a great dinner with friends. The service was phenomenal! Our waitress Sam was a sweetheart.
The wine and salad were delicious.
The best part was the bacon wrapped dates! They are a must have!

Went to Rio today for lunch; we had a groupon coupon to use. For sure we will return! it was great from start to finish. Dining room was almost empty which now really surprises me. I liked the atmosphere. Small & simple yet elegant; I could see it being a nice place for a quiet romantic dinner. Service was good. For an appetizer we shared the brie & pear quesadilla. It was perfect. Not too heavy for an appetizer. I had the Argentinian Empanadas and my dining partner had the mahi mahi tacos. We shared our entrees and both of us loved both of the dishes. The empanada pastry was light and flaky and the beef/​olive filling was moist and flavorful. The fish tacos were lovely, even though I typically am not a fish eater. Extremely mild! The rice and bean sides were delicious as well. We skipped dessert as we were too full from cleaning our plates!
We will be keeping this place in mind for future outings. :)

Went in for lunch a couple times, and each experience was very good. This is a restaurant that takes pride in the ingredients they use. There’s no masking of flavors here — everything is prepared simply and cleanly. The calamari was very light on the batter (just a simple dredging of blue corn flour, I believe) and it was awesome. Tender, tasty, and light on the palette — everything good calamari should be.
I’ve tried their Carne de Argentine and their Puerco de Empanizada, and both were winners. The steak was cooked a little bit more than I wanted (medium, as opposed to medium rare perfection), but it still had good flavor, and the potato cakes were really nice as well. The puerco was tender and juicy, and the garlic mojo sauce added a perfect burst of flavor.
I have yet to try dinner here, but all in all, I’m quite happy with my experiences thus far. A fine contribution to Tucson’s food scene.

Took the family out for dinner on Friday after Thanksgiving. I would say this rating is closer to 3.75, but the service and price were right so I went with a 4.
We started with the following appetizers:
***Guacamole &chips — Chips were homemade and guac was great!
*** Crab cakes — Definitely A-​Ok. The sauces that came on the plate was a good compliment.
*** Camarones al ajillo — Had a little bit of spice which was good, and the shrimp were cooked perfect.
***Stuffed green chilis — Not so much stuffed because they were fire roasted so its hard to stuff something so flimsy. But the cheese in them was really good, and the avocado made the dish.
For entrees:
**Carne Asada and Shrimp Brochette– I split this dish. The bacon wrapped shrimp were fantastic. The steak was just ok. We asked for med and it was closer to well done. The black beans it came with were also really good.
I can’t speak to the other entrees at the table because I did not try them, but the portions were large and everyone enjoyed their meal.
Our server was really great and very accommodating.
The atmosphere is a little off for the food. It feels like a dated 90’s restaurant, but the bar area was cozy.
All in all, not too shabby.