Cafe Rio Fresh Modern Mexican — Restaurant in Pocatello

I have been a Cafe Rio fan for years. I was a fan before they even came to Pocatello and I have been a regular customer. That is until today!

The last few times I have been there their service and quality has diminished. last time they forgot half my order. Also, hardly any Protein is put on, I can live with a couple bad experiences, after all, we all have our bad days, but it has been a bad time the last few times. It has been consistent.

Today, I decided I am not going to support them anymore and this was due to service.

I placed an order online for pickup. Right after you hit enter for the order, they tell you to come and it will be ready. So I gather up my stuff, get in my car and drive down to Cafe Rio. When I got there, I went through the drive through to tell them I was there to pickup my order. They tell me it is not ready yet, and to come back in 5 minutes. (really? Had I not ordered ahead of time and just placed my order there at the drive through, they would have said "thanks, that will be $34.55 and we will have that ready for you at the window) No, they want me to come back and get my order that I placed 20 minutes ago in 5 minutes. Okay.....so I went over to Fred Meyer and got a couple things and come back 10 minutes later. I again go through the drive through and say I am there to pick up my order. They again tell me it is not ready yet and ask if I can come back in 5 minutes again.

At this point I was irritated and told him it has been 5 minutes since they told me that and I will just wait at the drive through window. When I pull up, I can see all their employees staring at me. Finally a lady comes to the window with my order and says, "just so you know, we will not allow you to wait at the window for your order". Mind you, no one was ahead or in back of me and I had already been waiting for 2 salads for over 30 minutes. It was a very petty comment, especially after asking me to come back twice for 2 salads and no one was behind me

I tried to explain my frustration to her, but she wasn't having it. I finally just said, "okay, have my food ready for me next time" and then she gave me a scowl.

I then got home and see they again, hardly gave me any meat.

I am done with this Cafe Rio location. Next time I am going to Costa Vida. The food is almost identical, and the service is better. Plus, they give you more than 3 small...

Top notes: deteriorating parking lot, dirty dining environment, small quantities on the food service, torani syrups available, and food as good as any other Cafe Rio.

Driving into the parkinglot was nothing like any other Cafe Rio I have been to. Very much in disrepair, aside from the overgrown weeds the paint is faded and its hard to navigate especially if you want to go through the drive through. Look around, thats what that side of town looks like though, its so much worse by the walmart though but thats another review. Repaving and/or adding some concrete planters for grass and trees would make it at least a 4 star outside environment.

When my wife and I entered it looked like any other Cafe Rio which was a relief though for a Saturday night they weren't very busy, maybe thats a Pocatello thing? Anyways moving on to the food I saw how little rice they gave my wife on her burrito so when they did my burrito I asked for a bit more (to look like a normal portion). They said it would be extra so when they added a tiny bit more rice I asked for even more starting to get annoyed. They ended up telling the cashier "extra extra rice" as if there must be a shortage or something. The cashier was really friendly and not rigid at all so after I explained the rice thing and she only charged 1 extra for rice I didnt argue and even left a tip (something I never do at fast food). By the way I'd rather tip a good employee than pay a corporation for a small amount of extra ingredients.

Looking for a table I found that there was only one family in the dining area and they were using about 3 tables, thats important to note because though every other table was free I counted at least 14 were dirty. I was rather happy to see that they had torani syrups next to the fountain beverages, something 4 out of 5 Cafe Rios Ive been to since Covid restrictions ended have not yet replaced.

All that being said the food was up to Cafe Rio standard but the environment and customer service not so much (aside from...

If the public searches “restaurant inspections siph” (southwest idaho public health official website comes up) they find a high amount of citations that match the concerns that I am bringing up; search cafe rio.

My review:

Take home info: Costa vida is cleaner, much fresher, larger portions, overall friendlier.

4 concerns with this cafe rio (which pales in comparison to the Idaho falls location)

I threw up 5 times since eating their burrito and tres leches this last time, which finally sealed the fact that I wont be back. I don’t ever throw up.

I could tell that it was from that quickly, it was the only thing I ate and it was what my body needed to get out. I saw the meat was the last dregs of the batch but didn’t say anything. They gave me pitifully wilted lettuce when better stuff was right next to it.

Small portions! They didn’t want to get more meat out. Had to ask 3 times for a decent amount of lettuce. Soupy amount of sauce, just meh temperature.

The tres leches was liquid. Costa vida’s is amazing and perfect and firm. Night and day difference.

EVERYTHING is sticky and dirty. Chairs, tables, the pay machine, (I had to ask them to clean that because it shouldn’t have been allowed to get that nasty and I didn’t want to touch it). The trashes were ridiculously dirty, the drink station never looks appealing. The chairs literally stick to the floor. The water machine button is broken and it overfilled my water for 20 seconds before I someone showed me the tab on the bottom to shut it off.

The people were pretty nice though, that is their only saving grace. The manager was excited and kipper, but everyone else was pretty standard or below average on service mentality They need an overhaul and multiple experiences of disappointment taint their usually premier experience and name. Costa vida it is for me!

I hope this review inspires change. I talked to a friend and they also said that they and their mom got sick at cafe Rio at Christmas. They showed me...