Cafe Rio Fresh Modern Mexican — Restaurant in West Bountiful

*Updated TL;DR - My recommendation: order in person in the restaurant! Don't use the drive thru or order online. It's maybe the worst choice in a pandemic, but it's the only way to reliably get the food that you want from here right now.

*(This comment has been updated. Added sections are marked with an *asterisk.)

*Why? Because from the start, Cafe Rio has been making food on the spot with the customer watching; many potential mistakes were caught and prevented before they happened. Now, they've tried to pivot to handle a drive thru and more online orders, but in the process, it seems like they're overworking their employees and allowing mistakes to happen frequently. The reliability and overall atmosphere in the restaurant have gotten much worse. It's going to take some skilled management and organizational shifts to make the drive thru and online order setup really work, and I have no reason to believe that we'll see these anytime soon.

TL;DR - Our family loves the food here, but they've messed up our online order every time we've gone since Cafe Rio moved to this new location. I hope that you're working on improving the operation there, because these mistakes can be not just inconvenient, but dangerous, potentially even deadly.

*I've added one star to this review, since Cafe Rio was gracious and professional in their response to it regarding the experience described below. I'll gladly raise it again if they can prove that they've gotten their drive thru and online order setup to work properly.

Longer version - Cafe Rio has been among our family's favorite restaurants since they first opened here in Bountiful, so we've been regulars for years. We've rarely had issues with Cafe Rio, but since the move to this new location a few months ago, we haven't gotten a single order without at least a few mistakes (times being what they are, these have all been online pickup orders). Our most recent experience: We ordered six meals online, went to pick them up. My dad's a Type I diabetic, so he took insulin for the exact amount of carbs in his salad - right before we realized that the food they gave us wasn't our order, and that salad was nowhere to be found. The bag had our receipt taped to it, but the food inside was someone else's order. Once we realized the mistake, we hurried back; the workers there had also realized the mix-up, and were ready with our actual food when we got there, to their credit. We rushed the food back, and my dad got his salad before there was any serious issue, though he had to take some carbs before to compensate, which isn't good for his diet. But I just hate seeing that pale sick look in his face when his blood sugars start going dangerously low, like I saw again this evening. We really like Cafe Rio and we'll probably try to keep coming back, but I hope the staff realizes that these mistakes, which we've seen a regular recent pattern of, have real consequences. And I hope for a future different from the present state of affairs at this Cafe Rio location, one where the staff can take pride in orders...

I am a big fan of Cafe Rio and this was my first chance to try their new bowls with the new add in of elote corn which was DELICIOUS. The food was standard for cafe Rio, meaning that it was great and exactly what I expected.

The line was not terribly long inside when I arrived, maybe 4 people in front of me but it took about 25 minutes to order and pay. The staff wasn’t rude in any way but also not terribly attentive or friendly. I understand doing the same task all day can be difficult but there was no greeting when I began to order. The employee just looked at me waiting to tell him what I wanted. When we started to check out, the person at the register had his phone out, and it’s possible it’s a work phone or he needed to look something up on the register, so that didn’t bother me as much but he also walked away and talked to his coworker and then came back while we did the card payment. I would have felt better if there was a small interaction about our food, service, reminder to use the app, or even just staying at the register during our transaction.

There were 3-4 people already at the drink fountain when we got our cups and the customers took a very long time. Customers actions aren’t on the business, but in this case, they didn’t have the cafe Rio drinks ready like horchata so it was only the soda machine and it was completely out of ice and I watched customers stand there and try over and over again, making the line take a while to get through.

The forks, napkins, straws area had forks busting out of the section for them so they were scattered on the counter and the floor. There were dirty tabletops, napkins, straw wrappers, and utensils on the floor both by the drinks and across the dining area.

I didn’t feel as though my food would make me sick but it felt like there wasn’t much effort put in to the customers experience. I found myself wanting to eat as quickly as I could so I could leave.

Overall, I would go back because I was there for lunch and they gave me lunch. Nothing was done in a specific effort to keep or appreciate me as a customer, but I got what I went there for and not every experience has to be the best. It was sufficient enough. If I do return to this location and the state of the dining area and soda machine are the same, that would be more concerning as if it’s a regular issue rather...

Be very careful with online orders. I was charged for an online order, even though no merchandise was exchanged. We placed our order Saturday, and they said the pickup time was around 7pm. We went there to pick it up and there was a long line for the online orders right back to the front door, and it wasn't moving at all for a while. With crying kids in the vehicle, we decided we couldn't pick it up, so I called the Cafe Rio office to cancel the order, and they said that if no merchandise is exchanged, then they automatically cancel the order. That wasn't the case. I was charged for the order. I had to then call them to get it sorted out, and the customer service rep on the phone said that each night at 4am, they just close out all the checks, regardless if the orders were given out or not. They said it could of also been a problem where someone simply hit a button, and it was put through. Regardless of the "problem", it seems very heavily in favor of the restaurant, moreso, it's against the law to charge for merchandise you haven't given for the money you took. That's my understanding of it. So, if anyone uses their online app, and you face a long lengthy wait at the restaurant to pick up you order, and then decide to head home, you might end up facing the same "problem" (a "problem" for the customer, is not always an "actual" problem for the restaurant i.e. extra money in the coffers). Also, in addition to this, I questioned why they continue to let customers order food online, and give ridiculous pick-up times, when clearly they're so far behind in their operations. The customer service rep said that the owners don't really care because they're so popular, those customers will come back again, or that they can afford to lose customers. I can understand that, but the pure disregard for peoples' time is outright wrong. Especially when you have families with little kids. There have been times when their service has been good, but clearly there are system issues...