Cafe Rio Fresh Modern Mexican — Restaurant in Lakewood

Learn how to make a burrito. This chaos was a complete disaster. The long line really made these people work fast which created lots of mistakes. I went to make a vegetarian burrito and was asked what I wanted in it. They assumed I had been there and didn't even explain my options. No menus even attempted to do that for me either. They don't put the vegetables in the burrito, they put it on top. Who does that?? I ended up with a big pile of a mess because no one explained what options there are. Or maybe this place just doesn't know what a burrito is. I did read on the menu that vegetarian burritos come with guacamole at no additional charge but the lady making my burrito said they don't. Cheap and wrong on their part. When we got up to the counter, all four of our dishes were mixed up and no one could tell what was what. They ended up charging us for stuff we didn't even have because they didn't know what was what (if it was a chicken or vegetarian burrito) a didn't bother asking us either (found out after getting receipt). They also tried to separate our food from one another when purchasing. They rung our food up without even asking if anyone wanted a drink. By the time I realized we were finished purchasing our food, they were ringing up the next customer and the line was longer than when we initially came in which seemed pointless just for a drink. The "burrito" was awful. Nothing but beans, cheese, rice, and hot sauce with a small portion of old guacamole and tomato and lettuce on the side. It was on its side and all I tasted in each bite was lots of tortilla and hot sauce. Couldn't pick it up so I used a fork and it was an even bigger mess.

I ended up just throwing out the abomination and getting exactly what I wanted from Subway. Cheaper, better service, and I knew exactly what I was getting.

If you wanna try this food, seems like you should go with someone who knows how to order here and go at a time when they're not crowded. I'm sure the experience would've been more pleasant had they not assumed it was my second or third time coming and there wasn't a large group of people behind me. Though, I won't be returning any time soon due to this...

This is a long review so forgive me. I'll start with the positive. This place has great food! Perfect tortillas, and the Chile roast beef is my favorite. If you only care about the food stop reading and go. Now for the negative. We literally always have a problem ordering here. It's almost like the food preparer wants to make it slow, and without anything out of the ordinary. Like they HAVE to follow a script and if the request is out of the norm. It's an inconvenience... This place is dying for a revamped ordering process. They really need to have someone take your order beforehand, print the ticket and have the preparer do nothing but that. Prepare the food. Instead they have the preparer to talk to the customer, taking the order and make food which apparently is doing wayyyy too much!! It just does not work. I can't say that enough. I go here once a year because the ordering process is always such an issue it takes me about that long to calm down before I'm ready to go back in. All I ever order is a burrito and a taco with the chile roast beef and cheese. That's it! Meat and cheese. Nothing crazy, and yet it's like they're dying to get it wrong. They will sometimes guess what cheese I want and add it in without asking. Or go straight to adding lettuce and pico de Gallo again without asking. I LITERALLY TELL THEM BEFORE HAND IM GOING TO GET A BURRITO AND A TACO WITH ONLY MEAT AND CHEESE and it's still a problem. I feel like I'm taking crazy pills when I'm there. Like I said the food is good, the service is slow and the preparer acts almost put out if you ask for anything special even if you're asking for LESS. 5 stars for the food but this place needs to rethink the whole process. Oh and the proportions have gotten noticeably smaller since the last time we came. Still...

By far, this was the worst experience I have ever had at Café Rio. I placed my order at 8:30 PM through the app and was quoted an 8:50-9:00 PM completion time. I arrived at the restaurant at 8:55 PM, walked over to the pick-up counter, and was told by an employee that my order was being worked on. She ran off to the back of the kitchen while half the work crew cleaned the floor, grill, etc. an hour ahead of the store closing. I watched the entire line (7 customers) get served their food without mine ever being made. What's the point of having an order ahead option if my food is not prepared by the quoted time? 9:10 PM approaches while I'm still standing at the counter, no longer being acknowledged by any of the staff. Only for an employee to come over and tell me that they are JUST starting on the order. My protein was no longer available, either because they gave it to the seven customers I watched get served, or nobody wanted to grill the carne asada because everyone wanted to leave work early, even though the restaurant is open until 10 PM. No apology was ever offered, just a simple "I just got the ticket, so it's not my fault." Ineffective communication between the staff, considering my food was "being prepared" at 8:55 PM when I walked in. The grilled chicken that was substituted in place of the carne asada was beyond burnt, my wife's tostada was missing the melted cheese, and the queso was the consistency of glue. I have really tried to give this location the benefit of the doubt, since every time I order ahead, it's either late or made with slight inaccuracies. But, this was the last straw. Do the best of...