Rigo’s

I love this place! They have a great breakfast buffet and lunch buffet! Great food, especially the menudo. :) The service is also usually always good. Very friendly servers.

If you like salty food. this is the place for you. The server was excellent, tried to make it right. But the management was not at all helpful. The food we ordered was standard Sonoran food and should have been no problem to prepare. I can not recommend this restaurant.

Best green corn tamale in the city? Well, I haven’t had EVERY green corn tamale in Tucson, and Tucson DOES have some mighty delicious green corn tamales (henceforth to be referred to simply as GCT), but I have eaten a LOT of them, and I will say this was the best, the very best GCT I have ever had. Not just in Tucson. Anywhere.
I had been here before, and remember being unimpressed with the food, especially for Southern Arizona. My husband decided he wanted a chimichanga last night, found a photo for here on Unilocal and despite my trying to convince him otherwise, decided we were to eat dinner here.
They have an all you can eat buffet, which looked good, but being a pescatarian, there was not much I could eat on it. We each opted to order off the menu. Chips and salsa and our drinks were brought VERY fast! The chips were put down within 3 seconds of us sitting down and the iced tea came quickly after. Oh my word, this salsa is SO good! It’s super fresh, you can tell it’s homemade, it’s spicy but flavorful… I was a big fan.
I got the Janet Napolitano plate, which was a cheese enchilada, two GCT, rice and beans, and the hubs got a carne asada chimi with a side of rice. I tried one bite of my GCT first, and promptly decided I had to eat them last. No matter how delicious the rest of my plate was (which it was), I wanted to end on these delectable delicacies.
The cheese enchilada was just a cheese enchilada. There’s not a whole lot you can do to it to make it amazing. The enchilada sauce was great, and very much like any enchilada sauce you could get at a lot of other places. The beans were SO good! Salty and savory… You can judge a good Mexican place by it’s beans, and these were fantastic!
On to the GCT, which are my new favorite thing EVER! They are sweet, a little spicy, none of that nasty gritiness that can come from other tamales… they are perfect. These epitomize the fantastic corn husk covered, green chili filled, masa encapsulated deliciousness that is a GCT. I even asked if they would be willing to sell me a dozen of these so I can thrown them in the freezer and have them at my leisure. They did, for $ 18.
Now, I know what you are thinking. You are thinking «$ 18 bucks for a dozen tamales SEEMS pretty steep, especially when you consider that we are in Tucson, Arizona, the capital of the Tamale World. You silly, silly girl.» No! These are AMAZING, and I would MUCH rather spend $ 18 on a dozen of the best tamales of my life than $ 9 on a dozen tamales that suck… or are the very least not awesome.
The service here was spot on. Our server was nice, never let our teas get even a little down, and when we tried to order sopapillas, she let us just grab some off the buffet (As she put it, «You DID buy a lot of tamales»). She checked on us often, listened to me blither on about the GCT, and since the don’t normally sell them by the dozen, was nice enough to ask and potentially convince the chef to let me buy them.
Hubs loved his chimi. He said he was expecting just carne asada in it, but it had onions and a delicious sauce and spices… it was so much more and so much better than he was expecting it to be!
This was an all around 5 star experience. Was it fancy? Nope! Big olé nope on that front. Was it awesome and fantastic from the service to the food to the cleanliness? Yes! Huge, ginormous yes!

Loved our meal on Sunday with family. Even though it was busy we were well taken care of. Mariachi Sonido de Mexico was a plus. The tamales de maíz verde were a Sonoran treat done justice here.

RIGO’S literally makes me almost shit my pants EVERY-​SINGLE-​TIME i have partaken.

I’m updating my review — the last review that I wrote was in mid-​2014. I had gone to Rigo’s many times after that, and noticed some aspects that the restaurant needs to change.
Believe me, I dislike leaving bad reviews, and will not leave bad ones unless I feel like the business is deserving of such review.
Let me start off with the positives. The food is consistent. I didn’t notice any differences in the taste of the food, and it has been good for the times I have gone to Rigo’s. They have pretty good deals for buffets.
Here’s the downfall: the service. I went with my parents a few weekends ago, because other places were packed. We all asked for water before ordering our food, and the waitress very rudely placed (more accurately, slammed) the water on our table before walking away. We asked for straws, and she returned with those much later, and carelessly threw them on the table, giving us a look before leaving. Instead of getting the buffet, my dad decided to order off of the menu, and asked for extra jalapenos on the side after the order came. We never saw the jalapenos… well, we never saw her. I would have been more reasonable with my review if there were many people in the restaurant, but the restaurant was quite slow, and the waitress couldn’t have had many people to attend.
I have never seen service that bad before, especially when I was with my parents, who are elderly. I, a long time supporter of Rigo’s, will not go back until news has it that they have upped their service.

Worst machaca and eggs I’ve ever had. All wet. The buffet swarmed with patrons like ants. This place is a fire hazard. Had to settle for it bc Mi Nidito was closed.

Always good, always consistent, always friendly. A great menu and an excellent buffet. The salsa is authentic, hand chopped, and hard to go slow! This is not a pretentious Mexican food restaurant, rather a unique «come as you are» and «welcome in our house» establishment. Love Rigo’s!!!

Although I’m sure the regular menu is great, I’ve never ordered from it because the buffet is pretty much the best buffet ever. The selection is amazingly large, offering at least a dozen different dishes plus all the beans, guacamole, cheese, and sour cream you can devour. In addition to the main entrees, there are always two soup options, mini-​sopapillas with honey, hot flour tortillas, and bottomless chips, salsa, and soft drinks are included. All for 10 bucks. Hallelujah! The red chile is especially rich and wonderful and the mini-​chimis are crispy and delicious. The atmosphere is typical southside, lots of color and murals, and the clientele is a diverse cross-​section of Tucson locals in the know. The staff is beyond courteous and polite, checking in often and keeping your drinks and chips brimming. You seriously feel like family at Rigo’s.

No… Just, no. I ordered oatmeal for breakfast and they looked at me like I was crazy. I asked for raisins and brown sugar which they don’t have by the way. If you like greasy Mexican food, then go for it!

I called here recently after moving into the neighborhood to ask about the buffet prices, I was told by the person answering the phone that «I’m new and don’t know» and she put the phone down. Several minutes later, she came back to the phone and said the buffet «was about $ 10 per person» and I asked her what the price was for kids. Once again, put the phone down and then came back several minutes later and said the price «was about $ 10 per person» and I told her that was odd — the same price for adults and children? She said to me again «I’m new and don’t know.» Forget it, hung up and never called or went again. If this is the kind of service, not willing to risk it!

This was the first Mexican Buffet I’ve ever been to, but it’s also the best Mexican Restaurant I’ve ever been to, as well. We went on a Sunday around 2 pm and had the buffet, which was delicious. No short cuts were taken here, imo, the quality was exquisite. We first entered with the sound of a live Mariachi band, my first, and it was so beautiful. The atmosphere was quaint, and screamed Mexico. I would recommend this restaurant to anyone who loves a great meal, great entertainment, and a great vibe.

This place has good mexican food. Doesnt really stand out from any other place in town but it has an all you can eat buffet so i’m sold. They had a good selection of great items. The essentials… beans, rice, ground beef. Made some Tacos. Also made a carnitas tostada. Very tasty. They had Chile colorado which was delicious with some of their fesh tortillas. The mini Chimis were very average. Sopapillas with honey. They also had fixins to make fajitas but i was far too full to try em. Their salsa is watery but fresh. Don’t know if i would pay 11+tip again for it but it was good.

Very good food each time we come here. Always something for everyone and for every appetite. I love their chili rellenos, never disappoints. Many in the family love their buffet — i always order from the menu. Great wait staff each time too.

I’ve been looking for a good Mexican buffet since Gordo’s closed. This one is good. Almost as good as Gordos, almost.
We liked all the options for the lunch buffet. Make your own tacos, carnitas, calabasitas, red or green chile, sopapillas. The food was keep fresh and filled.
We want to try the dinner buffet soon. And some of the menu items.
Our waitress was friendly and attentive even though it was a busy weekend afternoon.

Holy god people… don’t waste your time and money at this dump. In a city like tucson, where there are Mexican restaurants on every corner, you will get better Mexican food at Taco Bell. The prices are fair and you can always find a Groupon for this place, which should be the first warning sign, but you will be disappointed, especially if you are Mexican or know what Mexican food can taste like if it is made well.

Menudo. Need I say more. Excellent. Love going there for that. Service is always friendly. Atmosphere is quaint. For example out table was not level. Everything was clean etc. Somehow we always get lucky and find a parking spot

right from the start the service was deplorable. Attitude; I am absolutely baffled when a hostess or waitress acts like it’s a privilege for you to be there and ignores or are annoyed with your presence. the hostess seemed annoyed that she had to work, but at least she kept herself restrained from saying something stupid.
The food was meh, nothing spectacular, mostly tasteless but lots of it. It’s a fattening fried buffet.
The idea seems like a great one, and I can imagine them being a decent place at one time, but their moral is messed up! Something is going on with their management or something. My biggest complaint is the service. It was sub par and it felt like they served us out of disdain.
Then a mariachi group shows up, which is awesome! Since we were celebrating my daughters 3^rd b-​day we promptly went up there, before they started, and told them to play las mananitis, we gave them a 20 $. They not only did not play our song but played other requests that were given after we had already given ours. I tried to talk to the manager to see if maybe the mariachi had a «set list» they had to play and told her why I was concerned. She told me that they weren’t contracted and I had to take it up with the band leader. Which is fine, although it would’ve been nice if the manager had control over her own restaurant. My sister ended up going up there and getting our money back. What the hell?!!
So with the stingy mariachi and horrible service, I would say never go here. It really isn’t worth your time or money. There are way too many really good mexican restaurants in Tucson to even risk dealing with this place.
Although I’m white, my wife and her family are hispanic, so I’m a bit perplexed on their attitudes. We were nothing but nice and cordial, and not only that, I felt as though we lightened up the stagnant atmosphere after we sang happy birthday to my daughter. After which everyone seemed to be more relaxed and talkative. So I felt like we improved their atmosphere and were still treated like crap. uggggghhh.

This place gets insanely busy on the weekend. With a breakfast buffet followed by lunch buffet followed by a dinner buffet, you can only imagine.
I feel like I come here once or twice a year, and I’ve been running at that pace for about eight years now.
Restaurants name to fame has to do with the celebrity status. Many elected officials over the years have patronize this business, aiding and it’s homegrown reputation. Even former Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano has even been there. There’s even a plate that she apparently signed framed and hanging behind the cash register.
But the Meh-​Factor is strong with this one.
What can you expect? Servers and bussers vigorously rushing throughout the establishment. Lots of families and small children. Lots of laughter and general jovial energy. Very loud. Very busy.
And standard — very standard — fare.
There’s nothing overly amazing about the buffet. They generally have scrambled eggs, ground beef, shredded chicken, chimis, chilaquiles, menudo, these funny looking deep fried tacos…
Think of it like this: if you wake up one morning and open your fridge and find that, yes, you have biscuits, eggs, tortillas, cheese, even some refried beans and rice but don’t feel like cooking (you lazy!) …Rigo’s it is.

This review is for breakfast only.
I went for breakfast with some co-​workers. They all got the breakfast buffet which I think priced out around 8. The price is reasonable for the amount of food you get. I like that. I ordered a chorizo burrito. If you are like me and like things spicy, this is not your place in terms of at least chorizo and salsa. I dipped practically that whole burrito in their salsa and it still wasn’t hot. The restaurant itself was clean and the staff was nice. Maybe another time I try something different apart from breakfast and see how it is. I am so critical of my Mexican food being used to and spoiled in Southern New Mexico! ;-)