Cafe Rio Mexican Grill

Doesn't Recommend

sstyles15

Joined 4 years ago

Wheres the flavor??. My wife and I went there to eat lunch for the first time, and we were both pretty disappointed. We both ordered the chicken enselada special, and we both came across as the food was lacking flavor. The enselada, rice, was very bland. For what we paid for, I was still very hungry afterwards. This is a restaurant that seems to be an "american - mexican" style food, lacking some authentic style mexican food, which is fine if thats what you are looking for, but my wife who is mexican, is a much better cook than the food we received.

For all the mexican restaurants in the SLC area that serve quality mexican food,Dont think we will be returning.

Scott

Recommends

Karita

Joined 4 years ago

I LOVE CAFE RIO!. The food is great. They give big portions for the price you pay. The salads and the burritos are the best! Some weeks I eat at Cafe Rio two days in a row because the flavor of the House Dressing is addicting. It is my favorite restaurant. The service is fast and friendly. There is one guy at the Provo Cafe Rio that remembers my husband and I every time we go and is extra nice to us. Even if the line is long, it is worth the wait, plus it moves fast. So to sum it all up, awesome tasting food, fast service, clean environment, and good prices.

Doesn't Recommend

jefe121

Joined 4 years ago

sugar burritos!. Maybe come to grab some sweet sweet sugar burritos for dessert, but avoid the place for lunch. I don't know where they got their barbacoa recipe, but this place could only thrive in sugar crazy Utah.

Nothing really sets the food here apart as special. The lines are usually pretty long. That's right - it's a cafeteria style line - think Subway with burritos. You want salsa? Ok. Hold the lettuce? Sure. Basically, you either get a taco salad or a burrito full of the crockpot style sweet pork. You get to choose from half a dozen or so toppings.

Clearly a sit down Mexican restaurant will deliver better food, but there are even better Mexican fast food places nearby (think Betos).

Doesn't Recommend

licoricesmom

Joined 4 years ago

Is there soup in my salad?. With all the fuss being made about this place, we gave it a try. We had the pork salad. First, it was hard to hear the servers so we got stuff we didn't want on it. Second, the beans were so runny that when I got to the bottom of the salad it was like a soup. Not very appealing at this point. Next time, we had the fish tacos which were a little more edible but not superior to other fish tacos you can find in Utah. Two times at Cafe Rio was enough.

Recommends

CSMobileUser

Joined 5 years ago

Most delicious place ever. All you complainers, SHUT UP!. Cafe Rio is by far the most amazing, somewhat fast food restaurant that I have ever had. The lines go by fast, so don't listen to all those other people saying that they are long. I could probably eat almost every day. Though I am not vegetarian, I get the salad without meat, but there pork is very good, I just don't like it with salad. It has so many flavors, and there tortillas and house dressing is to die for. I highly recomend that if you like Mexican food, go there, and if you don't, it will convert you!

Doesn't Recommend

Volleyballhead

Joined 4 years ago

They don't even have cilantro!?. This will be quick

Good: The tortillas are amazing!

Bad: Everything else. The service people are not very pleasant. I ask for a peach drink and they gave me some horchata or something. I'm not even sure what it was. And people go there for their "healthy" salads. Those things are just as unhealthy as McDonalds! Everyone is in self-denial and wants to believe they're making the best choices, but they're not (if you want healthy). Go to Wendy's for a salad! I'm sure it's more healthy.

Cafe Rio really is overrated in Utah. I expected it to be sooo much better than this!

Let me to tell you, if I go anywhere in the valley, I'm going to Tres Hombres!

Recommends

emads

Joined 5 years ago

Good, but high in calories. Cafe Rio is a good place to eat with good flavors. I have too problems with them. First, they rush you through the line and you can barely hear the person taking your order. Second and most importantly, their food is loaded with calories. You think a chicken salad sounds like a good healthy choice until you start counting the calories, according to my estimate it has 1228 calories, based on this site:

(CitySearch would not let me put a link to the site here, just Google Cafe Rio Nutritional info and it's the first site in the results that has a byu.edu address... how lame of CitySearch)

In my opinion a tastier alternative (not necessarily healthier) is Costa Vida. The Chipotle Chicken Salad is great.

Enjoy.

Doesn't Recommend

hellibeer

Joined 11 years ago

Mexican, no, fresh yes.... I have to say, if the rating were on "is it Mexican and do I like it" I would give it MAX 1 star. I dislike the flavor, and have given it a try 3 or 4 times. NO Mexican flavor like I am used to (from San Diego area). However, the food is VERY fresh and the tortillas are good. So, because of this I rated it higher.

I asked for spicy salsa...it was SWEET?!?! I am not into the sickening sweet taste there. I would give it 2 1/2 stars, but not three and since we can't give halves, I give it two.

I thought the service and the "show" they put on was great. VERY lively atmosphere. Also, if it is good food, I don't mind a wait at all, and am willing to park where ever. So the service was just fine. Pricing was a bit confusing, but again, I don't mind that if the food and atmosphere is good. Unfortunately, the food wasn't to my taste.

So, the ONLY problem to me, is it doesn't qualify as traditional Mexican and I do not care AT ALL for the sweet bbq flavor.

Doesn't Recommend

chef22

Joined 5 years ago

There goes your diet. Okay, so I have been to the Cafe Rio Mexican Grill in Utah. Well I have to say with the way I was treated "like a cow to the slaughter" does not do the company any good. I did my research and found out from friends that the company was sold like four years ago and from there it has been all down hill. The food quailty has gone down and customer service. I asked for some nutrition info from someone named Abe. He was unable to give me anything. So while I was in the line I noticed that they add oil to the grilled chicken and steak. I asked why they said it was to add flavor (Red Flag anyone). The shredded beef,chicken were swimming in butter. I saw the cook in the back adding it to "fresh chicken" and then brought it up to the line to be served. The food there is not healthy at all good luck staying on a diet. If the company is not going to give you nutrition information it most likely means they are hiding it. If the truth were to come out the place would most likely close.

Doesn't Recommend

michaeldmaxwell

Joined 7 years ago

Rio Over-rated. This probably the most over-rated dining establishment in Utah. People raved to me about this place and maybe I expected too much. The food is ok - - sligtly above Taco Bell variety but not worth the wait if the lines are long. Everything related to the food is pretty much run-of-the mill. They get a plus for the fresh-made tortillas but you can get those now at any fast food neuvo-Mexican (Chipolte, Costa Vita, etc) If you do wait in the lines, don't plan to eat in the establishment. It is narrow and crowded with uncomfortable chairs and tables.