Cafe Rio Mexican Grill

Café Rio is my favorite restaurant and I frequent this location a lot because it’s so close to my house. I have been consistently going a few times a week for about a year and I want to like this location, but they have a high turnover of employees, which means they aren’t happy. Most of the time, it seems as if it’s a burden to serve the customer, give small portions and are frowning. There are occasional times though, when you do get someone who provides good customer service and reasonable to great portions, which is great to experience, but it shouldn’t be an occasional instance, but a normal occurrence. Most of the time the food is delicious and good quality, however these last few months it seems as if they have been changing their recipe for the beans and house dressing. I can only give 3 stars for the inconsistency, especially since I frequent so much and this last time I was in there the service was horrible and it was 11:00 am and no one was in line, but me. I waited for a few minutes before someone acknowledged me and when she made my food, she slapped it together, she barely put any meat in it and my burrito was half the size it normally should be. I wish I took a picture of it, so you could see the size difference, but I wasn’t happy I paid $ 10 for half a burrito. It’s the little things that they keep doing at this location to show they don’t really care about the customers that adds up and is making me scale back the number of times I eat there each week. I hope they get new management in there that provides good leadership and hires good people that are happier to be there.

I love café rio and wish I could give this location a good review… But we have been let down too many times. FOUR TIMES we have come around 5 – 5:30 (the dinner hour, right??) and they have been out of steak. The first time– aww man bad luck. Second time– wait, what? Third time– ok what is happening? Why is there never steak? Fourth time– NEVER AGAIN. All four times we have turned around and left because that’s all my husband will eat there! The good thing is that their loss is MOD pizza and Smashburger’s gain (both right by it)! Can’t wait for a Rio in Queen Creek!

I love Café Rio’s sweet pork barbacoa burrito but the portion size at this place is ridiculous. The burrito itself is huge, not complaining, but then every little add on costs money. I can’t describe how small the guacamole portion is… It’s $ 1.99 extra and you get the smallest scoop (they use a melon baller is what it looks like). $ 2 for a tablespoon of guac? Then extra red sauce is $ 1! Are you kidding? They even charge for extra sour cream and cheese. We ordered burritos online today to pick up and the «extras» we asked for were not even in the bag when we got home. Ridiculous.

Standard Taco Tuesday hangout. Just revamped the menu adding fish tacos & shrimp tacos.

Unfortunately all the previous reviews are spot on. I absolutely love Café Rio but this location is notorious for terrible service. It’s definitely an age thing here; the older employees are super sweet and fun to talk with as they quickly prep your meal but the younger employees are terrible. It’s really bad. There’s no standard for good customer service for the younger employees. Get off your phone (which is disgusting that you touch your phone and then my food) and learn how to smile and be polite; it’s not that hard.
But the food is always delicious so that’s why we all come back. I think that’s going to change with the new Costa Vida open next door. Good luck Café Rio.

Favorite place ever. Love all the people that work there. Have gone 20+ times and never a bad experience. Always make sure you’re satisfied and best food ever!!!

I have NEVER had such a terrible experience as I did tonight at Café Rio. My son like the large cheese quesadilla, and he doesn’t get anything else but tortilla and cheese. No rice no beans no meat, nada not even a garnish!!! They have always since the start of Café Rio (and I am old and went to their first store in Utah) only ever charged us a nominal amount like $ 3.50 or so. Tonight they insisted that the cost was $ 8.49. I had this girl manager be super short and flippant with me and make a scene about it. Very poor customer service today, I am completely appalled. I so can’t wait till Costa Vida opens up, they know how to treat customers.

Enchilada style burrito with the fire grilled chicken was amazing! First time here and definitely be visiting again. Very fresh food and great drink options.

Food is not bad, have to get the grilled chicken or steak or sweet pork. Everything else is extremely bland. Just average food for way too high a price.

I love this place way too much. I’ve waited in half hour long lines at high peak dinner times because their food is so good! Sweet pork salad is my favorite with their house dressing — so yum! I have ordered on-​line at busy dinner times and my order was ready before the pick up time — it’s always a good idea to check any pick up order before you leave anywhere but I have not had any problems.
The parking is a joke because there is so much over there — just be prepared. But so delicious!

The food was awesome and the service super friendly!

The quality of the food is decent but not worth the high prices, hassle or customer DIS-​service. When this location opened a year and a half ago I went quite a few times, than slowly started going less and less until a few months ago when it finally became unbearable to go inside this place. Today I was craving a taco salad so I decided to give it one last try. My mind is fully made up that I will no longer go here.
First of all, I strongly suggest not to go between 11am and 2pm, especially if you work nearby and are on a quick lunch break. It WILL make you late to work! Parking is nearly impossible. Whomever designed the parking lot should be fired. Not only is it difficult to find a parking spot but it’s terribly laid out making it difficult to get around. This place is is a small building surrounded by a Starbucks, a pizza place, sub shop, bakery and book store. The parking lot can accommodate enough cars for MAYBE 2 of these restaurants. I understand that this isn’t Café Rio’s fault, but it does have a very strong impact on your dining experience which is why I’m putting this information in this review.
Second, the line never has less than about 40 people and the employees are incredibly slow. These unfriendly employees work like an assembly line with only 3 people making the food. One person takes your order and puts together some of it, and then it’s passed along to others to complete the order, kind of like at Subway but much slower. Also, there is only 1 cashier who also needs to get the to-​go orders ready. So, when you get to the register to pay you need to wait for them to put on lids and bag everything up. I waited 30 minutes today for my salad and was late getting back to work.
Third is regarding price. My salad was a pricey $ 8.49. It normally comes with many things that I do not like (cheese guacamole, etc) and therefore omit, thus saving the company money. Regardless, they still charged me an extra $ 1 for some extra dressing. So, for $ 9.49 I received a tortilla, a small amount of chicken, lettuce, black beans and some pico de gallo. By the time I added a drink my meal was over $ 13.00.
For the amount of time I waited in line and for how much I spent, I could have gone next door to Arriba’s (with table service), had a margarita and a meal in about the same time as it took me to get my salad at Café Rio.
One last thing: You can order take-​out orders over the phone or through their website however, each time I have tried these options it was a failure. The orders aren’t ready when they say they’re supposed to be ready and they’re never right. The only way for the order to be correct is if you tell them what you want to their faces.
Sorry Rio. I won’t be back and I mean it this time.

Check your order, I ordered a chicken salad and had no chicken! This has happened several times at this location. I really do love the food. I should get what I paid for. I will not be returning

Service is awful. None of the workers clearly want to be there. Each time I go they mess something up on my order because they are talking to each other about boyfriend problems or other things going on in their life. I haven’t been to a fast food place this awful regarding customer service. Seems like others have noticed this as well. Maybe I wouldn’t be as picky if I didn’t have experience in customer service. But where is the management?

Love this place! Fresh ingredients and tasty entrees. The lines are long but only because the food is so good, so make sure to time your trip accordingly.
I usually get the chicken enchiladas or the steak salad. Both are two of my faves.
Plan to come again!

Parking at this location is an absolute nightmare but the food is delish. I love when we cater this for lunch at work. Just be sure you have decent auto insurance before you enter the parking lot.

I absolutely adore Café Rio’s food but this location is incredibly SLOW! Even during low traffic hours when there are maybe 2 people in front of you it will surprise you how long it takes to get through the line and pay for your meal. It’s incredibly frustrating. Sometimes after I’m finally sitting down eating, I’ll watch others go through the line and am entertained at how long it takes them to make it through the checkout process. Almost makes me feel better knowing it doesn’t just happen to me.
Aside from that complaint, I highly recommend the Sweet Barbacoa Salad. It really is to die for.

Sloooooowwwwwwwwwwww
Did I mention that they are slow
Good is usually good. Team members are usually stressed out. How is this location such a problem when others are awesome

Went to Café Rio again today (Thursday at 4 PM) and the food was good, as usual, but there was a noticeable decline in service from our previous visits. The lone food line worker was clearly unhappy and would rush us for choices (even though we were one of about three customers in the entire place) and seemed annoyed when we asked for a kid quesadilla.
The cashier was equally as unhappy to be here and didn’t greet us or look at us while we rang up our order. A customer behind us asked a worker how their day was going and they said, «I would rather be at home.» Lol. Well, most people would rather be at home than work but if your job is customer service, that’s what you signed up for. Take a deep breath, chill the heck out and start fresh tomorrow.
The strawberry lemonade was out and all of the garbage cans overflowing. I like the food but workers this unhappy always make me wonder what’s going on behind the scenes with management. Not sure that we will be back as often. See my previous review for the yummy salad that we always get. :-)

I really like the salads here. The house dressing is yummy. It comes out to ~$ 9 but it is enough for 2 meals. My BF likes their burritos & the fact that you can get it enchilada style (no extra change).
Unfortunately, the service is horrible. Every single staff looks like they absolutely hate being there. From the tortilla makers, the line staff, to the cashiers. I’ve been here 3 times now and witnessed poor service each time.
Last night was the worst. While waiting in line for nearly 30 minutes (shouldve been quicker, line wasn’t that long) I heard and witnessed some inappropriate behaviors from the staff:
1) a lady asked for an extra plate because she was splitting her salad with someone else and the employee rolled his eyes and gave her an attitude about it. Same guy– the next costumer asked «how’s your day going?» In which he responded «it sucks» and when she said «oh I’m sorry to hear that», he said «well im stuck here, that’s why»
2) the staff was talking with each other across the kitchen about what I’m assuming an employee that quit and one said out loud «when he left he said ‘Eff this place! I’m never coming back’». So loudly that I’m sure every other patron in line heard also.
3) the lady rolling the dough for the tortillas stepped away for a moment and when she came back (gloves still on) she went behind the lady cooking the tortillas and began to massage her shoulders. Then she went on to continue touching and rolling the dough with the same gloves!
4) waiting to pay my interaction with the cashier went like this:
Me: hi
Cashier: what kind of meat did you have in your salad?
Me: barbocoa
Cashier: (rings it up) $ 9.15
Me: (hands over cash)
Cashier: (hands me change) your change
Me: thank you. Have a good night.
Cashier: (looks past me to the next guy) what kind of meat did you have in your salad?
The staff needs to be trained better or they overall need new staff. None of them want to be there, it clearly shows. From reading their reviews, there seems to be quite a few people who agree. I’m usually very patient but they have maxed out their limit with me. I would go a lot more often if the service was better.