Cafe Rio Fresh Modern Mexican — Restaurant in Goodyear

DO NOT GET CURBSIDE!! Ordered literally from the parking lot. I had a few business calls to make, so I figured I'd just let them make it and bring it out. Pulled into the curbside spot (5 feet away from the spot where I sat and placed the order) and made my calls. Finished a bit early, but was still 5 minutes until my promised "ready time".

Supposedly, they have a tracker that tells when you arrive, so no way to tell them you are there. Over the next five minutes, I watched three people arrive, enter, order, carry out their order, and get back in their car and drive away. I also saw at least three or four cars go through the drive-thru and apparently get their orders as there was no one at the window when I entered the restaurant.

I looked on the carry out shelf and saw an order sitting there. I quickly checked my app to be certain I hadn't mistakenly checked "carry out", but no, it was curbside and the app listed it as still in process. Sure enough, my order.

I asked to speak to the manager and asked why my order was sitting there. He didn't understand, so I showed him my "curbside" app order. He checked it and confirmed it was mine and then could only say, "yeah, we just made it a few minutes ago".

I counted to 5 in my head, then asked why it wasn't brought out to me. Silence. I told him there was no way to indicate that I had arrived on the app, to which he quickly replied, "no, we can see when you're here, we have a tracker that shows it". Another 5 count, this time whispered just loud enough to be heard.

If you could see that I was here, which I have been for the past ten minutes, then why wasn't my order brought out? This time, "we just made it" was the response. When I asked why, when it was ready, and the "tracker" showed I was here, was it sitting on a shelf instead of being brought out, he once again went silent. I was quite frankly in shock that this man was managing this establishment. Giving one last chance to at least slightly better the experience, I asked him if there was anything else. Again, silence.

I know mistakes get made, but when I worked in fast food way back in high school, I was taught (even as young as a teenager) that at bare minimum, an apology should be extended when an order was screwed up. Often, we gave out coupons for free fries or beverages on a next visit. Here, nothing!!! But I didn't want free food; I wanted the decency of an apology. The lack thereof has unfortunately crossed this "good food" establishment off my list of consideration.

My hope is that the owner cares enough to reach out so that no one else has...

I have to say, I am a huge Cafe Rio fan, I would say I got a multiple times a month, and the staff at my home location not only knows me but my family and is always friendly.

I expected nothing different with the visit I had tonight 12/30/24 while on vacation in Goodyear, AZ. I decided to take my in-laws to store 150, so they could experience why I love not only the food but the service. They had never been before so i really knew they’d be in for a treat. We weren’t greeted because there were other guests being helped, which did not bother me a bit because i understand that you want to be present with the guest you are with, and I too work in the hospitality/service industry.

I ordered before the rest of my in-laws to show them the ropes, and assisted them with ordering. I was ordering a salad. The first person I met at the tortilla station, was not friendly. When i ordered i had to ask for cheese on the tortilla (i’m used to my home location asking, and she did not ask), and i kindly asked her to drain the beans. She didn’t say anything and did it then got the plate read for meat. I asked for half shredded chicken and half barbacoa, but not as a double meat order. She rolled her eyes at me and still gave double meet, and passed my plate along. I was a bit baffled but i know we all have bad days, and chalked it up to that and let it roll off my shoulder. The male staff member i met with next was very kind, not sure if he was the manager but he treated everyone well.

My family finished ordering and we all ate, and the food was fantastic! Per usual i might say!

Upon leaving no one address us but i caught an interaction that stunned me on my way out. The female associate who I first interacted with, was towards the back cooking station with the male associate. I cannot recall what she had in her hand but she shoved it into the males hand and with a nasty attitude scoffed and said “whatever” and marched away pushing past other employees. Again i really think she may have been having a bad day, but again as someone who works in the industry, this is not appropriate in front of your customer, or just to do in general.

I don’t typically make reviews but it speaks volumes when someone who goes in regularly not only to a normal location but many, speaks up.

I think this store could do...

My girl likes the food, I hate the service. Last time I went and picked up for her via the drive thru the girl seemed like I was bothering her. I asked for barbacoa then chicken, they said they were out of both..mind you it was a weeknight before 6. My most recent visit, again for my girl, was today(7-30-21). Since the drive thru was closed I unfortunately had to go in to place her order. A young lady in front of me stepped aside while she was on the phone and told me to go ahead and order. I ordered a barbacoa quesadilla while it was cooking the kid behind the counter was fanning herself with one of the aluminum Togo containers. After my order was completed, she slid it over to the register area where nobody was..it was 90 minutes before close on a Friday night and they were cleaning floors and the steam tables were already cleared out. Which is weird since hot foods need to be kept out of the "danger zone". For those of you who don't know..including the cafe Rio staff, bacteria grows in/on proteins and many other edible items, if they are not kept out of the "danger zone". Food handling 101..anyways the lady prior mentioned stepped around me and said, "I'm not going to eat anything from here..this is gross" I've had 16+ years in the food industry and this was one of the worst I've seen. I will not return for me or anyone else. Chipotle is...