My wife got me turned into Cafe Rio and we have visited several locations including Scottsdale, Phoenix Biltmore area, Mesa and Avondale. I have been to the Norterra (Happy Valley) location three times and while the food had been good (the two times we've ate there -- once we did not, details below) have been disappointed in the service.
Their steak tacos are to die for and are so filling I don't need the rice or beans so I get the tacos a-la-carte. Their pico de gallo is pretty good, and that's coming from someone who usually doesn't eat tomatoes. Their hot salsa had a heck of a kick as well.
The problem with this location is that it isn't well run. The first visit was okay but the second was awful. The line was very long and we waited for 45 minutes only to be told they were completely out of steak and it was only 8:00 pm. They could have said something because I am certain I wasn't the only person in line that was looking for it. We were so frustrated that we left and went to SmashBurger instead which was across the street.
We went again last night hoping hat the previous visit was an anomaly. Again there was a bit of a line but it moved fairly quickly this time, which was surprising because their staff was extremely disorganized and were mixing up orders. The family in front of us had ordered quesadillas for their children but didn't get them and then when they went to pay their card was declined and the cashier was at a loss to what to do. She let us skip ahead of them and paid for our order but we had asked for chips and salsa and only got salsa so we weren't charged for chips but didn't realize that until we reminded them we didn't get out chips so we had to pay for them separately.
Im giving two stars since a 1-star review would be a terrible experience but at least the food was good this time.