Rio Adobe Southwest Cafe — Restaurant in Cupertino

I wanted to give 3 stars for the Food, but the service was so good that I gave this place 4 stars. We ordered R & B ( Rice, Bean Burrito), Steak or Beef Taco, & Corn Tortilla soup. I was tiny bit disappointed with the soup. It was 11.95? and I thought it might be good...it did have few pieces of chicken in it ( & corn tortilla) but it was very light...almost very little flavour...the only good thing is I added Pico de Gallo from the salsa bar to give the soup more flavour but I would not get that soup again as it was not very big....wide bowl but shallow so it was not very hot. Overall, kind of bland soup. The R & B Burrito looked good ( Dad got it) and look big. Dad gave me a bite, it tasted good....rice nice and soft and beans were allright..it just overall taste good and flour tortilla was nice and fresh chew like fresh tortilla. But Dad did complain later to me that he wanted more bean paste? I thought it had enough bean but maybe Im wrong. I wanted Dad to try the chicken burrito but it was 13.95? and R&B burrito only 10.95? On the other reviews it said that Chicken burrito was marinated but I might be wrong. The Steak or Beef Taco was around 6 or 6.95 and even tho it had chunks of Beef or alot of Beef, the beef taste like it might be boiled? hmmm. I guess I should have ask if the Beef taco was carne asada because the taco trucks near saratoga have good Carne Asada taco. So the beef just look like it was boiled ( and no where near carne Asada...next time get beef from the taco trucks...not from here). The only good thing is that it look like cubes of Lengua ( if it were really Lengua it would have been a good taco, but no Lengua and boiled beef...) They did give you alot of Beef so I wrap the Beef in a flour tortilla for my mom since she has trouble eating the taco with tiny corn shell, soft shell corn but tiny so beef was overflowing out of the taco. So I used my Flour Tortilla ( which was delicious) from the soup you get a free tortilla which was huge and good Tortilla and wrap the beef for her to eat it. The only good thing about the food is the salsa bar is good. The corn salsa was the best. The Pico de Gallo missing some flavour that day...maybe need to add a little salt. There was one good red salsa ( it has tiny black specs in it...look like black pepper but that was the onlly good salsa). .For the other salsas, something missing. I think they need to add a tiny bit of salt to the salsa. Normally I dont like salt but the salsa and Pico de Gallo missing some salt. Later the nice service guy put out fresh lemons..but still the salsa needs tiny bit of salt. If there is a next time, I will try the chicken burrito for 13.95. The only reason I could think of to why maybe the soup was bland and beef tasting boiled ( from Taco) is maybe nobody wanted to work on this Holiday weekend ( it was Monday Martin Luther King holiday) and we went super early ( right when it opened). Sometimes the cooks in restaurant might be different and maybe they just had a bad cook that day ( that boil beef) and light soup. I just wish if they knew the soup was bland just tell me and I will order the chicken...

I have in the past, raved about a wonderful Cal-Mex restaurant I frequent in Cupertino, Aqui. Just across Aqui is an excellent southwestern place called Rio Adobe. Unlike Aqui which is a local chain with multiple locations, Rio Adobe is a one location only setup that serves sumptuous Mexican fare. I have a fondness for Mexican fare and Rio Adobe satisfies it to a great extent.

This afternoon, I made a trip to the place. It had been a few months since my previous trip when I had the blue corn quesedilla special. I was greeted by a whole new set of specials, each one tantalizing. More appetizing was the fact that three of the four things they were offering as specials were vegetarian. I was famished and ordered a soup and a quesedilla. From my past experience, I knew that I had over ordered. Adobe’s lunch platters are big and filling. But I was up for the challenge. While we waited for our food to arrive, we were treated to some tortilla chips and many of 8 wonderful salsas they offered in their salsa bar. The salsas were fresh and tasty.

The corn soup arrived as did my smoked gouda quesedilla. On a winter afternoon, I cant tell you how much I enjoyed the fare. The corn soup was flavorful with nice bits of roasted corn floating in the soup. The smoked gouda cheese quesedilla rocked- especilly with the chipotle aioli on the side. I had a feast for the senses. I walked out, fully satisfied and vowing to come back more often.

Back at work, someone asked me how different it was from Aqui’s. Aqui’s offers healthy, organic fare which is flavorful but on a milder side. Portions are extremely well thought out and the food is almost always local, in season and fresh fare. Rio Adobe offers interesting takes on typical Mexican fare. Their food is not necessarily in small portions or for the health conscious. But the tradeoff is that one gets a much stronger taste and flavor- especially to the liking of people used to strong and spicy food. Both of them offer excellent fare for the...

This review is for a catering job last Saturday. We were hosting an event for 50 people. I have always been a big fan of Rio Adobe and frequently have lunch there. So they were at the top of my list for a catering job.

I requested a menu with several vegetarian dishes and they created a very good selection. They provided a chicken taco bar, cheese enchiladas, cheese quesadillas, Havasu salad, chips and salsa and guacamole. The most popular items were the cheese enchiladas and the Havasu salad.

In addition to the food they lent me some chafing dishes warmed by provided sterno. The food was delivered in a large insulated box. One of their staff set up the food in the chafing dishes and kept the extra food warm in the insulated box.

Overall we were extremely happy with the quantity and quality of the food and with the excellent service of...