Cafe Rio Fresh Modern Mexican — Restaurant in Tempe

I love cafe rio. Ive probably eaten it over 500 times throughout my life. But the last 2 times ive gotten food from this location have been bad.

The time before this was about a month ago, when i walked in there were fruit flies buzzing around which is never something you want to see in a restaurant. There was a noticable amount of cross contamination between the different tins too. I ordered a tostada but they didnt have any of the tortillas prepped so the guy who took my order asked one of the other guys to fry one up. So for 3 minutes, the guy who took my order just stood there looking around waiting for the other guy to fry the tortilla. The workstation was dirty too, he could have grabbed a rag and done some cleaning while waiting. I dont blame him though, he probably wasnt trained properly to know when you have down time in a kitchen, you clean.

Once the tostada was done and they got my meat, cheese, rice and beans on it, the next guys asked me what else i wanted on it. I said 'the stuff that normally comes on it' and he didnt know what that was so i just listed off the stuff that normally comes on it. Also he charged me extra for guac on my tostada even though im pretty sure it comes on it, but i didnt want to argue so i just payed. So that seems like another person who wasnt trained properly.

They werent keeping their tins stocked either and a line was building up behind me so they were running around panicking trying to restock but they werent taking the empty tins back to the dishwasher, so a tower of stacked tins and bowls fell and clattered on the floor which was honestly pretty funny.

I got chips and queso too. The chips were stale and the queso tasted kind of funky.

I had stomach issues that night.

Then earlier today, I ordered from here on uber eats. The guac on my tostada was straight up brown, the chips were stale and the queso was kind of acrid like maybe they have the heat on too high and it burnt in the pot.

I didnt eat the queso but i still ate most of the tostada.

It made me sick again. Im currently writing this from my bathroom. These are the only 2 times ive had stomach issues eating cafe rio.

One of my coworkers told me she had stomach problems after eating at this location too.

I dont think any one person should be blamed here, but this store needs to figure out how to get its employees trained correctly because its affecting food quality and theyre making...

I’m a big fan of Cafe Rio, but unfortunately, this particular location consistently falls short of the brand’s usual standards. I live nearby and work near another location, and the difference in quality is like night and day.

Over the past year since I moved closer to this location, I’ve noticed some troubling trends. The fire-grilled chicken is almost always overcooked and chewy, and they use the same tongs for pork, beef, and chicken (which is a major issue if you’re allergic to or avoid pork). They also don’t swap out ingredients to maintain freshness, leaving them out all day until they’re forced to restock, and on occasion key items like limes and fajita veggies are missing entirely. The stations and grills are often messy, and most concerning, the pricing is inconsistent compared to the app. I’ve been charged extra for items like guacamole or fajita veggies, even though those are supposed to be included with the salad. My advice is to order through the app to avoid the unpredictable pricing at this location—but if you care about quality, it’s probably better to drive a little further to another Cafe Rio.

If you decide to come to this location, definitely double-check your order. This location is notorious for missing items. Always make sure everything is there before you leave!

If management reads this, it might be necessary to surprise visit this location occasionally and reevaluate its standards and practices. A little oversight could go a long way in restoring the quality that Cafe Rio...

Haven't gotten to the food yet..... but the experience was ABSOLUTELY HORRIBLE. Im embarrassed, my boyfriend had never eaten there and wanted chipotle but i talked him into going. They arent even busy there is literally one person behind us. So the guy loading the meat for my tacos literally put the smallest portion humamly possible on the plate so i asked for more meat because it would have literally been two bites. This chick next to him, i wish i had gotten her name but she was short, sqaut and really loud with a high pitched voice starts literally houghing and throwing meat around, even threw a big pile of meat on his burrito after it was made then rushes us on in the rudest way possible. Super catty. So i complained to the girl at the register and so did he, because they rushed him so much he doesnt even know what they put in his burrito. Well they told her we said she was rude and on out way out she yells all the way from the back in the rudest nastiest voice she could "THANK YOU HAVE A NICE DAY!" Which in the customer service industry means go f* yourself. Will never go back, she needs an attitude check and next time ill take him to the one off of 20th st and camelback because i have never been treated disrespectful by anyone there. We should have just gone to Chipotle.

Finally tried the food, it is horrible. Shredded meat was super bland, and so were the beans and the meat she threw on his burrito was the meat i ordered! Not the...