Cafe Rio Mexican Grill

Standing here waiting for an order supposed to be ready 20 minutes ago. Simple advice, just don’t come on «Taco Tuesday». The food is better than average, usually the service is decent. But they can easily get overwhelmed.

Love me some steak nachos. Loaded burrito is very good as well.
That’s all I have to say about that.

I can’t review the food because we were so disgusted by the cleanliness (or lack thereof). Trashcans overflowing, dust bunnies hanging off the awning by the food and dirty dishes piling up on the griddle. while they were cooking.

Received awesome service from the hawaiian guy behind the counter but food wasn’t great (just average). Very similar to Costa Vida but not as tasty!

Went there and the service was horrible. The rice was hard, the meat for the tacos was dry, and the salsa was crap. Never will this establishment get my money. Maybe if they cared more about their products instead of money, they would not get reviews like this.

I love Café Rio, just not this one. In the four times that I have been eating here, the food is overly salted and the rice is never cooked through. So you get A LOT of crunchy rice with your meal. Not cool. Would I eat here again? Only if the other Café Rio locations are closed. Would I recommend others to this location? Only if I don’t like them.

I was introduced to Café Rio on a trip to Utah and became addicted. Unfortunately, we don’t have one in Colorado Springs, so before the Castle Rock location opened I would drive up here whenever I had the time. The sweet pork is (of course) amazing and the workers quickly began recognizing me and always knew my order. Castle Rock is closer, but occasionally I’ll still visit this location for nostalgia.

Earlier today, my company placed a small online order, no special requirements, well in advance of the time that we needed to pick it up. Upon our arrival, we were lied to and told that it was still being worked on. Little did we realize that «still being worked on» meant that it hadn’t even been started. After waiting half an hour, we went to check what was going on. It was obvious that they had started to ignore our order the moment we stepped away from the counter. They finally started to work on our order, but we ended up waiting 45 minutes past the time we were supposed to pick it up, thus making us late for a lunch meeting. In addition, they did not mark a single item and it was impossible to tell whose food was whose. They shorted us one meal, and when we asked for a receipt, we were told the manager had to print it out. The manager came over, wouldn’t even make eye contact, didn’t even say hello, offer any greeting, apology, or a thank you. This is the worst service I have ever had. Café Rio in Southglenn makes COMCAST look like customer service experts! #rudeservice #horribleservice #badcustomerservice #stayaway #notevenworthit #ripoff #caferiosucks

Was I expecting better quality? Of course. I wanted a costa Vita experience. But this was closer to home. Next time I’ll be willing to drive an extra 20 minutes to not eat here.

If I could give less than one star I would, however the app requires at least one. The following is a list of what we observe during our most recent visit there. Needless to say, we won’t be coming back here anytime soon.
1. We interacted with two people & neither of them smiled or greeted us.
2. Lack of awareness when friends came into the restaurant in-​line find us, he started chastising them for not returning his call for the last hour
3. Paper towel dispenser was broken
4. No soap in either bathroom
5. Dirty floor, dirty tables
6. Trash can was completely full
7. Despite there being roughly 7 people in the entire restaurant, there were no clean trays and we had to wait will be rung, while a tray was cleaned
8. No syrup in the diet Coke dispenser

Sadly to say not a good experience. Its the portion size. We have eaten at Café Rio all over Utah and 3 in Colorado. Our experience at this location was a disappointment. It was not the taste but the portion size. A tiny dab of beans. A tiny dab of rice (if any) a few strands of meat. The sad thing is I paid a lot for this salad!

The food is delicious and the tortillas have a nice mildly sweet flavor to them. They have some neat flavors of lemonade and good horchata. Why only 3 stars? They are NOT gluten free! I’m totally surprised that they do not offer one item that is gluten free. They have forced me to take my business elsewhere due to a family member who is gluten intolerant. Bad for business.

Was pleasantly suprised how tasty my chicken taco salad was. It was my first time here and wasn’t sure how good it would be for the $ 5 Tuesday deal (5 menu items available for only $ 5 on Tuesdays). The taco salad is regularly 8.50 so this was a great deal. Also super cool that they have a horchata fountain. Yum!
Homemade tortillas made fresh on the line and you choose all your fixins’ like many QSRs. The shredded chicken was tender and flavorful and the salad came with ample choices of toppings and was balanced just right.
My suggestion to the owner is to have the people on the line slow down and clean as they go. I appreciate wanting to get us through the line and eating as quick as possible but not at the cost of staff not being able to keep the line clean. It was quite horrendous.

Coming here reminded me exactly of Costa Vida, and since I’m a fan of their burritos I thought I’d give it a shot.
I truly enjoyed the steak burrito with the hot sauce (not terribly hot). The flavors were good and the portions were about right. I’ll be back.

My favorite place to eat. I always get the fire grilled chicken salad, not a healthy salad by any means but so yummy! They make their own tortillas which are to die for. I also love their drink selection, sugar free strawberry lemonade, horchata and some other ones I can’t remember but the variety is a plus. Their tacos and quesidillas are good too!

We used to live in state where Café Rio was good. Unfortunately the Colorado version leaves something to be desired.
This weekend we ordered online. Arrived at the appointed time to pick up the food and it was not ready. In fact, the order had not even been printed on their end. When my pregnant wife asked to pick up her food she was given a blank stare and then the wide-​eyed, anxious stare people give when they screw up. After waiting another 30 minutes and watching many people leave with their food she was handed a bag.
They rushed to put together our order of 8 items. In the rush they forgot to put in 4 of the items. Of course, this was not discovered until we arrived to our home 30 miles away.
The restaurant was not busy and so it was not an issue of being lost in the shuffle. This was a case of not having adequate systems in place to meet the needs of customers.
To their credit, when we called them after ordeal, hungry and upset, the order was refunded. This however does not excuse incompetence, did not meet my pregnant wife’s craving and did not give us the food that we ordered.

Excellent lunch fare at a reasonable price. The fixings were fresh and as someone who routinely avoids chicken in fast food I can honestly report that the chicken here looked so good I had to give it a shot. Best burrito I’ve had in awhile and this place could give Chipolte a run for its money.

Love Café Rio and their Tacos.
I know this place can be a little crazy with parking, but that’s Southglenn in general. Everything they make is fresh and the tortillas are the best.
My hubby loves the sweet pork and I love the shredded chicken on our tacos. I bet I go there once every other week and have consistent service and food.

When I walked into this restaurant I found it oddly familiar, although I have never been here. After perusing the menu I was really kind of puzzled, this place seems to be a carbon copy of Costa Vida (my absolute fave). A quick Google later and apparently these two establishments are so closely related they have sued each other over recipes! OK then :)
At any rate, I am a HUGE CV fan so I got my usual sweet pork salad. It was very similar to what I am used to with the tortilla lining the bottom (although they toast theirs) and piled high with rice, beans, pork, lettuce, pico and tomatillo dressing on the side (basically a naked burrito). I have to say I did like the salad a lot and it did remind my of Costa Vida, but for some reason I just like CV better. This is really close to my house so I imagine I will be back and it will probably become a fave
It was very popular. 1p on a Friday and it was packed! Service was nice and they bused the table quickly. Parking was plentiful, but a little crazy!

By far my favorite of the ‘fast food’ mexican food options, even after just one visit.
I came in at about 530 and there were only a couple of other patrons. Menus are posted clearly with options and daily specials, and I like the bright décor. They definitely cook the tortillas fresh as the first employee I came across was right in front of me, rolling dough out.
I had a burrito, enchilada style, with their shredded beef. I opted for mild sauce as I’m a heat weenie and was very pleased with my choice. The only downside to my entire meal was that the rice was still hard. Otherwise everything was delicious and I appreciated the little lettuce/​pico salad on the side.
My absolute favorite part to my meal was my drink. Never have I said this before. But they offer homemade fountain drinks, along with your usual pop offerings. I had a the mint lemonade and it was beyond amazing. I would make stops just for it.
Overall, my burrito and reg sized drink came to $ 10, which is on par with other joints. The special touches with fresh made tortillas and delicious drinks really made it a great visit. Staff were very friendly, to top it all off. I won’t hesitate to be back and will look for more convenient locations to home.