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| - My goodness do I love Cafe Rio. At first glance, this seems like another Chipotle rip off, with the open kitchen and the choose-your-ingredient line. Under the veneer, though, is an amazingly good-tasting restaurant! The first thing that impressed me was the tortilla making. Their tortillas start out as dough balls, and are pulled and flattened by hand before being cooked on a rotating metal plate. They're thick and delicious, and even on their own ($.95), they're really really good. Secondly, the meat is very flavorful. My personal favorite is the pork barbacoa, which is lightly sweet.
I could go on and on about the salads, the chile relleno, tacos, but really, my favorite order is a burrito with pork barbacoa and pinto beans ($6.95), mild sauce and cilantro, enchilada style ($.95, meaning it's got sauce on top, topped with cheese, and lightly baked), with extra pico-de-gallo. Good enough for two people, under $10.
Another interesting thing is that they have a wide selection of drinks and hot sauces. It's the only place I know of that has Vanilla Coke *and* Cherry Coke. They have three different kinds of tea, of which my favorite is the herbal hibiscus, and their mango drink is quite good, too. They have tabasco, jalapeno tabasco, Tapatio, Cholula, and at least three more different kinds of hot sauces in bottles that I hadn't even heard of.
I have not had any of the desserts, but I have no doubt they're just good and high in quality as the rest of the menu. Pretty great place to get a cheap meal! I'm never going to Chipotle, Zaba's, or Qdoba again, Cafe Rio is just that much better.
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