Cafe Rio

Cant give this store enough credit, they always treat the customer right and are very generous with anything you ask. Thats how i like it, btw ask for their BARBACOA QUESIDILLA, will change your life.
I LOVE THIS PLACE!

I would give these guys 4 stars if they had salmon (or any fish) everyday of the week, but they only serve it on Fridays or during Lent. Even on Fridays, if I don’t make it early enough, they’ve run out :(
Besides my problem with the salmon, or absence of, I should say, I think this place is pretty good. There is a good variety of foods, mainly if you’re a meat eater. The food does not taste 100% authentic but its enjoyable enough. The décor is fun and colorful, and the workers are always cheerful.
Side note:
Try the aguas, teas and lemonades. They have some pretty interesting flavors! I like the ginger-​hibiscus lemonade.

I just went here for lunch for the 1^st time. Looked like chipotle so I figured I’d try it. To my surprise… it’s good! Much better then cilantro if you ask me. I will actually revisit this location. Staff was very nice! Store front was clean. Tortillas made on the spot. Salsa was awsome.

So disgusted. No one was at the food station and the cashier went straight from handling money, grabbed gloves and put her hands all over them and then came over to dish up my food. WASH YOUR HANDS! There is absolutely no point to your gloves if you rub your filthy hands all over them first. Health code violation for sure! I walked out.

Been going to this place for about a year now. Can’t believe this is my first review of this place and location.
I understand that cost is handed down to the consumer, so it’s either raise the prices or smaller portions. The problem I have is how inconsistent the portions are. I always get a salad and make it the same way. So we can tell how inconsistent it is.
Don’t get me wrong. Quality of food is GREAT! Love the fresh made tortillas and the FRIENDLY staff.

The food is pretty good so I think this place deserves a 3 to ³⁄₂ stars. The y are constantly making flour tortillas so they’re fresh and yummy. I like the taco salad with the cilantro dressing. If you go on a Tuesday, the taco salads are on their special $ 5 Tuesday menu.

This place is really good. So far I have only had the burrito therefore my review is based on that. The chicken is so juicy and delicious also the staff has a lot of energy! I get so excited on the way here!!!

It’s seems to have gone down here since the manager Jose has moved to another location. The run out of stuff or they just don’t have things. How are you running a restaurant and you just don’t gave things at 12 o clock in the afternoon. That tells me poor management with the ordering of the food.
Just Meh now here at the lakewood location.

The food is decent and it has great prices for the amount of food you get, but the ambiance is kind of interesting. The tables are all over the place. This is definitely a family-​friendly place though, so I guess that could be why. Lots of kiddos. Could use a little more TLC though.
3.5 stars

First impressions are often significant. Ours was that this place was not very clean. The floors were dirty and observing the way in which the tables were cleaned was not very reassuring (by that I mean a half-​hearted effort off wiping and no disinfectant or cleaning solution applied)
When ordering our food the server was disengaged and more interested in everything else except us, the customer, and the food she was organizing. Half-​hearted would be too polite. The young fellow at the checkout though was amazing and had it not been for him, this would have been a 1 or 2 star.
The burritto was disappointing. The food just did not taste fresh, like it had been sitting around all day. The tostada on the other was excellent.
I would be interested in trying Café Rio again but I do not think so for this location.

This place is terrible I’m the duchess on Unilocal which mean I come here the most out of everyone and every time I come here the service gets worse and worse! I’ve been meaning to call there corporate office to let them know how terrible things are but its so hard to get ahold of them. Who ever is managing this place needs to pull there head out of there ass.

BIG DISAPPOINTMENT!
We decided to try this place on a Sunday afternoon, we always walk pass it when going to yogurtland and thought let’s give it a try. If you like good authentic mexican food, this is not the place to go to! This was our experience:
FOOD: Food was just Okay, nothing special or worth coming back to. I ordered a steak burrito, enchilada style. My husband and I got mild sauce, but it has a really sweet flavor to it, my husband hated it; I like sweet so I didn’t mind it too much, but I couldn’t eat too much of it. The meat was bland.
SERVICE: There’s a sign out the window that says «We are hiring.» They need to fire every single person that was working there that day and hire a new crew! No one smiled and they all looked miserable. The male cashier had a little attitude with us, and the girl prepping our food just looked annoyed.
BATHROOM: The girls bathroom has 2 stalls, it was decorated cute but you can’t really see it because its so dark in there (and messy).
ENVIRONMENT: Cute décor but it’s overlooked by the awful dirty towel smelling stench! We tried to eat fast to get out of there because it was so smelly. There was trash and used gloves on the floor by the cashier. There was trash on the floor in the dining section and we just watched the cashier walk right pass it as he went and got his soda to refresh himself. I don’t feel comfortable eating here again, I don’t think it’s sanitary.
My little girl wanted to type her review for this place:
Hi name is Jocelyn. I’m 8 years old. the restaurant we went to stinked. I wanted to throw up. It was all dirty and smelly Im so glad we got out. It didn’t have a satisfying smell or look.

I had to try their chicken tacos this time, since the last time I was feeling sick, and I really really loved the chicken. It was tender, and they marinate their chicken in a sauce. By the way since this time I was feeling better, I decided to try some of their other drinks. We got there a little bit later, so they ran out of the hibiscus tea, and their mint limeade. I mixed their passionfruit tea, with another tea (can’t remember the name), and then after that bae pointed out that they had refilled the horchata, so of course I had to pick some up!
Will try out their burritos later! :)

Discovered this place awhile ago after visiting Yogurtland, typical Mexican eatery, food is descent, nothing really blew my mind. They prepare your food in front of you just like Chipotle. Only difference is they definitely have more options here. Service is good and prices are cheap, so with that being said not really a bad place to grab a burrito or taco when mood hurts.

Im giving this place only two stars. Not because the food wasn’t good or anything, but the service is awful! The food is very tasteful and cooked well. But the people serving it isnt.

I ordered the enchilada style shredded chicken burrito, a side of chips and salsa, and a drink. Spent about $ 17. It was way too much food! I think the side of chips and salsa is big enough for up to 4 people. I wish there was an option for a much smaller size because the chips and salsa went to waste. It looks like I didn’t even put a dent in it. The enchilada sauce on my burrito had a bit of a sour taste to it. I heard about this place from a guest at my job. This is definitely not a place I would go out of my way to get to.

Atmosphere: Casual.
With both outside and inside seating, Chipotle type restaurant.
I ordered a burrito enchilada style, I was not a fan of the green sauce and the steak that I choose was dry and a bit flavor-​less.

Looks like they cleaned house because the new girl at the register said everyone here is new and I don’t recognize the girls with the bad attitude that used to make the salads.
This is the pulled chicken salad with EXTRA lettuce x3. Small. $ 9.25.

We wanted to see if this is as good as Chipotle since we’ve heard it has the same concept. We ordered 2 enchiladas with grilled chicken. My boyfriend ordered barbacoa burrito.
Enchiladas with grilled chicken ($ 1.00 more than shredded chicken! Whaatt?!) — Grilled chicken was BLAND and had a BURNT TASTE to it. Enchilada sauce was a little sweet. Rice was SALTY. I had asked for extra rice instead of beans and they gave me a regular spoonful which is too little, what the heck. And so I asked if I could get a little more rice and they told me it’s going to be a $ 1.00 more. Uh okay, no thanks. That $ 1.00 extra serving would’ve been nothing anyway plus salty rice isn’t my thing.
Barbacoa burrito — The barbacoa beef was so WATERY and TOO SWEET it wasn’t easy to finish. Let me say that again, very very sweet! When we left, my boyfriend had an upset stomach.
Food is very PRICEY (paid $ 20.00+ for both meals — no extras) and they charge you for everything, i.e. sour cream, extra rice, etc. They don’t even give you a big portion especially the proteins. I say this is a waste of money. Unsatisfactory. Bland. At Chipotle, you get fresher ingredients, well marinated meats, free extras (yes, sour cream is free, fresh & good), and cheaper for way bigger portions, so head on to Chipotle instead!

Nestled directly next to one of our favorites (Pieology), is Café Rio. We’d never heard of Café Rio before, but each time we were at Pieology on a Tuesday night, we saw a long line next door. So we decided to check it out. It’s essentially like Chipotle — as assembly line where you can customize your order from their set menu.
Standouts here are the Chile Roast Beef and the Sweet Pork Barbacoa tacos ($ 2.79 ea). I prefer the CRB, while the hubs enjoys the SPB more. I like both a lot, but the SPB is very sweet, so I got to give it to the CRB where the lightly seasoned beef is what you really taste. Tacos come with cheese, lettuce, and salsa.
What I really love here is that they make their own tortillas right there in front of you. And if you’ve never had a freshly made tortilla, do yourself a favor and come to Café Rio to experience the awesomeness. They are warm, soft, with just the right amount of chewiness.
Their chips and salsa is also really good ($ 2.99). The chips order is very generous and the chips themselves are thin/​freshly made and paired with your choice of their pico de gallo, or spicy salsa.
Tonight I got their Chicken Tortilla Soup ($ 4.79). They put tender shredded chicken in the bowl and add gaucamole, salsa, cheese, cilantro, a lime, tortilla strips and then pour the hot chix broth over it. Really good, but my one gripe is that since everything but the soup and chix are cold, the dish ends up lukewarm when you sit down to eat it. Aside from that, it is delicious/​filling, and they give you one freshly made tortilla with it. Mmmm mmm!
We love that they give kids 6 and under a free kids cheese quesadilla upon request. My son loves this and is a happy little guy with this and chips.
The line can take while to get through, but IMO the food is worth it. If you ever come to this shopping center and the line for Pieology is too long, jump next door and try Café Rio out — you won’t be disappointed!