Cafe Rio Fresh Modern Mexican — Restaurant in Lynnwood

Well, I'm done with this location. I've loved Cafe Rio since the first time I tried them in UT years ago. That first time, I'd had a large lunch and I needed to feed my kids even though I wasn't hungry. I picked up a fire grilled steak burrito that I planned to eat later when I was hungry again. It looked really good so I decided to try a bite. I ended up demolishing the whole thing because it tasted so good and I paid for it with a massive food hangover. When we found out they were opening in WA, we were worried because every time something that is awesome from UT comes here, it becomes awful pretty quickly. When the Lynnwood location opened, my wife and I were the very first people to be served on opening day. If you look at the pictures I posted from that day, there's a pretty stark contrast between the size of what we were served then and what we were served at our last visit. The price has gone up 30%-40% and the size of the food has decreased by 30%-40%. My friend who I was eating with ordered double meat in his burrito and it was almost as big as the portions used to be for an additional $2+ on top of the already higher cost. BTW, they're still that large when you eat at the UT locations. We started seeing the slide about two years ago when they started refusing to do substitutions and insisted on charging extra for things like salsa if you asked for a different variety than the one that came with the stock order or if you asked for tortilla strips on your burrito for texture. When I try to ask the employees about these sorts of rules, they just shrug and quote company policy to me which is always super annoying. Lastly, why will no one ever empty the garbage cans at this location? They are always overflowing and it is gross. I actually watched an employee walk over and collect the used trays next to one of the overflowing cans and just walk away after glancing at the giant, garbage-Jenga tower protruding well above the top of the can. I guess this is why the last couple of times we've been here, patronage has been way down. I took a picture of how few people there were in there on a Friday night at the peak of what should be dinner rush. I think this is pretty solid evidence that I'm not the only person who isn't feeling it for this...

I am giving this a 3 star. Not because I don't like them but because today was a bad bad day for them.

I order my lunch online and I do this about twice a week to just Cafe Rio. I completed my online order today at 10:48 am to have it ready by the time I got there at 11:15 am. I only get a half hour lunch so I generally leave at 11 and return by 11:30. Today we left late at 11:08 am and got there about 11:18 am. I signed for my order and they told me they were working on it so i proceeded to get my drink and wait for the three items I ordered. At 11:30 I asked again about my order and yet again they replied with we are working on it. I then watched them bag up another online order (customer not there waiting) and give out orders to everyone who stood in line after I walked in the door, knowing that I was waiting. I finally got my food at 11:40 am with an "I'm Sorry" and nothing more and had to rush back to work knowing I was already late. I ended up being 12 minutes late and now have to stay late to make up my time and eat at my desk. Now here is the best parts of this whole story... My food was soggy, cold and greasy (remember it only took me ten minutes to get back to work, so should not have been cold) to the point I took a picture. My steak was burnt, I had ordered and paid for an extra side of sour cream and one of the other orders I got was wrong. So I decided which I normally do not do to call and complain to the manager. I called and got the manager on duties name and asked politely to speak with her. They put me on hold and came back and said that she was to busy and could they take a message. I said no I could call back. I Will call back later today when I expect there to be another manager on.

I will say that I love there food and have been there several times because I do but this is now how a company should do business. I do suggest you try them but if you are in a hurry go...

First time customer. Here is my professional review. The Order: The first thing I saw was a loyalty program so of course to save $5 on my first order, I signed up. I ordered 2 salads, one with roast beef and one with Steak. This consisted of beans, rice, some meat, a box full of lettuce, a pinch of cheese, a pinch of cilantro, a few torilla chips and a side of dressing. When I say a pinch I really mean a pinch. If you want anything extra you have ask for it. But wait, in the middle of our order, another more important order came through and we have to wait for the that order to go through....hold on..[3 min]..still waiting....[5 min]......almost done.[2 min]...ok finally...So we asked for sour cream, guacamole, and jelapenos. Extra cheese was extra and we didn't get that. So after the $2.80 in upcharges for sour cream and steak we paid and sat down. So, the $5 coupon covered half the upcharges and a little more.

The Food: The first thing we had to do we remove half of lettuce just to see the rest of salad and mix it up and add a little lettuce back in. Most of lettuce sat on the tray it was way to much for the rest if meal. See photo for extra lettuce. The meal itself isnt bad. The dressing was good. The meat was tasty. So you got your extra star for 2 stars.

The review: The salad had no substance just full if lettuce. Not enough toppings offered compared to Chipotle, Moes, or Salaritas. Service was interrupted by someone more important. Meat was good. Dressing was good. Probably won't be back though. I'll stick to my usual mexican fast build...