Place: Cafe Rio
Lunch: Chili Roasted Beef taco, tortilla soup, rice, beans, Dr Pepper
I should have known this was a bad idea the minute I stepped up to the door. Any business that actually posts a notice forbidding photography on the premises must be running one embarrassingly bad operation.
The place is insanely busy. They have a permanent snake line at the order counter, and it's pretty full. It moves quickly, though. The place is the typical Yuppie-Mex "assembled to order in front of you" mentality. Flour tortillas are made fresh at the beginning of the prep line.
Café Rio has $5 burritos, enchiladas, quesadillas, salads, and tacos in corn or tortilla style. Yet it becomes immediately clear what everybody orders here because Smiling Counter Guy is literally grabbing a tin and a burrito tortilla as he’s asking me “What can I get for you?” And when I say “A crispy taco”, he immediately frowns, puts the tortilla back, and gives me a look like I’m a big troublemaker. He puts the order to somebody behind him, who lays a flour tortilla on the grill. I guess if I wanted a corn tortilla taco, asking for a “crispy taco” isn’t enough explanation.
I also ordered tortilla soup. Same Guy grabs a Styrofoam cup and slaps a spoonful of chicken into it. He shoves it down to the next guy in line. I follow. Second Guy asks me “Do you want everything in the soup?” Without thinking, I say “Yes”. Much to my horror, he puts in a big scoop of guacamole. GUACAMOLE. Then he puts in some pico de gallo. The entire contents of the bowl are now: Chicken, guacamole, and pico de gallo. Then he tops it with a mystery broth and garnishes with cilantro. And he drops a slice of lime in it. And tops it with tortilla chips. He clearly grabbed more chips than anticipated, so he asks the precautionary "Is this to stay?"
"Yes."
So he dumps all the chips in. They fall in, over, and around the cup.
Frowning Counter Girl asks if I want a drink. Then asks “Do you have your ("customer appreciation") card with you?”
“No, I’ve never been here before.”
“I’ll start another one for you then.”
Seems silly since I’ve already decided I will never ever come in here again, but oh well.
The taco is a “chile roasted beef” taco. The only beef they have is shredded roast beef. No real ground beef taco meat. They also have pork, chicken, and steak. I fish around the bottom of the soup bowl for the chicken. I can’t find it. It HAS to be in here. I SAW the guy put it in. Oh there it is. I taste a piece of chicken that has been marinating in the guacamole pico mystery broth substance. It’s actually pretty tasty. A chicken burrito or taco might be worth investigating.
The soup itself actually isn’t bad initially, but the flavor is basically coming from the cilantro they garnished it with. And it eventually turns to a shade of green that, mixed with the varied color chunks of stuff put in it previously, makes it look like some serious barf. I guess we now know why they don’t want you taking pictures in here.
The taco plate includes rice and your choice of pinto or black beans. That’s exactly what they are…beans in bean water. No seasoning. Just beans. The rice at least has a hint of a lime and cilantro taste.
I ate about half of the $11.29 (!) meal and considered making a run for the Taco Time down the street.
Have you found Country Time's strawberry lemonade in cans and bottles in your local supermarket? It's not quite as good as fresh, but it's better than any attempt previously in cans or bottles. Very nice on a 105 degree day (like today).
