Cafe Rio Mexican Grill

Reviews

• Sheryl P.

  star star star star star 24 May 2026

  Not sure I understand the negative reviews because we've always gotten fresh and delicious meals at this Cafe Rio location. The portions are large, the staff is friendly, and the food is what we expect from Cafe Rio, hot, fresh, and amazing! We love that we can eat at Cafe Rio when we travel through Boise, because our corner of Oregon doesn't have any close by.

• Lindsey R.

  star star_border star_border star_border star_border 24 May 2026

  first time coming to this place- I follow them on instagram and although I am hardcore chipotle fan I thought i would give it a try.
  
  when we walked in the line was really long. i figured it wouldn't take that long because, well, it always moves really fast at chipotle. that was not the case here. it was painfully slow. the girls they have working there are not trained to be efficient, cleanly, or timely. it's embarrassing.
  
  finally got up to the front and I hear her tell the guy in front of me they are "out" of steak and pork. are you joking me?? why wasn't there a sign or someone letting people in line know that their two most popular meats are not available?? I asked her if they were going to offer some incentive to come back, such as a coupon to the people that have been waiting over 20 minutes to find that they do not have what they waited for. she shrugged and said, "they will be ready in 20 minutes if you want to wait." um NO sweetie, I just waited 20 minutes already. you should have told people! (i didn't say this, i just asked about the coupon and she said we could wait. i'm not about to confront a 17 year old over carne asada.) she didn't give a crap. the guy in front of me and his two teenagers left because of this. no one apologized. no one cared. no manager in sight. only teenagers who didn't even bat an eye.
  
  I got up to the front finally and WOW! you have to be kidding me- the place was ATROCIOUS. I'm talking so messy I was disgusted. the meats and beans were all mixed, the cheese was everywhere. the lettuce was sopping wet. it was horrendous. kind of the whole point of having this open display is to show people how fresh and cleanly they are- it was disgusting. clearly there was no managers working that night because I don't know how they could let these kids get away with this. it was really really bad. it takes two seconds to clean up as you go. disgusting.
  
  since I waited forever to try this, even though I was so irritated and over it, I was still hungry. I got a grilled chicken tostada with black beans, and my husband got a barbacoa burrito with pinto beans. I was grossed out the whole time eating. my entire experience was ruined, and i couldn't really enjoy the food. i'm honestly sad I wasted the money and didn't just go to chipotle where it's fast, clean, and where the employees are always so friendly and accommodating . my mistake.
  
  unfollowing cafe rio. no thanks.

• Heidi S.

  star star star_border star_border star_border 16 May 2026

  LONG POST:
  I love me some Cafe Rio, it's really good. But I've given it a 2-star rating? Why?? Well let me explain.
  Now this place is ALWAYS busy. ALWAYS! The food is awesome BUT you really need to have way more than an hour for a lunch break. To remedy the situation you use the online order function or the app. I've eaten here probably 100 times and again the 2 stars is NOT for the food. Its about the service and it's not the first time the service has been crappy.
  
  Today I ordered from the app at 11:45 to be picked up at 12:30. Super simple nacho's so nothing too hard to make. I got my confirmation that my order was received and pick up time is 12:30. When I get to the restaurant and get inside to the online order counter, there are a strange amount of displeased people standing around. (also the line is totally full of people who didn't place an order, they're actually there to sit and have lunch) I waited for one of the gals behind the counter to see me or anyone really, acknowledge us and let us pay. That wasn't the case today. After a bit the gentleman next to me said "good luck, I've been here for over an hour waiting" Wait what?! Over an hour. Nope, not happening. I was able to get the lady to come over to me and she asked for my name, I told her, then she offered me a cup. I didn't order a drink so immediately I thought it was an "I'm sorry" peace offering. Which it actually was. She checked my spot on the order sheet and confirmed.... there were 32 ORDERS in front of me! What in the world? That's right, 32. Doesn't make sense. I told her I wanted to cancel my order and I'd just go elsewhere. She didn't try and make me stay, apologize for the strange amount of people ahead of me, or anything really. She asked if i'd like to take a survey... of course I would. This is ridiculous. Why would the online system allow orders to continue to be placed with that many people? It should have been way out in the future.
  
  I try and take the survey however, since I didn't have an order number I wasn't able to participate to let them know it's awful customer service. Anyways, it is a good place to eat but allow yourself a lot of time to be there. There are a lot of mexican options and I'm not sure the time constraints for this place are worth it.

• Crystelle S.

  star star star_border star_border star_border 15 May 2026

  Cafe Rio has some decent food, however, the place seems to be ran by a bunch of kids. I'm not sure I've seen a manager the handful of times I've been in here the last couple of months. Today was the worst it's been. They were singing obnoxiously and howling to the songs being played. It was very unprofessional and I know we are coming to a fast food establishment, and I do think it's nice if the employees are happy to be there & have a good attitude, however, that's not what this was. I really think a manager needs to get in there and straighten things up.

• Jessica M.

  star star_border star_border star_border star_border 14 May 2026

  Nothing but attitude from everyone who helped us. We didn't even receive a simple hello, goodbye, or smile. Love the food, but the customer service is horrible. A simple favor such as asking for an extra sauce seemed too much to ask for. Never coming back, I'd rather drive further into town to get Costa Vida instead.