Cafe Rio Mexican Grill

Great food, Horrible customer service
I love the food here but the rude service provider kept asking me to replete my simple order then tossed our trays down towards the register.
Went out to the patio to eat and could not kind a clean table. Looking around the windows were filthy, trash laying around the patio, the trash can was over flowing and the employees were out back smoking behind the patio. Not impressed.
HIRE A PROFESSIONAL MANAGER it would make an immediate difference.

I’m religious about Taco Tuesdays! The barbacoa pork is one of my favorite things to eat, period. I will occasionally go in and get a burrito, enchilada style which is great with the red sauce as it has a little spice that goes nicely with the sweetness of the pork. I do not like their rice as they mix it with their green sauce. I always ask for my pinto beans to be drained well because they will make your entire order soggy if you don’t specifically ask for that from them. I tend to go here about once a week and always enjoy it.
Staff is up and down — I hear a lot of grumbling when I’ve been in the last few times (about their colleagues, bosses, schedules, etc.) which is not appropriate in front of customers in general. The food is always great though and the staff have never been rude to me nor have they ever messed up my order — which is a MAJOR pet peeve of mine — so I love that.
Parking can really be horrible in the lot dedicated to this and several other restaurants.

I go to café rio all the time I love there food, but this time I don’t think I will ever go back am so disgusted! My husband got me a burrito with the enchilada sauce on it and I took it home not paying attention I started eating it. Then when I looked down there was the biggest piece of hair I showed my husband and he tells me the people there don’t wear hair caps!
I called the restaurant and the manager was very nice and said he would give me my money back. When I went back and showed him the hair I got my money back and I saw the girl and this time she was wearing a hat! I will not go to this place again until they learn hats are not hair caps!

Probably the best taco Tuesday deal in all of phoenix. The workers have fun while they work, they’re super nice. Lighting inside is pretty neat too. They have a patio area too. Food was great, I had the chicken tacos! They also have like 4 different types of limeades!

Chicken tacos were okay but oh man the steak tacos, smelled so weird and tasted disgusting, I had to throw my tacos away :(haa. I called in to complain about my tacos and the manager said they probably smelled because if you don’t ask they always cook the steak medium rare… still don’t get why they would smell but okay… so people if you must eat a steak anything from there make sure to order it fully cooked. Good luck !;)

Concur with other reviews… rude and rushed service. Have been there several times and they always screw up my order. $ 8.00 for a cheese quesadilla!!! Please support other worthy Mexican restaurants and not this place!

1 star for customer service: there rude, impatient, don’t listen to what you want on your food THAT YOUR PAYING FOR!!!
But a 5 star for their food LOL it’s bomb!
HIRE NEW WORKERS ASAP!!! And tell them to SMILE & LISTEN!!!

Love the food. The sweet pork is amazing but the prices are getting more and more ridiculous. It seems like they’re always looking for a way to add extra fees. This last time I ordered a kids meal anticipating the kids cup but now even that costs extra.

I Ordered a Steak burrito Enchilada style. Enchilada style they simply add red sauce and cheese and put it thru their oven. Excellent burrito the steak is grilled and its high quality .
The pinto beans are tasty which they are homemade I also had them add some spicy red sauce to the burrito added a good flavor, but did not seem spicy .
The tortillas are homemade which I can appreciate very good. All their sauces are homemade the red sauce is very good, I know the sauce is made from a blend of 3 different chills they use. ancho, Guajillo and california .
I highly recommend this place to anyone who enjoys fresh and tasty Mexican food. Nothing comes from a can out of this place .the place was clean and the staff very friendly.

Good food. Horrible service.
Went on Saturday. The employees walked back and forth in front of us without saying anything. They were laughing and talking to each other but didn’t even greet us. She looked mad when she asked what we wanted. Didn’t say anything just slid the plate down. Then stopped getting our food to laugh with another employee.
The restaurant was dirty. Tables were not wiped off and there was garbage on the floor.
I had the barbacoa enchiladas. They were really good. The meat was a little sweet but I really liked it. I think it would be delicious as a casadilla.
Not sure I would return.

Place look tacky, too much colors, ligths and some ugly chiles hanging.
Food could be better, steak extra 1.50. Tomatillo sauce than is nothing but ranch and chile Serrano blended is a 1.00 for a side too, My quesadilla was served on bottom of the round aluminum plate buried on lettuces, sour cream and pico, Don’t think is practical try to unburied your quesadilla from that mountain of lettuce …
Also very disorganized and dirty,(all toppings were all over their prep table). I will not be back to eat there again

A friend of mine raved about the salads at this place and took me to a Vegas location for my fist dining experience. I quickly joined the fan club, and was very excited to find a Café Rio near my Avondale hotel.
You order at the counter from a menu offering salads, burritos, tostadas, enchiladas, quesadillas, nachos, and soup. The best part is that they hand make their own soft flour and multi grain tortillas! I was able to watch a woman make them while I ordered. I always opt for the salad with a large soft flour tortilla draped in the bottom of the bowl. Toppings include a choice of meats, beans and rice, fresh pico, cheese, cilantro, strips of tortilla chips, sour cream, guacamole, and limes. I love the creamy tomatilla dressing, it’s almost ranch like! So good!
The salads are served as a very large portion for just under $ 9. For a smaller, slightly less expensive option, I have ordered the tostada, which comes in the smaller bowl with a smaller tortilla in the bottom. They run the tortilla, and rice and beans through the oven really quick, but the tortilla remains soft and fresh, and you’re able to add all the same toppings the salads have.
Café Rio does not have any locations where I live, but I now find myself going out of my way to eat there when I find one in the city I’m visiting. I have only tried the salads, but the fresh tortillas, toppings, and dressing is enough to keep me coming back and leaving happy!

BEST TORTILLA IVE EVER HAD! Love the variety of food and drinks
Gets really busy on a Sunday though but worth the wait :)

So I decided to go for lunch instead of dinner because some places are better at one than the other. I will say that it was better but I would stoll only give it 3.5 overall.
I had a chicken buritto. I will give them a solid 5 for there homeade tortillas byt the meat and veggies are just ok and lack seasoning to me.

The good: I want to say the food has a more authentic Mexican taste than Chipotle.
The bad: They seem to be… disorganized. Twice now they’ve been out of something very basic (tortillas), and the wait time for them was…45 minutes?
The good: They have a wide assortment of fountain drinks, and some very interesting flavors.
The bad: Their original beverages are inconsistent in taste. Sometimes perfectly sweet. Other times, flat and hard to drink.
The good: The prices are reasonable, especially on Taco Tuesday wherein their pretty stellar tacos are $ 1.95 each.
The bad: They charge extra for too many things. With Chipotle, it’s the guac. We’ve come to terms with that. At Café Rio, it’s the guac, the sour cream, their house ranch sauce, the verde sauce, and a few other toppings that shouldn’t come with an additional charge.
The good: The service has been great at times. Offering a free large beverage for an order mess-​up on their end, and another time comping half our meal for that ridiculous 45 minute wait.
The bad: The service had been unsatisfactory at times. We’d arrived shortly before they opened one day. The front door was wide open. So we sat at a table and waited, but were asked to sit outside in the scorching Arizona heat and wait instead by an employee. Why was the door wide open if customers waiting inside is an issue, and what difference does it make are fair to ask, right?

I went to order my food the girls serving my food kept talking to the cashier and not paying attention to what I was trying to order.
The music was loud and the other two white ladies were complaining about the music and the Mexican man told them to deal with it very unprofessional.
As I’m trying to decide what to order the girl then
goes on talking with the other girl about a meeting coming up and they and talked about this while I’m waiting to finish my order which I had to ask for more serving because of the very small portions then she was putting on my tin foil plate after I’m done
I go to the cashier I told her I ordered the special and that the drink I want it then she tells me that it’s going to be extra
I told her the special comes with a drink her being the cashier you would think that she would know.
At the drink station they have syrup to go into your drinks they were empty and sticky.
when I asked for help to refill them the girl who was the cashier said she didn’t even know where to get them so I chose a different drink
Chipotle I will be back many times over and over sorry I went to the worst place ever.
Another thing that aluminum bowl or dish made it hard to warm up your food at work in the microwave inconvenience.!!

Service was terrible. Smelled great though. The worker kept asking us what was ours (?) I don’t know, isn’t that your job to kept track? We watched the kids break the cup for our salsa then put it on the tray, then puts in the queso in the cup, overflows everywhere. My tacos were ready, he puts them in front if me. The other worker tells him you need to ask them if they want lettuce and salsa. Then the little counter girls asks which is ours. I felt like I was doing most of their job by telling them where my chips were, which salsas it comes with, then they forgot the other half of my order. I just left.
I had never been to one of these so didn’t know what to expect.

Ok. only 3 stars because half or order was no bueno. First the service… I don’t think the workers wanted to be there today. The first Kay could hear me and I had to repeat myself but other than that… the young man making my food was nice & accommodating… made my food the way I want. The cashier picked up my bag of food and dropped it on the counter… uh not sure why.
I ordered the taco salad. no beans but the works. Got the creamy tomatillo dressing on the side. AWESOME! I loved that the tortilla was soft & not fried.
My son ordered the sweet barbacoa. He did not like it. The meat wad soaked in an over powering BBQ sauce, little to no cheese on the tortilla. The foil wad messy due to the meat being place in the pan first (not sure why they do this). He got rice & beans instead of the salad. Looks good but too much BBQ, not enough cheese.
We will go back though we will not order the Sweet Barbacoa again. P. S. look at the meat before you selected it… most of the meat is soaked in thick sauce.

I came here to try it again for the second time and it was better than last time. I ordered the quesadilla with rice and black beans. It was ok. It needed more spiced and a kick. I was expecting food that tastes BETTER than chipotle but it was not. Where is the salsa bar?! I totally need one of these here for then it would get rated higher. The tortillas and black beans are great but not the rice or salsas. I love the fact that there is so many drink choices like Hibiscus Tea and Horchata. But it needs Mexican spice to get that authentic Mexican food taste.
I would come back though for more of that delicious homemade tortillas.

For whatever reason, last night, I had a HUGE craving for some Café Rio Barbacoa Nachos. I have only had them twice before so I don’t know why/​how this strong craving came about. Granted, the nachos are freaking delicious and are definitely some of the best nachos I have ever had. Still, it’s a random craving to have out of nowhere. I Unilocaled Café Rio and found out that there was one semi close to my house. Guess where I went to lunch today? Yup… nacho, nacho man… I want to be, a nacho man!
Rolled down here and got in line and placed my order for my pork barbacoa nachos. Whenever you order nachos, the staff sings the nacho man song. Its pretty funny yet a bit uncomfortable to hear all of them bust out a tune while making your food. Anyways… I got mine topped with all the usual stuff (pico, guacamole, sour cream, cheese, black beans, Dr. Pepper soaked pork barbocoa). Total for nachos and a drink was a little over $ 11.50. Here is how they were…
Pork Barbacoa Nachos– These things are possibly the best order of nachos out there. They pile a grip of tortilla chips into a little tin foil container. They then top your chips with a grip of cheese and meat of your choice. They send it through a little conveyor belt to melt the cheese and then load it up with the other toppings mentioned in my previous paragraph ;-). Everything works well. The sweetness of the pork barbacoa, the crispy chips, the stringy cheese and the heartiness of the black beans all blend together perfectly. They are a bit skimp on the guacamole and sour cream but they still give you enough to mix it around a bit. Overall, they are just excellent nachos… some of the best nachos I have ever had. Oh yeah, they serve Coke products which is sweet!
Once again, I was very impressed. I have not had anything else from here, and doubt I will ever get anything else from here besides the nachos. Stick with a winner, right? These nachos are fantastic and are a must order every single time! Trust me ;-)