Cafe Rio Fresh Modern Mexican — Restaurant in Colorado Springs

This location consistently never figures it out. We have been to many different Cafe Rio locations all over the country and they're all standardized so you can expect great portions, the food to be seasoned and cooked properly and to get a great value for your money. This location, since uts opening, has been such a disappointment - they're always out of different ingredients or menu items, their servers are clueless as to how to properly portion out meat, and lately they've been under serving on meat portions. Tonight they tried to charge us for extra meat when my husband said they didn't even give him what is a normal portion for a bowl. We KNOW what this food has been and is supposed to be in terms of quality. This CR location is WAY below even average compared to any other location we go to. We would rather drive more joes to Castle Rock where they always serve the food the right way and have things figured out. They take care of their customers too. This Briargate location needs to figure it out quickly or they'll lose many customers from their lack of attention to quality, portion size and planning. Also, the manager needs to start using the air conditioning!! It is always so hot in there it isn't comfortable to dine in. Trust this loyal CR customer when I say this is by far the WORST Cafe Rio to date we have ever encountered. Please figure things...

I care about this place and this is the only reason I am writing this review in hopes that they improve. On Feb 11 at 06:00pm. I walked in and ordered their salad. For meat, I almost always go with grilled chicken but this tjme they were out so I went with Polo Asada chicken. Their chicken was super dry and burned. I couldn't eat it so I had to get it out of my salad bowl piece by piece. I get sometimes stuff happens and they can't get everything right at all times so i asked for a supervisor, Tanya came to my table and asked me whats wrong with the food. As I was explaining to her, she was being all defensive and interrupting me. She said the reason why your chicken is dry and burned is because you ran it through the toaster oven for 10 seconds at 500 degress. Tanya has no clue about the food that she serves at her restaurants. If you mess up, own it and try to fix it instead of making excuses.

Update: May 04th 2025 My first couple visits were disappointing, but I went back again and I am glad to see some improvements for example food portions have gotten better. The staff is more friendly and the management has been improved a lot. This is the only Mexican food restaurant that I eat at in Colorado Springs area and the only one I would recommend. My only complaint now is if they can cook their beans better instead of reheating them in...

I’ve eaten at Café Rio over a hundred times and tried all their Denver locations. I was really excited when they opened one in Colorado Springs, since it’s closer to where I live.

One thing I’ve noticed, though, is how often the staff changes. I see new faces almost every time I visit.

I’ve been to this location about a dozen times since it opened, and I always order the same thing the salad. I usually ask for the tortilla extra crispy and have it run through the oven, but only when they’re not busy. This last visit, I asked the same as always, and a guy named Mark with a ponytail said he couldn’t because it might burn then added he’d do it “one last time.” It’s never burned in the past hundred visits, so that was odd.

The salads also tend to have a ton of lettuce but very little meat. How much you get seems to depend on who’s serving that day. I’ve mentioned this to a manager before, but nothing has changed.

I used to really like Café Rio, but the frequent staff turnover, inconsistent portions, and declining ingredient quality have been disappointing. I’ve even gotten wilted lettuce, overcooked chicken, and watched them pour hot beans straight out of plastic bags—not exactly fresh like they claim to be.

I'll give them another try and hope things improve, but if not, then...