El Rio Mexican Cafe — Restaurant in Stevenson

I had to really sit on this experience before posting this review. Took my sister here for dinner on Saturday after going sightseeing along the gorge. My husband ordered the jalapeño popper burger, tots & pineapple salsa, my sister ordered the tropical tacos w/ pork, & I ordered the blue corn enchiladas (per server’s recommendation) & a margarita. Unfortunately for us, the chips & salsa & my husband’s tots were the best part of the meal for everyone… And the chips were stale, so... My plate came out looking like it sat under a heat lamp for 30 minutes, the refried beans were dried up on my plate & tasted so bland that they were weird. The enchiladas had more cream cheese inside than chicken, & overall the plate was a bunch of slop with no flavor whatsoever. Somehow the margarita I ordered tasted bitter, almost like the lime I squeezed that went with it had gone bad. My sister’s taco shells were stale, her pork tasted flavorless. My husband’s burger had no flavor either, & the pineapple salsa is not even worth going into, was just gross. I have no idea how this place has any good reviews. I’m convinced it’s because this is the only restaurant in the area open past 8, & that none of these people have ever had good, real Mexican food in their lives. We didn’t say anything, but I definitely felt like we threw away the $68 that we were charged. There’s no fixing what we were served. The service wasn’t bad, the ambiance was decent. My honest problem was just how horrible the food was for us all. I felt like someone was playing a joke on us. I don’t know who was cooking up our food, but I’d bet they were not Hispanic. If you’re in the area & need a late night meal, don’t waste your time. I have had better food from Taco Bell, & it’s less $. Just go home...

I'll be honest, if you were expecting mexican food this is more texmex. I found the food combinations to be pretty random. I'm happy Stevenson has more food variety but the menu needs improvement. Also they say happy hour is from 9pm to 11pm. But keep in mind the regular menu isn't an option at that point. So it's more of a late night menu than happy hour.

We ordered off the happy hour menu. The margaritas were standard, no complaints. The taquitos were chicken and cheese filled. They came out hot and crispy, but we're spoiled by the jalapeño jelly they were served with. I can't for the life of me figure out why that was the sauce they chose. Why not a salsa Verde or something.

I also ordered the honey garlic shrimp. It came out hot but no garlic,no honey, no seasoning, just a random aioli sauce with a strong mayonnaise taste. I would have preferred that the shrimp were tossed in a garlic butter. Even jarlick would have been better. Then have a spicy sauce on the side.

Service was a bit slow after we ordered. We were going to get more food but our waitress didn't come back around until I placed payment on the table

Idk, I guess go...

The prices are decent (as a local living in a tourist town I appreciate the fair prices), and the food was good. The jalapeno jelly is to die for! The chips and salsa are good, salsa has good flavor but chips need to be sprinkled with a little salt. It's more Mexican-American than authentic Mexican, but much better than Taco Bell!

The atmosphere is fun and casual, I love the hot sauce veriety shelf. The staff was friendly, however I wish they had something more uniform about them. I had a hard time locating an employee when I came in to pick up my to-go order. The service staff was primarily high school aged kids when I went in on a weekday evening, so there was some chatter and giggling going on.

Overall, I would recommend their food. The menu is available on their website, the food was ready to go quickly, the portions were good, and the food was yummy! I did not dine in, so I can't speak for the entire dining experience, but based off my limited experience in the actual restaurant I'm not sure that I would enjoy dining there (primarily because I don't...