Cafe Rio Fresh Modern Mexican — Restaurant in Fort Collins

✨ Café Rio: The Mom’s-Day-Out Fuel I Didn’t Know I Needed ✨ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Okay, listen. I went to Café Rio with some fellow moms while picking up my daughter from a church camp, and I don’t know if it was the lack of sleep, the emotional mom high from watching her grow up too fast, or the fact that I hadn't eaten a real meal in 48 hours—but this food slapped. Like, full-on soul-hug, crying-in-the-parking-lot, “maybe I am doing okay” level delicious.

I ordered the Sweet Pork Salad because I’m a creature of habit and heard whispers of its legendary status. Y’all. The rumors are TRUE. That pork was so tender it practically apologized for every tantrum my kids have ever thrown. The rice and beans were seasoned to perfection, and don’t even get me started on the tomatillo ranch—I would drink it out of a Hydro Flask if society wouldn’t judge me.

And yes, I got queso. Because I’m a grown woman and I deserve joy.

The line was long but moved fast, like a well-oiled burrito assembly line. The staff didn’t judge me for being that person holding up the line asking for “extra extra dressing.” Bless them.

The vibes? Loud, slightly chaotic, and full of teens, toddlers, and tired parents—aka: my natural habitat. The aftermath? I was full, happy, and dramatically texting my husband: “WHY HAVE WE NOT BEEN EATING HERE EVERY WEEK?!”

🍼Pro Tip: If you’re a mom on a road trip, emotionally depleted from a week of solo parenting or camp pickup chaos—Café Rio is the serotonin booster you didn’t know you needed. Also, get a second dressing. Always.

Would eat again. Would cry over sweet pork again. Would 100% recommend to other exhausted, fabulous moms living off caffeine and prayer.

#MomApproved #SweetPorkIsMyLoveLanguage...

GO TO CAFE MEXICALI! Same food but way better and is the original recipes.

Worst customer service experience I have ever been apart of. We placed a group order online for pick up. When my coworker got back with the food we discovered we were missing an entire meal and one of the other meals was missing a taco. We called and were told (in a short and rude tone) we would need to come in to correct the problem, which was not possible for any of us since we had appointments and surgeries starting back up. Which also meant one of our Doctors did not get to eat.

When I finally was able to drive down (an additional 10 minutes south, adding 20 minutes to my already 45 minute commute) the Manager was completely indifferent that a customer did not get a meal and asked if I wanted to order one at that moment (are you kidding me?) which I calmly and politely replied "no" to, I just want to be refunded. He agreed he would refund the money of the meal we did not get (well no sh** Sherklock) and explained that the tacos were a special so it only came with one, despite the photo clearly showing two tacos when you order and no other description (that's called bait and switch) so they did not owe us anything for that meal.

I, nor my teammates will ever give them business again. Instead we will place our orders with Cafe Mexicali (Rio left Mexicali to start the chain) which has phenomenal food and quality service, oh and it's right down the road.

Bottom line, don't waste your time here, go to...

When this place opened 6-8 years ago, it served up REALLY good, authentic Mexican food with lots of little special details and daily promo deals. Good food for a reasonable price back then. Nowadays, it's just not the same. They've cut corners on so many things, I barely know where to start! The seasonings in their food have been reduced so much that their food is bland. If you want to kick it up a notch with extra sauce, they charge an extra $1 for an extra 3 ounce cup of sauce on the side. $1 each! They no longer have the variety of hot sauces on the condiments stand to tailor your food to your experience. They've also cut corners on their beverage station. Gone are the syrups that you could add to your drink to make it special and instead of 4 special premixed fruit drinks, they only have 2. On Tuesday, they used to have Tasty Tuesday where you could get any one of their entrees for $5.50. Instead they have Taco Tuesdays where you can only get one of their tiny, little tacos for $2.49! Cafe Rio seems to me to be a restaurant whose best days are behind them and doesn't feel the need to really try anymore. It used to be a really well frequented establishment. You could hardly find a place to sit down. Now, on what used to be their busiest night, there was only one other person in the place besides my family. If you want a satisfying experience with a quality fast casual Mexican establishment, I would recommend Cafe Mexicali or...