Cafe Rio

Café Rio is a delicious food option in MB! Similar style to a chipotle, you walk up, tell them what you want, pick your meat and toppings, etc. I got the salad with pork and it was delicious! They serve it with a soft tortilla on the bottom (a burrito tortilla, so I mean, try not to eat it, otherwise might as well get the burrito lol), which I’ll admit was cute and the bites I snuck, delish, duh. Their guac is great and they have lots of drink options like a mint limeade and some other funky juices (I stuck to diet coke, obv). Oh and the prices were very reasonable! Def recommend!

Order the fire grilled chicken salad with homemade tortilla :) Sorry there are no photos as I was too hungry to wait for taking a picture. By the time I remembered that I should take a photo for my fellow Unilocalers, I was already done with my meal. Hopefully there will be photos from the next visit :)
I personally like the house dressing. You can take a half and half as well. Definitely get the fire grilled chicken ($ 1 extra). The tortillas have amazing taste so make sure to take your salad bites along with the tortilla and you won’t regret it.
The greens and salsa are fresh and the tortilla chips on top of the salad makes it only more tasty. You can choose from pinto or black beans. My favorites are black peans.
The salad is really filling and you may not be able to complete it if you aren’t really hungry :) The servers are great and friendly. The prices are reasonable and I love the colorful chairs and décor. Will be definitely adding them to my regulars list!

So I ordered online… This was a bad idea. I get to rio and they are really backed up. I wait around for someone to help me when they finally do they let me know I can’t receive exactly what I ordered. They have run out of steak. Okay understandable I suppose. I let them know my second choice. It takes about 15 minutes. I see a salad sitting the register… They can’t seem to figure out who it belongs to (me). Finally someone who works there says «oh I think that’s hers». What’s the point of ordering online to skip the line. It took forever. This location is always unorganized. I really should have known better.

I’ve been here twice now and I would definitely be back.
For starters I love the homemade tortillas, the first time I came I ordered shrimp tacos and they were nothing short of delicious.
The second time I had the Salad with white rice, half grilled chicken and half steak, half pinto and half black beans. I would say this so far is my favorite. I love salad period and is definitely be here before Chipotle ever again!

Super tasty grilled steak taco and they make their own homemade tortilla when you place your taco order. It is not your taco truck taco or taco you would find in East LA but it’s decent enough. I would put Café Rio between authentic Mexican taco and your fast food taco like Taco Bell or Dell Taco. It is by far way better than fast food Taco Bell and such. But don’t expect East LA taco style.
The pros:
–Tasty meat options
–Salsa is tasty but they are a bit stingy about it and charges you extra
–Love that they have lots of chili sauce option including my fav the Yucca Habanera green sauce chili
–Fresh homemade tortilla
The cons:
–a bit pricey for what it is
–extra charge for more salsa
Café Rio is located next to REI.

Great food, bad service… I usually order food in advance on Tuesdays due to the lines. This is the 3^rd week in a row they have had problems with my order. First time they got my order wrong, left the sauce off my enchilada style burrito and forgot to give me my tres leches. Last week they gave my food away to somebody else so I had to wait 20 – 25 minutes for them to re-​make my order. Today my order wasn’t ready on time so I had to wait 15 – 20 minutes for them to make my order in the first place. On top of that, the cashier said this was a slow night? Seriously? I understand that mistakes happen but this is becoming a pattern.
I suppose it’s my fault for continuing to patronize the restaurant and hoping the service magically improves. It’s probably time for me to find a different Tuesday night spot anyway. Maybe it will be La Paz next Tuesday…

This isn’t supposed to be anything compared to a taco truck or a real Mexican place you can find in Lennox. This is in Manhattan beach .take it for what it is. and for their delicious Barbacoa. The line may be long sometimes but that’s because it’s so dang good for lunch or for dinner. The tortillas are hand made and so delicious. When you walk in the door they greet you by saying or yelling hello!!! in whatever language they feel like because that’s them being friendly to anyone .not racist. They say if you tell them it’s your first time the the staff will sing to you.
Overall this place is great… the food is quality the burritos are to die for .the salads are exactly what a girl needs sometimes. and the service is what it is. Anytime I’ve ever introduced someone to the restaurant every single person I know has asked to come back. There’s really no other place like it.

Third time going. After taco Tuesday I realized I should call my order in, which requires payment in advance. Whatever, though. After entering on the pickup side, I was totally ignored by staff until every other possible customer had been helped. Get back to office and the rice was barely cooked making everything taste super starchy. Might be a while before I think the premium price is worth it again

Good news: Tues deal for $ 5.50 dishes.
Bad news: the line stretches to the door.
I took a look and moved on.

I like going to Café Rio for the Salad its something different and Good !
I normally order the baked flour tortilla Chicken Salad which is place inside a flour tortilla that’s baked with cheese, black beans, rice etc. I just love how they put all the toppings into that tortilla shell. And that’s a meal that will fill you up.
As always the service is Great.
Thanks Café Rio for your Good Customer Service and Good Food

Really dirty. No drinks except fountain no lemonades, limeades ect, no forks to eat your food. They gave us sporks. had to ask for napkins cause they ran out, trashcans filled to the brim

My go-​to restaurant for Taco Tuesdays! I believe they have more than just a taco special, to include the choice of a burrito, quesadilla, or salad as well… for ~$ 6! That’s a steal in my book. Normal prices are pricier than Chipotle, but the taste is much better. The homemade tortillas are exceptional, and rival some «legitimate» Mexican restaurants. The pork barbacoa, as you’ve probably already heard, are super delicious; but may be a little sweet for those who don’t like sweet meat. Fear not — the other meat options are solid back-​ups. Lime cilantro rice is good too.
However, I do think they put too much beans in orders as a filler, even if asked to put less. And the lines during lunchtime are ridiculous. Everyone and their mamas know how good this place is and it’s located close to several workplaces, so if you don’t get here early, be prepared to wait in line. This might play into the fact why a lot of the reviewers are complaining about customer service — they try to crank out orders and get you through the line ASAP. Ain’t nobody got time for manners!
Last tip: if you sign up for their rewards program or download their app, you automatically get a free drink. Then when you get 100 points, you’ll get $ 10 toward your next order. Not bad if you eat here religiously.

Honestly, I feel bad recommending this place to my friend because of the racist remark that one of their staff told me. Please teach your staff that not every one is cool with racist jokes. Never judge someone just because they look like a certain race/​ethnicity.
I was standing in line with my friend who’s getting her food when one of the servers tried to grab my attention by saying: «Hello! Konichiwa! Arigato!» First of all, I am not Japanese, so I looked at him and told him, in English, that I wasn’t buying anything but my friend is. I was hoping that he would get the idea that I actually speak English EVEN IF I look like I’m Japanese, and that he didn’t have to make a racist joke. But no apologies, no «just kidding»…nothing. He was lucky I didn’t ask for his manager so maybe he could thank me… IN MY LANGUAGE.
Definitely not going back and not recommending this place anymore.

I went to Café Rio today — one of my favorites in the area! I was sad to find just how bad the service has gotten at this location. I was with a group and one person in our party had never been. When we told the staff this they didn’t even sing!
I wish the story ended there but unfortunately that was the least of our worries. All 6 of us were shocked at a. How small the portion sizes were and the overall stinginess of the employees even when we asked for a little more lettuce or cheese or sour cream etc. b. The constant negative attitude each and every employee had and c. How rude one of the lady’s working the line was. Even when asking nicely for certain things in my salad she scoffed, rolled her eyes and tried to rush me.
Overall I love the actual food but unfortunately the service just took away a full 3 stars here. Hopefully management will do something to change the culture here because frankly it’s awful right now.

I need to go back to Café Rio. It has been too long. Go on Taco Tuesday and order the pork taco!!!

Walked in before the lunch rush it seemed because everyone told around midday it’s get packed here. The options were simple and ordering is similar to chipotle (choose the meal, meat, and toppings then they make it front of you as you move along). Prices were affordable and the staff was very friendly. The food was good but nothing that makes me a Café Rio’r for life. The house salsa/​sauce was pretty good.
I love the ambiance, natural lighting inside the venue and options of outdoor seating. Solid food and great staff.

Worst customer service. Placed a pick up order and received chicken tacos that had almost ZERO chicken. Called to speak to the manager and was on hold for 15 minutes. I then had a rude employee tell me, «call back in 20 minutes… she is busy.» I honestly thought I was being punked or was on boiling points.
Ultimately another employee (not the manager) got on the phone and was incoherent. They refused to refund my credit card unless I physically drove back to the restaurant and waited in line. I was offered a gift card and after the employee was unable to comprehend my simple address after 4 attempts, I decided to hang up.

My review is actually 3.5 stars.
My worked ordered in from here so I’m not really commenting on the cost or service. I had the taco salad with black beans, grilled chicken, and cilantro lime dressing. I thought the salad was good but what made it stand out was the cilantro lime dressing. On the flip side, I wish the taco salad came with a crispy shell (was expecting that but instead it came in a large soft tortilla). I guess the salad was healthier with a soft tortilla but I had already made peace with consuming the fattening crispy shell so I was sad that I didn’t get it, lol. Nevertheless, the food was fresh and tasty so I can’t complain too much.

I was first introduced to Café Rio by a coworker when I first started working in the South Bay.
I usually order a fire-​grilled chicken burrito enchilada style. The quality of their meat (fire-​grilled chicken, fire-​grilled beef, sweet pork barbacoa, and chile roast beef) is really good. I have never been disappointed in any of the meals I have ordered here.
Today I ordered my favorite coconut shrimp tacos. They only offer the shrimp on Saturdays and they do sometimes run out. Nice flaky coconut cover the shrimp that are housed in homemade flour tortillas which are surrounded by your choice of beans (pinto or black) and rice. For an extra $ 1.19 you can add fresh guacamole. To wash it all down I ordered a large southwest limeade. They have nice granulated ice for their drinks.
This is my favorite way to start off my weekend. A little break from running errands :)

Checked this place out for the first time and… it’s not a place I’ll be coming to again. Place is nothing special and it’s rather overpriced.
1 chicken quesadilla + 1 tres leches cake = $ 15
Way too pricey in my book.
The quesadilla was bland, even with guacamole and such. The guacamole lacked a lot of flavor as well — there was practicality none.
The cake was super good though, so I guess that’s what the 1 star is for. Otherwise they’d get 0.
Interior is okay I guess. Too much going on in my opinion. A bit cramped. It’s cool they have lots of seats I guess, but I don’t know. something about inside the place felt kind of overwhelming.
I guess you could also say this is a wannabe Chipotle.