Cafe Rio Mexican Grill

Thought of giving this place a try. Definitely was not happy at the end.
1. I had gotten my kid quesadillas and he didn’t enjoy them at all. He said the chicken was not good and he didn’t enjoy the rice at all; it was cold!
2. Husband got a chicken burrito, enchiladas style and I had the shredded beef burrito. The hot sauce was not even hot or spicy, and the to get guacamole or sour cream, it was expensive for small quantities. (These items a necessity for burritos!)
3. My daughter wanted the chicken tortilla soup and the person started to make it at the beginning. He went in with other other orders and forgot about the soup. At the end, he realized they were out of soup all together! They ended up mixing their noodle soup with the tortilla soup and it was just too much if the ingredients and not enough liquid.
I don’t think we’ll be going there again. The food was not flavorful, it was overpriced and it was cold or got too cold too fast.
Plus side, it was really nice to see the tortillas being made fresh; that was the only item I liked and enjoyed!

Had an awful catering experience recently, if you are thinking of doing a large order with this company you had better think twice. First, to explain — my company was hosting a luncheon for our employees– about 170 of them. The lunch was set to begin at 1130AM, and as we are a large manufacturer, any sort of delay can cost around $ 2000 a minute if employees are not producing.
Café Rio showed up a half an hour late, with only a little more than half of the food we had ordered. When we began getting close to ‘crunch’ time and noticed that they hadn’t arrived, we called the manager who acted without enthusiasm or concern about the problem. When we asked if there was another driver available to bring the remainder of the food we paid for, the manager said that not even a single other employee owned a car. So not only was she a poor planner, but a blatant liar as well– definitely not a part of the solution, as the saying goes.
They sent only one staff member to set up (who at this point was past frantic, that poor woman), causing our executive team in their suits and high heels to handle hot pans of black beans. One of our other staff members cancelled her meetings and was sent by us to the Café Rio location to pick up the rest of what we ordered (they were at this point not going to help) — only to find that it wasn’t even READY. She waited for an entire HOUR for them to fulfill our order, during which the manager did not even address her and instead decided to passively grate cheese and pull other avoidance tactics.
Overall, I have never had a more stressful day at work. Not only did we lose valuable production time, our staff was less than satisfied with the free lunch we provided to them to show our appreciation for their hard work. There were about 6x the amount of tortillas usable, the cheese didn’t last more than 50 people, and nearly half of our staff didn’t get meat on their tacos.

We have limited options within walking distance. We decided on Café Rio. Our first visit was opening week, which was awful. Decided to try it again. Atmosphere… Unacceptable. If you can’t keep your restaurant clean, can I trust you with the food? The enchiladas were weirdly sweet. Almost like bbq sauce mixed with enchilada sauce with maple syrup added. One bite and I was done… Gross. We also ordered chips and salsa and guacamole. Guac was runny … Gross. Chips and salsa good. My husband ordered and had to laugh. The girl taking his order said «uhhh people are coming in, I hate it when we get people in» whaaaat??? Where is the leadership in this restaurant that could have so much potential. This one is off the list. Hope they fix their issues soon. #wantedtoloveit

Every time I go here the food is great. I try to go early on Tuesdays because the line gets soooooo long. It’s cool seeing the tortillas being made right in front of you!

This is one of the most disgusting and pathetic café rio’s I’ve ever been to. The place is filthy behind the counter where food is prepared. Food scraps in other food, cheese everywhere, wet napkins and plastic silverware on the floor. Just disgusting. The staff are all unhappy too. Not welcoming. They literally look like they are exhausted, haggard, and unhappy. The food is decent but I can’t enjoy it because of the uncleanliness and unwelcoming environment of this place. Never coming back. Managements fault for sure for not training their peon employees who are unhappy and disgruntled.

I love café rio! One of my top favorite places to grab a quick bite. The burritos, salads, quesadillas… It’s all good! HOWEVER the last time I was there the employee that made my salad was so rude and I watched him be consistently rude to everyone through out the line. I asked for a chicken salad and in return he gave me so much attitude and slapped the food onto my plate. As a manager in the food industry, if I ever saw an employee of mine act like that, they would be sent home on the spot. I love the food and I’ve had great experiences with all employees except for him. I understand everyone has bad days but his actions were uncalled for. When you work in customer service, you gotta throw on a fake smile through it all. If a manager sees this I came on Sunday March 20^th around 2PM.

Came here once and absolutely loved the taco salad. Because the first time I got it it was actually a salad. This time I basically got an open faced burrito with a baby handful of lettuce and enough tortilla strips to last me the next month. Really disappointed that I didn’t get what I paid for.

Egh. This was quite possibly the worst burrito I’ve had… Taste-​wise it’s not even up to par with Taco Bell.
My first impression upon walking in was that it was an uncoordinated mess.
I get that it was a busy Tuesday, but the food line was a mess. Everything was everywhere… Lime wedges dropped in the salsa, lettuce everywhere, rice in the beans… And the line wasn’t even moving fast enough to justify the crazy mess.
Glove swaps didn’t happen. Bags of flour were set on the counter (and even in the pile of flour) where tortillas were made. The bag was folded and pushed down into the trash and then the same gloves were used to make tortillas… I really don’t think the outside of the bag was sanitary, but the trash bag the gloves touched definitely wasn’t. Seriously. Come on… Didn’t you guys see what is happening to Chipotle? Do you want to follow in their footsteps???
The coordination of the assembly line was not there either. One employee took my husband’s burrito and put it on a counter at the back for some unknown reason then grabbed mine and asked what he wanted… It was a bit bizarre.
The food…
The tortillas are made in house which is great, but they are very doughy and bland. The fillings are very limited… I couldn’t even get pico de gallo or lettuce inside the burrito because it was served only on the side. I also asked for light sauce which was completely ignored, and a spoonful was slopped on. My husband got the steak, and it was extraordinarily bland. I got the shredded chicken which was pretty good. The burritos are also not wrapped in such a way that you can pick them up, so they have to be eaten with a knife and fork. There are no lemons or limes out for the taking, so ask for them with your order.
I’m not big on returning food and can usually suck it up, but this I ended up swapping out. It was pretty terrible. The burrito bowl was a slight improvement, but I still wouldn’t really recommend it… Even for the $ 5.49 Tuesday special.
No thanks. Not doing that again.

The food is alright. Won’t go out of my way to go get café rio. One thing that does really gross me out is the employees stand right outside the restaurant and smoke. That’s doesn’t look good at all. I don’t want to see someone on minute smoking a cigarette then the next minute that person making my food!

The experience ruined the food for me. My first time coming to Café Rio and I thought it was promising. The moment I walked in, I felt good about the place. Tables were 80 percent full and there was quite a line.
There were probably 6 or so people in front of us and we waited around 10 minutes. Definitely irritated at this point.
When we finally got to ordering our food I noticed how dirty the bar was. I saw pictures from others’ post and they were not kidding. There was different food mixed in, juices dripping in other pans. It was just so dirty.
Steak fell into chicken, rice fell in the beans, salsa in the salad dressing, cilantro in the cheese… At this point, you were better off asking for everything because you would end up getting it anyway.
I ordered the Salad with steak. They ended up mixing my order and I had to go in front of the two people that were before. (Weird mix up but whatever). They piled on the lettuce which was great but I can’t stress how messy the bar was. It definitely turned me off on the food.
Now my salad was subpar. Steak was pretty bland but the house dressing was delicious. Also had the queso which was yummy but the green salsa did NOT look good at all (it was bubbly?!) and the guac we paid extra for was so sour. Also, the cashier packed my salad to go without gloves. If you notice the tortilla hangs out of the container for salads, I’m not trying to be picky but when you touch money and touch a part of my food, I’m not totally thrilled in eating it.
I wish I could say it was delicious since I had such high hopes for the place but my experience threw me off. Plus, I was wanting to try the horchata but even the entire drink bar (aside from fountain drinks) was empty and it seems the workers had no intentions of refilling it. Maybe it was an off day for the workers but a lot seemed very confused. I definitely would not recommend this place to anyone.

I tried this place because we were in a rush and figured it would be quick. I had the taco salad and my husband had a burrito bowl. The food is amazing! The salsas and fresh herbs and ingredients are something you might expect from a nice family restaurant but not a corporate chain. My only complaint is the employees are a bit stand off ish and buckle and dime you on everything.

Mexican version of subway.
I got the vegetarian burrito (enchilada style)
It was really good. You can pick between 2 different kinds of beans.
The staff however doesn’t seem to be happy. Noone smiles, hair that’s not up in a pony tail or groomed. The cleanliness wasn’t good either.
My food was great but definitely won’t go out of my way to eat here again.

Any other Café Rio location would get a ⁵⁄₅ from me. Café Rio is my favorite restaurant.
However, this location is the poorest run location I have ever seen. Service is slow (and sometimes rude), lettuce and other foods have looked old and browning, they have often run out of main items for meals (like cilantro and guacamole) and I have witnessed the employees arguing with each other in front of customers.
Last time we were there, we noticed a ton of clutter blocking the take out counter. WTF?!
Someone needs to send one of the Café Rio pros from Utah to whip things into shape here. I hope they do, because I don’t want to see this Café Rio close.

We are associates in the mall so we come here often. Usually we get pretty good customer service, however the service on Saturdays are not up to standards. When a colleague and I walked in another associate from Café Rio was yelling at another. It made us feel uncomfortable because we first thought we were the ones getting yelled at. Soon thereafter the same woman, with bold black glasses, was saying negative things about other customers and using derogatory terms. I’ve never felt so uncomfortable.
ALSO their portion sizes ALWAYS very on the individual. I’m disappointed.

A few weeks ago, my mom and I were gallivanting around Lynnwood and the mid afternoon found our tummies grumbling. Since it was so late, we opted to find something light to eat, and Café Rio was convenient to where we were shopping so we decided to stop and see what the place was all about. I wanted to go when they first opened but I had heard about how busy it was, but I am glad I waited to go when the hype died down.
Their menu is full of so many tasty options, but I ended up going back to my childhood and ordering off of the child menu. I did this for three reasons: smaller portion, cheaper food, and it includes a drink — score! (For the record, I asked the girl working there if I could order off the kids’ menu because I didn’t have a big appetite and it was no problem.).
I ended up having the kids’ quesadilla meal with shredded beef (omg so tender and juicy!) and black beans. Their drink bar is self-​serve, and you have many beverage options as well as flavored syrups to concoct your own blend. I think my kids’ meal was around the $ 4 mark so it was a total steal and very filling! My mom had their fully loaded tortilla soup, with shredded chicken, guac, tortilla strips, cilantro, beans and cheese.
The food had a lot of Mexican flavors, definitely more pronounced and much more fresh than the other Mexican chains one encounters in the PNW. I was very pleasantly surprise by the quality of their food. Since we went during the late afternoon and after a lunch rush, we didn’t experience any delays. The décor inside is funky Mexican (at least I think), and I love the differently decorated tables and chairs — adds a lot of character to the space!
Would I be back? Definitely — you can’t go wrong with freshly made Mexican food at a decent price.
PS: They make their corn tortillas fresh — when we went, we saw the lady making them. Super good — and you get 2 fresh tortillas with their tortilla soup!

Good fast food.
This is not a fancy place, but a quick tellem-​what-​you want sort of set up. The food is actually pretty good here. The tortillas are hand made and that makes a big difference. I ordered enchiladas and they were really great, if a bit on the salty side. I ordered a spicy sauce, but all I could taste was salt. The portion to cost ratio is quite favorable.
It can be a bit loud during the lunch hour and, inexplicably, this is also when a few of the employees go on their break. I am definitely coming back here.

Finally, I try Café Rio.
My friends and family in UT are constantly checking in at this place. I always know it’s Café Rio, from the pictures of the tin pans. When I drove by this location, I had to do a double take.
Their tortillas are by far, my favorite thing. Warm and thick… just totally bready. I much prefer that to other popular Mexican spots. Their salmon was nice, and when tossed on top of a salad, was the right salty bite. I can also appreciate their drink bar – limeade, horchata, hibiscus tea… that’s what I’m talkin about!
Now their cheese – not my favorite. And the fact that their ingredients aren’t non-GMO…well…that’s definitely not my favorite. I also prefer the chips at another popular burrito spot. If I’m in the area, I’ll likely stop by again. It’s a nice little addition to the mall.

Food is nothing to brag about. Pretty expensive. Got the burrito with extra chicken and girlfriend got the quesadillas. Came out to $ 26 after drinks.
Utterly terrible customer service. The person that served us looked like it was torture to ask us what we wanted to order. The person who checked us out seemed to have have just started working there and had no training.

Everything is so good. Fresh. Fast. Inexpensive. Served fast. Fun Mexican beach town décor. Very tasty and very casual. The people working here seem to be glad to be here. Cancun shrimp tacos. Nuff said.

Apparently, this is a pretty popular chain in other parts of the country and is just now getting a foothold in the Pacific Northwest. After my first visit here, I would most closely compare it to both Taco Del Mar and Q’Doba with it being muc better than the former and pretty much on par or slightly ahead of with the latter. The service was great although it was late in the evening so the famous tortilla making station was not in action. Lots of people comment on this, so I feel like I missed out on a part of the experience that makes them unique.
As far as the food, I was pretty happy with what I got although I wish they would strain the meat more before the scoop it onto or into whatever type of meal you have ordered. Once the sauces are added in, my meal ended up being pretty sloppy and I basically just let it all run into each other rather than keeping items separate and segregated. The rice and beans that come with most orders was pretty tasty for standard side items. I was also pretty impressed with the selection of beverages they offered which included lemonades and horchatas that you won’t find at any other chain restaurant that I know of.
I will definitely be visiting this place again so I can try more items off the menu and I’m still looking forward to seeing the world famous tortilla station in action and churning out freshly made circles of deliciousness.