Cafe Rio

If it weren’t for the food, I’d never come here. Each visit I make, the staff becomes less and less professional. No line when I walk in, but have to wait for a few mins for 10 people to look at me and no hellos or acknowledgement that I will be helped soon. They help get my food done fast. Then have to wait a min for the cashier to finish wiping trays for her to help me as a few more employees pass by goofing around. I get employees here are kids, but I guess it’s better than my previous visit when the cashier was rude. As I ate my food, their phone rang and rang as about 5 employees yell «get the phone». Apparently nobody takes initiative here. I certainly wouldn’t hire anyone that has worked here based on their work ethics.

Horrible customer service … Food handler is rude and nasty … But has no problem being kind to the person behind us who talks lower than we did. Then the supposed mgr has no Interest in fixing it
Then we sit and eat our food and watch the food handler who has issues chain smoke for 20 mins then go back to handling food

Aye, why am I so scared to go back to that other casual Mexican dining restaurant who shall remain nameless? It rhymes with «Chipotle». OK, it’s Chipotle… but it’s only because I can’t find anything to rhyme with Chipotle.
Oh yeah, now I remember why I don’t wanna go back to the restaurant who shall remain nameless (CHIPOTLE). Because of that whole food safety incident. Ah.
So until I muster up the cojones to go back, I have to settle for places like Café Rio for my big burrito fix. I mean, what can I say? Café Rio isn’t that bad. Of course it’s familiar because the concept is the same. Pick your type of dish, pick your rice, pick your beans, pick your protein, pick your additions… blah, blah, blah.
The food is OK in my book, but some of the meat flavorings are a bit bland. I kinda have an issue with the pork being overly sweet to go in my burrito. I just don’t get it, why is it so sweet? I would kill for some regular fatty carnitas at Café Rio! Don’t give me sugar, give me FLAVOR! Let it seep out the sides! Let me cover it with some hot sauce! Let me dab the oil stains off with extra napkins!
Instead…I get a burrito… that I have to eat with a fork & knife. Don’t get me wrong, when I pick out my fixins I always get extra lettuce and extra pico de gallo, add cotija cheese on top. I mean, my burrito is buried under a mound of beautiful SALAD. But that’s just it, why am I eating a burrito that I can’t even pick up with my HANDS? Café Rio doesn’t even wrap the burrito in foil for you! They put it in an aluminum bowl and slide it through the oven! It’s like promoting no-​hands eating! Yes, that is a conundrum in of itself. Very perplexing.
So while I don’t have a problem with the food at Café Rio. I have a problem with the food at Café Rio. It messes me up because I want to eat my burrito the way it should be, with my hands at the helm! Totally jacks up my psyche. It’s like, I’m not getting the full experience of my burrito. It leaves me with the feeling that I’ve gone half-@$$ed on my lunch! What person in their right mind eats a burrito without the use of their hands? No offense to those who have no hands of course. It just leaves me in a tizzy.
On the plus side, +1 star at Café Rio for serving all-​you-​can-​drink HORCHATA. Yours isn’t bad at all, I can soak up at least 3 glasses on a good day. Then I can leave with a refill of Coca-​Cola & lime! Tasty.
Café Rio, I’ll be back when I figure out how to effectively eat your burritos with my hands! I will resist the pretty greens & veggies you throw over my burrito! Maybe move them to the side? Maybe get them in a separate bowl? I dunno.
Maybe I’ll muster up the courage to go back to that other casual Mexican fine dining place… that shall remain nameless.
C-​H-​I-​P-​O-​T-​L-​E

This location has the most unpleasant staff that I’ve ever encountered in the food industry. Everyone looks miserable. There’s no sense of urgency and no customer service whatsoever.

I was visiting from Hawaii in Feb and my friend brought me here. I’m back on island now & can’t express how much I miss this place! The steak salad gave me a glimpse of heaven. Lol

Unfortunately this location has dropped to 2 stars for service, speed, food quality and cleanliness. Even direct emails to the chain office have gone unanswered. So if the headquarters doesn’t care… Why would the store? Sad because this used to be the go to location and had excellent food and service.
Every local location I have been to in the last six months exhibits the same «could care less» demeanor.

Story time. The benefit of ordering online is to supposedly «beat the rush» by just coming in & picking up. Today I ordered online at 12:25pm and received a confirmation that says my order will be ready at 1:00pm. Cool! So I drive over & I walk in through the door at 1:15pm (don’t like being one of those people who arrive on the dot and then are pissed its not ready). I walk up to the counter, the girl asks what I need — I tell her, «I’m here for pick-​up, under Nikki order 889.» She walks to an empty shelf behind her and yells, «Nikki for pickup!» Surprisingly nothing happens. She keeps ringing people up. A few minutes later, she again yells, «Nikki for pickup!» It seems the people in line are ordering & getting rung up, and I’m still standing here confused.
A few more minutes have passed, so she yells in the direction of the kitchen, «Hey, can you do Nikki for pickup? Because she’s already here.» Already here? I ordered an hour ago. I felt like she insinuated I showed up early or something. But anyway… A guy eventually comes up & grabs a receipt from her with my order. He looks at me and says, «I’ll make it now. At least it will be fresh!» Good save. Not. I’m watching people come & go that are in line… If I just got in line & ordered when I walked in, I would have gotten my food 5 minutes ago. It’s 1:33 now and the guy hands me my food & says, «She won’t charge you.» I said, «I paid online though.» And he goes, «Oh.» Shrugs his shoulders, crinkles up my receipt, throws it in the trash can & walks away. Huh. Almost got a free meal for the inconvenience, guys… almost.
Lastly, I ask the girl, «Can I just get a stamp please?» as I hold out my stamp card. She looks at me (a little annoyed I feel), looks away… a minute later comes up to me, takes my stamp card from my hand, stamps it, picks it up & just drops it on my food despite my hand being out to receive it. Mind you, no apology whatsoever through this whole ordeal… from anyone. I walk out at 1:37pm. What a weird encounter. I wish they gave the employees name tags so I could complain. But the bottom line? Preordered at 12:25, walked in 1:15, left at 1:37. Beat the lunch rush by ordering online? Is this still even considered lunch? «AT LEAST IT’S FRESH.» Lol, smh.

I ordered steak tacos and they were swimming in water
Then the attitude of only one of the younger female employees was pretty rude not only to myself but all the customers that were in line as well.

My husband and I were excited to try this place after many recommendations and the continuous chipotle fiascos…
We grabbed some take out and drove a quick two minutes to our home. I had ordered the grilled chicken tacos and unfortunately didn’t realize the lady had given me shredded chicken which lacked any real flavour. There was no cheese on the tacos after I had said yes when she asked me if I wanted some. The black beans had so much liquid and drenched the tacos and had made them soggy. I had been looking forward to trying the tortillas but could only salvage a few bites. Basically, a disappointment to pay for food that’s meh.
My husband got the barbacoa burrito and did say it was great as was the side of guac (although very small).

Let’s start on a positive note: their food is good. The reason why I’m giving this place 1 stars is because of HORRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE. Staff here is so rude and disorganized. Their process is broken. I really wish I could go in there one day and at least get some decent service.

I’ve been a fan of Café Rio for years. My family and I would always stop at the Café Rio in St. George, Utah
When in the area and the food has always been fresh and consistent in flavor and quality.
However, here In Las Vegas it’s been hit and miss at this location and the location on West Lake Mead.
The salad lettuce is usually floating in water and often times they are out of food in the metal bins.
I really have enjoyed eating at Café Rio and sadly may not continue to dine here any longer as I can’t eat another salad that has ¼ inch of water at the bottom and the tortilla is water logged by the time I reach the bottom of my salad. I’m grossed out!
Sometimes the food and service is great other times it is absolutely dismal. When I’m hungry that’s not a gamble I’m willing to take.

Great food but terribly slow service. Would be 4 stars but stand in line for 20 minutes most days. Need to speed up the line.
In terms of food the salad and wet burrito are great. Go for the shredded chicken or pork.
Hope they can figure out the slow service issues

I typically eat here about three or four times a month. I don’t normally write negative reviews but what I saw tonight prompted me to do so. This review has nothing to do about the food which is always good. It’s about the customer service and the tall gentleman with the red shirt which I can only assume is the manager. He went out of his way to help the young lady just in front of me which I came to realize was either a family member or girlfriend. In short he went out of his way to help her while sacrificing other customers inline. Totally not paying attention to what people wanted which slowed up everyone’s dinner.
I am all about taking care of your family but not when it comes to business and customer service.

The food was good, but the experience picking it up was not. I came in to pick up lunch for my family and every single employee down the line of getting the meals prepared had an unfriendly attitude and demeanor about them. Not only that, but they forget to put two sides I ordered in my bag upon checking out.
It’s unfortunate, because I have enjoyed Café Rio at other locations before, but I probably have no intention of visiting this one again.

It’s a shame that this location cannot get their customer service under control. The food is good enough, they all taste the same. But this location is just awful if you are looking for any type of «quick meal». Came in at 6pm on a Wednesday and waited over 30 min in line before we could even order. Unfortunately this isn’t a one time experience, but it will be the last time.
Come on Café Rio. Get it together. It’s a conveyor belt ordering process. Staff your store, train employees to not just stand around staring at customers, and figure it out.

I generally enjoy Café Rio. This location however, did not impress. The line wasn’t long when I arrived but it took FOREVER. Employees seemed flustered and annoyed. I got a salad and it wasn’t as yummy as it usually is. The lettuce weren’t even chopped. I had huge pieces of lettuce that I had to rip up myself. The tortilla wasn’t as good either. I probably won’t return to this location. It wasn’t inedible or terrible. It just wasn’t as good as it typically is.

I found this place on accident and glad I did. I enjoyed the fresh tortillas and the way they prepared ones food. This place comes highly recommend. Well that’s if you are looking for some cool Mexican food done a different way; while in Las Vegas.
They are a bit expensive for the amount of food you get, but it was good.

Love their food! I’m a creature of habit so I always go with the Sweet Pork Tostada with the house dressing. It never disappoints! I also love their selection of hot sauces, there’s literally at least 20 different types.
The only complaint I have about this location is their speed, the line always takes FOREVER. I never understand this since it’s an order as you go type place, but oh well I can deal with it for the sake of the taste.

My first visit here and I had the salmon tacos plate. The menus are on the walls where people wait so you are staring at the menu and people think you’re staring at them. Bizarre.
I was charged for chips but didn’t order them and I think she tried to charge me for a side of dressing the other employee said comes with the salmon. Geez!
So that happened and the overcharge was quickly remedied. But now I’m soured on this place. The tacos were very good.

No matter how often I try Café Rio, I still can’t find anything on the menu that I like. The meats are always either bland or overly seasoned, the sauces they use are always too sweet or salty, or both.
The only redeeming quality I’ve found is that their veggies are typically fresh. This location was no different and despite putting in our order online, a lot of our order was mixed up and some of us were missing condiments and they didn’t pack any utensils or napkins in our to go box.