Cafe Rio Mexican Grill

Eh. This place is a jazzed chipotle. They were out of queso. Nothing spectacular. Burritos are nicely sized, but that’s about it. Good tortillas for a fast joint.

Best pork tacos ever!!! I could literally eat the pork tacos everyday, they are that good! The rice and beans are so good also. Come on a Tuesday and get the taco Tuesday special! Yum

The food is good but the service is horrible. Took me 30 minutes to get through the line and my order along along with the orders in front of and behind me were all messed up at some point along the way. This place is completely unorganized and inefficient. To make matters worse, I got home and tried to download the app (which the cashier told me to do to redeem my points) and it said that the app is unavailable in my country, It’s a shame that the service is so awful at this place because I’d go there a lot more often if it was better.

I come here every Tuesday to get the taco special. They are tasty and only 1.75. Also, kids 6 and uder eat free quesadillas which is great. Only complaint is the line is very slow. Otherwise great Texmex casual fast food place.

I like the place. The different fresh salsas and drink options set it apart from others. It can be hit or miss with the line being obnoxiously slow or the dining area being messy chaos. Usually someone is trying to keep up on the dining area however.
Unsure if the Unilocal hours are fixed, they are actually open until 11 some nights… Which I informed a manager.

Mouthgazum! But that is trumped by their crappy service at corporate level. Also I saw a worker leave the bathroom after taking a nasty dump and didn’t wash his hands. The sink was dry and as soon as he flushed, he walked out.
Their terrible points app doesn’t work everywhere and the corporate won’t give you points from locations that don’t use it. They claim MD, and VA are the only places that use it, but I know WA and UT do also.
The pork is the best meat they serve. Shells are made fresh and cooked in front of you. The soup is a great alternative. Drinks are good. As all Café Rio’s are, it is a little loud, but that’s because they are always packed. Their management is full of great people, and are willing to check on the customers. The other taco chains taste like dried booty and hennesy compared to them. I eat at other locations around DC all the time. I wish they allowed investors, because this place the bomb, and I wouldn’t screw over customers like their corporate does.

Food is great, employees are nice but the service is a bit slow. Hope they try to quicken it up!

Food was so so. The service sucks! There was Not enough staff to help prepare the food. Our first and last time.

I’d give it four stars but, the past couple times I’ve been there, the guacamole tasted spoiled.

I like going to Café Rio, but after the lunch or dinner rush only! They take entirely too long to make the meal and if there are people in line I expect to take at least 20 minutes or more to order. I think I am so used to the fast service at Chipotle or even Moe’s that I expect this to also be fast, I mean it IS fast casual. It’s also a bit more expensive than the others.
The taco salad is really good — the creamy tomatillo dressing is amazing and the Homemade tortillas really make a difference. They have Horchata — a cinnamon rice drink that my Mexican boyfriend grew up drinking and loves.
Once I asked for more cheese and they gave me a second thin sprinkle and then I noticed that they charged me for it! My boyfriend asked for more sour cream, and we were charged for a small amount more along with an attitude. We did talk with a manager and get this rectified which was pleasing, because I had vowed to never come back after the rudeness.
They do need to work on their customer service. It has been lacking since they opened, however, they seem to have gotten rid of the completely unfriendly people. There are a few long timers that are very polite. I walk into Moe’s and I’m greeted with a smile and a welcome — big difference than Café Rio.

Absolutely love the pork. It’s great in everything on the menu. Service is terribly slow though so if there is a lot of people in line expect to wait.

Not impressed with this place. Ordered the chicken burrito or something I don’t know and I didn’t like the fact that I couldn’t get the toppings inside the burrito and instead they were put on top. Also the service was pretty bad when I went, I went up after I had been given my food and asked for extra lettuce with noone in line. I brought my lid so that they could put the lettuce on it and the line worker was dumbfounded or something and had to ask his boss if he could give me extra lettuce and this whole process took 5 minutes not exaggerating. Rather go to Chipotle, also it is more expensive than Chipotle. Would not come back.

Wow the service here is horrible!!! The style is counter service my group decided what we wanted and got in line, ready to order. After a significant wait (though there weren’t many people in line) we were asked for our orders. My friend ordered chicken, but they were out of chicken so she asked for beef tacos instead. The woman taking our orders nodded, walked away, and didn’t return. Someone else came over and continued to take our orders, but got two out of the three of them completely wrong. After we finally got the corrected food after several attempts we had to wait quite a while to pay because the people behind the register had messed up someone else’s order.
The food was alright but it shouldn’t take 40 minutes to order food at a place like this.

We were so excited this place opened giving us an alternative to chipotle that had more choices and variations …
My only conclusion…
Can I just give this place no stars ?? HORRIBLE SERVICE .
HORRIBLE FOOD .
It’s such a shame, I thought this place would’ve had so much more potential. You should probably educate your employees, staff, managers on customer service.
I really DONT understand why people continue to work somewhere they don’t want to be. FIND A NEW JOB OR GO TO SCHOOL instead of treating people like crap …
I’d rather eat the stale chips and bad sour cream from chipotle than to set foot in this place again.

We went for dinner tonight. I have been once before and the pork is amazing but the service was terrible — I thought maybe they had their act together now but wow nope — still truly terrible.
We waited in line for 20 minutes — mind you NOBODY in front of us for the slowest working woman on the planet. I have no idea what she was doing. She just looked at us when she was «ready» (doing who knows what she moved extremely slow) and didn’t say hello or can I help you — literally just stared at us. So we ordered…30 min later. I am almost positive you don’t put cheese on the tacos but she did and she also had no idea what sauces were what. She didn’t offer pico or anything so I just got pork tacos with lettuce because I was scared to even ask for anything else.
She started making our food at the slowest pace humanly possible. When she was done with them on the grill (before the toppings) she just went to the back and came back. Strange. She moved like a snail. In the middle of making the food the second time she again just walked to the back and disappeared, never said sorry or hold on or anything it was actually comical at times. She never spoke a word and I am pretty sure has no clue what she is doing. T
he cashier noticed all of this and gave us a free meal so thank you for that and the cashier seemed to notice and was very frustrated with this line worker. I mean you have customers just say hello, make the food at a normal pace and get on with it.
It’s a shame really because this place has some great food — the fresh tortillas are awesome but the service is consistently terrible and slow and mean.

Outright rude employees, a girl who has been here since the other manager left, was completely rude & brushed off my husband & I when I asked her to refill the lettuce cause it was near the bottom & very wet, and that ruins the taco. It has happened before. This time I asked for fresh lettuce. She huffed away, got the lettuce, refilled, once lettuce was in my taco, she tossed my dish aside, not asking if I wanted rice or beans, which I do, we come EVERY WEEK! She had an attitude for the remainder of serving my husband & I. She is the only black lady we have ever seen working here & has been here a while. I have seen her be rude to others, just never to me. She is the reason you are losing business! Attitude is everything! And this place isn’t even close to as busy as it was last year at this time!
I gave a 2 & not a 1 because the food was back up to par, fresh & hot, made to order

3.5 stars.
This place is pretty good! It’s a nice alternative to Chipotle, with more menu options. I enjoyed my salad with chicken, but the rice was not great. I do like the choices of hot sauces they have, as well as the authentic Mexican drinks. It’s nice to see them making the tortillas right there, too. I’d go back!

A-​typical Café Rio. I have been to the Olney store which was my go-​to, until Germantown opened. I moved up to the Villages of Urbana, so naturally would come to this location in Frederick.
I think perhaps there is a disconnect here, at this specific location. Somewhere between me saying my order, the sound waves passing over the sneeze guard, and information entering the staff members ears, my order has been wrong all the times I have come to this location.
Not generally a super picky or difficult person. My favorite dish is the salad, with tomatoes, chicken, no cheese or chips or tortilla. Guac, fresco salsa, cilantro, couple wedges of lime (for those of you who have not been, its Chipotle line style eating). Boom. Done.
Some how, I will get the salsa fresco for free and its not on my salad, or it was charged, and not on my salad.
The last time I was told there was no limes. So I asked if the could cut one from the visible tray of 50 or so limes. I was told «sure.» Waited about 5 or so minutes. this didn’t happen, so I asked if I could get some dressing instead because I was half way through my salad. They said «sure» and I waited, and it didn’t happen again.
So I asked for any tangy liquid to put on my salad. And I did get some limes.
I will say, food is definitely fresh and delicious. But something doesnt add up to the other good experiences I have had at other Café Rio locations.

Sorry Café Rio, your food was enjoyable but your staff is an underpaid, undereducated and unprofessional hot mess.
Unilocal lists that Café Rio closes at 11 on some nights, so I stop by at 10 one night; there are people still inside so I go in… Or at least try. The doors were locked and mind you it’s AN HOUR before their listed «closing time.»
I turn around, and give them a call… A man answers to which he says «we close at 10.» Fair enough, so I make him aware that the Unilocal page says otherwise, while the man goes to ask the manager some rude little underpaid bitch who’s probably still in high school; picks up the phone and says «we’re closed.» *dial tone* hung up on me?
I call back and ask for the manager and some weird guy who runs the dingy taco joint answers saying he’s the general manager and «blah blah blah, I’ll find out who it was blah blah blah» no apology, no repercussions… Nothing.
Sorry Café Rio, but I work with over 1,000 people in the Frederick area and believe me; I WILL TRASH YOUR STORE TO EVERYONE THAT ASKS ME ABOUT YOU.

FINALLY! After a week of horrible dining experiences, Café Rio rescued me!
The grilled chicken quesadilla was delish! I try to avoid flour tortillas but they make ‘em while you wait so it was totally worth the calories. Way better than Moe’s or Baja Fresh! Had a bite of JV’s black beans and they were flavorful and cooked just right. I’d get a side of those next time.
We ordered Tres Leches (my fave!) as well and they didn’t have any ready so we waited a few minutes while an employee got them from the back, refilled the whipped cream canister, and diced the strawberries to go on top. The tres leches doesn’t look traditional (see my pic) and I was worried. No need. It was so moist and fluffy with the perfect amount of sweetness. One piece is enough for two… So long as I’m not one because I aint sharing!
Since we waited quite a few minutes for dessert, the employee gave us free drinks. The horchata was out of this world! I don’t know what they do to it but it tasted just like the cinnamon coating used on fried ice cream. So it was probably diabetes in a cup and I am fine with that!
Café Rio is my new BFF! So good!