El Rio — Restaurant in Grad Rijeka

While on vacation with my family, we stopped for dinner. Out of all the dishes we ordered, the most disappointing was the Vegie Wok – it was heavily oversalted, the eggplants were undercooked and hard, and the vegetables looked as if they had been thawed straight from a package. We didn’t complain about the food — we simply said we would like to pay the bill and leave.

We then waited an unusually long time for the check. My wife even stood up with her backpack on, clearly showing we were ready to go. The waiter kept walking around — chatting with other guests, joking, taking new orders — but didn’t notice us or pretended not to. We also saw other customers waving their hands for attention, yet the waiters rushed past them as if they were invisible.

After about 15 more minutes, my husband approached to ask if the waiter could see us and if we could finally pay. At that point, the waiter suddenly changed his tone, raised his voice, and snapped: “Yes! You have to pay! Let’s go to the bar!” — in a rude, almost aggressive manner, as if we had tried to leave without paying.

It was a shocking display of behavior, completely incompatible with respect for the customer. After such an experience, there is only one clear decision — we will not be...

When we sat down at the big table in the corner, I asked the waiter if it was fine to sit there, and he said, “Yeah, but I’ve got a reservation at 19:00 here.” It was 17:20, and we assured him we wouldn’t be too long. Before we finished our meal, the waiter, Nikola S., walked over to the table, completely ignoring the fact that I was crying my eyes out—even though he made eye contact with me from halfway across the room. Uninvited, he brought over the receipt with the POS machine, where a 10% tip was already pre-selected as an option. My date, reacting to the situation, immediately paid just to get him to leave and give me some space, without thinking twice.

Any person with even a bit of common sense would probably choose to give a crying guest some space, especially given the fact that the reservation was still an hour away and the restaurant was half-empty. I’m very, very sorry my date agreed to the tip because he did nothing above the minimum requirement of his job which was to bring the menu and the food. Not a single smile or a kind word such as thank you or here you go was heard. The food was good but this was a bad experience and I don’t plan on coming back here even though I’ve visited this restaurant a few...

We ate at El Rio for an early lunch and I can confidently say that this was some of the most delicious food I have ever had - me and my group were in a bit of a rush to get a bite to eat before we went to the airport, we started with some coffees which were very yum, before having a few mains.

The margarita pizza was delicious, and very cheesy!- very big portion and very reasonable - 7.5€. Me and my girlfriend shared it and we were both full after it.

The highlight was my friends PB&J burger - sounds like a weird combination but the balance between the savoury nut flavours and sweet jam was absolutely scrumptious! I only had one bite but it was super good. It was also accompanied with some lively roast potatoes. Unfortunately I didn't take any photos of the food.

We sat outside and it was quite a few people having a quick meal on their own in the middle of the day, but the inside was really cool decor and they have regular DJ sets and I reckon it would be a great venue for that. It's a great location in Rijeka, super central. Our waiter spoke good English and was efficient. I will definitely be returning if I come...