Café Rio is a chain of fast-casual restaurants serving up fresh Mexican and Tex-Mex flavors. Known for its dedication to fresh, handmade, never frozen food and generous portions, its menu covers all the Mexican classics. Featuring friendly staff and tons of ways to customize your order, its no wonder it’s a popular place to sit in or take out.

Demand for this casual but flavorful eatery has stretched the chain into more than ten states. Owned currently by a team of experienced big names in the fast-food industry and marketing experts, their presence more than quadrupled. While a majority of their locations are primarily in the west, the chain is pushing eastward.

History

Café Rio was started by Steve and Patricia Stanley in the small town of St. George, Utah with recipes inspired by the cuisine around the Rio Grande Valley, and years of love and care, their one restaurant grew to six locations across the state. In late 2004 it was purchased by Bob Nilsen, whose resume already included working and improving sales for other major fast food chains, and his team of businessmen.

In six years, Bob Nilsen and his team grew those six locations into over forty locations in seven states, and then later into more than seventy locations in over ten states. Over the years they’ve gained many accolades for their food including multiple local awards for best burrito and a few for fastest growing company.

There are a lot of fast-casual Mexican restaurants, but there are a few key things that set Café Rio apart. First is their unbridled enthusiasm for fresh food, very, very fresh food. They pride themselves on having no freezers or microwaves on the premises of any of their restaurants, something other restaurants cannot claim.

Perhaps their success is in part due to that commitment to not ever serving old, stale food. In fact they claim to juice at least a thousand limes a day, every day, by hand, and that each item that is served was made that day, in house. Each year Americans grow more and more conscious of the origins of the food they eat, and care more about how its made, and this bodes well for Café Rio.

Review

Every item on the Cafe Rio menu is bursting with flavor. It is immediately obvious that their dedication to authentic Southwestern cuisine has not lessened. The menu includes all the staples of any good Mexican restaurant: burritos, quesadillas, enchiladas, tostadas, and chips and salsa. The menu is also economical, with all meals costing less than $10.

Children are also welcome, and have dedicated menu items at about half the price of their grown-up equivalents. It’s not just for take out, though. The interior of the restaurant is painted rich warm tones and the décor is immediately recognizable as Southwestern and Latin-inspired. The staff is welcoming and even higher up on the chain of command, a fun and festive attitude is clearly important.

Award after award has proved the food is good, so they’ve responded to the demand and now offer catering services. You can order their “Nacho Bar,” “Taco Fiesta,” or “Enchilada Party” or one of their many other options, and the Mexican flavors made fresh daily can come to you. Catering is very reasonably priced at about $10 per person.

The wait time is about average, but while your waiting you’re enticed by the aromas of cilantro, and lime, and you can watch tortillas be hand made in front of you. For cheese lovers, you can also have your meal “Enchilada Style,” which means a heaping helping of extra sauce and melted cheese.