Food is good, service is always pretty nice. And the location is relatively clean. Never a bad experience here

Horrible location! They have gotten my offer incorrect more times than any other location. Service is nonexistent, the opposite they were closed and when I drove to the store, they were open. The store is filthy and most of the proteins and veggies were out. They were really seem like they don't want to work here. read more

Cafe Rio Fresh Modern Mexican - Mexican Near Me - Thousand Oaks, California

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I have been to the cafe Rio previously but not this location. I really enjoy their food. I got two Togo orders seen here recently. First I got a salad with pollo asada, I use to get carne asada but they don't t have that. It was still pretty good. Second time I got the bowl with chicken asada still good. Salad and bowl are pretty much the same except there is a lot less lettuce in the bowl which is fine. I would recommend them and return here in the near future read more

I'm so so sorry but Cafe Rio just isn't for me. I'd rate the food more of a 2.5 overall but I did like somethings and the staff were nice so I'm bumping them up to 3 stars because even though I personally wouldn't come back, there were no egregious issues, I just didn't find the food / style for me. I have a couple of friends who do truly rave about Cafe Rio so I've been hearing about this spot for a long time. If you've never been it gave me Chipotle vibes but if opened by a guy from Texas. I said what I said lol. The reason I say that is it's Mexican style food but in a white wash way. Hot salsas that normally would/should be served cold, corn that tastes like nacho queso, and sweet meats. Starting with the pros. The staff were very nice. No issues with staff and friendliness. The staff work the line completing your order without issue. The gentleman that rang up my order was also nice and quick. I liked that they have a corner where you can watch a gal making homemade tortillas. I thought that was super cool. The other plus was the tortillas. Warm and fresh handmade tortillas, you can never go wrong. Honestly I'd just come for a tortilla with butter. They also have a good soda fountain selection - I had the blueberry lemonade and it was refreshing and tasty. Nice to not only have sodas or plain iced tea. This is where the positives kind of end for me. The food just wasn't to my liking and they do have a few up charges which seemed unnecessary. For a moderate bowl and drink the price was $19. While that might seem reasonable I didn't find the food to be that great so better off having just not spent the money. Their meats / proteins selections seemed kind of iffy. I had their "famous" shredded pork which is advertised as sweet. I was expecting it but the flavor of the sweet sauce was kind of off putting and wasn't the best protein choice to get. Normally I'd get steak but their meat looked super well done. I'm a medium rare kind of a girl and these strips were well done. My friend made a good point that with food safety they had to have it more cooked but this was well well done and didn't look juicy so I passed. The basic bowl toppings were fine - liked the rice, beans and cheese. The other let downs were that they serve their salsas "temperature hot" and that was really odd. Usually a cold salsa or pico helps cut the heat of a bowl but serving their salsas on a hot bar made the salsa taste pretty off because I personally have never been to a restaurant that gives you salsa on the side piping hot. I was excited about the elote topping but once I got it I regretted it. Didn't taste like a traditional elote and more like if canned corn was mixed with nacho cheese. Yikes. Overall the flavors were just not great and I only picked at half my bowl, taking the rest home to toss. It's a shame because I really wanted to like this spot. I'm just not sure what keeps my friends coming back. I guess we all have different tastes or maybe I just didn't pick the best ingredients. Seeing as this spot though has low reviews, I'm not in the minority. Overall I won't be back but if you like it then keep supporting them. Nice staff work here so that's something positive :) read more

Cafe Rio Fresh Modern Mexican - Mexican Near Me - Thousand Oaks, California

Went in there for the first time today, hoping for the best. The place was empty. That had me wondering why isn't there any customers in the middle of the day 230 should have some people in here But there was only two customers. I ordered two chicken tacos. There was less than an ounce of chicken on each taco. I asked him why such a little amount of meat. They said that's all you get. I took my credit card back and left. $15 for two tacos in less than 2 ounces of shredded chicken. No thank you they won't last till we had a business in no time. read more

I've been here dozens of times and it's always great. Love Cafe Rio and the menu selection. The staff is great and the restaurant is clean. This one has a nice outdoor seating area next to a fountain as well. read more

Gabe , was incredibly helpful over the phone with his knowledge & kindness throughout the conversation. He didn't rush me or make me feel bad for asking questions. Thanks Gabe for all the help & kindness! read more

Nice staff, clean, and food was good. A lot like Chipotle but the beans at this place are much better but i prefer the rice at Chipotle. Still good though. Restroom is pretty decent. I would come back. Plenty of parking. read more

I love coming here! Every time the food is amazing and the customer service is a 10/10! The employees are kind and welcoming and Gabe especially always makes the best tacos ! I highly recommend this cafe Rio to anyone read more

Doris and James are amazing and the food is most delicious!! Super clean and reasonable prices

I've been coming here for years and the staff are the best as well as the food. Everything is always consistent with the quality even when they're slammed for their rush hours. I truly appreciate the consistency and the delicious flavors that keep bringing me back week after week as well as the friendly ambiance they create. I recommend their tacos and tostadas!! read more

The food was amazing and everyone working was so so nice! The vibes are always amazing.

Amazing Tacos. The service was nice but I wanted Taco Tuesday tacos. Instead of spending 6 dollars for both of them i ended up spending 9 dollars for a meal. Next time, clarify if I wanted taco tuesday tacos or a meal. Nice ambience, but its no Baja fresh. read more

I am so sad the one near me closed so whenever I am in TO I make sure to take a stop. I feel they food has a lot more flavor then chipotle and they chicken breast which is a plus. I like the variety of salsas. The portions are big we usually share a burrito. Plus they have good reward point system. read more

I've been hearing from friends for over a year now to try this place out, and am happy that I finally did! Café Río brings a new spin to the Chipotle-type places around with more interesting (and better) flavors! I opted for the salad with their sweet barbacoa pork from my friends recommendation. First of all, even ordering a regular salad (not a tostada), it comes with this large & DELICIOUS fresh flour tortilla! It's seriously so good. And then you get to pick and choose what you'd like in your salad. It's a very large portion I split into two meals, or one that can leave you full if you came very hungry. Get the tomatillo dressing! It's great. I'll definitely come here again and try more things on the menu, don't let this local spot be overlooked! read more

Cafe Rio Fresh Modern Mexican - Salad - Mexican Near Me - Thousand Oaks, California

My visit to Cafe Rio was a first for me. I ordered 2 enchiladas....one chicken and one steak with rice and beans, and horchata and chips and salsa. Came out to $20 and some change. The enchiladas were stuffed well, nice and flavorful. I got mine topped with the mild tomatillo sauce. The rice and beans were also good. There is plenty left for leftovers tomorrow. Now let's talk horchata-I like mine not to sweet and with a good amount of cinnamon flavor. And this delivered! It was so delicious! The chips were fresh and crunchy. The salsa wasn't anything spectacular. I actually could've done without it. read more

Cafe Rio Fresh Modern Mexican - 2 enchilada plate. - Mexican Near Me - Thousand Oaks, California

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We have visited this Cafe Rio since moving to thousand oaks last August. Very friendly staff and Doris especially is very special. She is always going above and beyond to be friendly respectful, and kind. Today she offered my 8 yr old daughter a drink on a very hot day as we were waiting to pick up our order. Doris is really a role model employee for every business. read more

I saw this place from the exterior and it looked good, so I tried it. When I walked in, I immediately realized that this place was similar to Chipotle. I haven't eaten at Chipotle for probably 15 - 20 years, ever since the first food contamination scandals caused me to consider their food and operations to be unsafe. I was never impressed with this style of Mexican restaurant, and remain unimpressed after trying Cafe Rio. If you like the Chipotle experience, you'll probably like Cafe Rio. It's not for me. read more

Food and staff are amazing! Food is better than chipotle and more flavor. Portions are big and great to share. Always clean. Manager is always friendly. read more

I enjoyed the taco Tuesday deals! Lots of topping options and a pick of proteins!! Check out daily deals to get more !! Great customer service. read more

The food is average and way over priced! The carnitas is sweet, the steak is Ok and the chicken is fine. I have tried it a couple times thinking i didn't give it a chance so I ordered for delivery and it was just like i remembered and was disappointed i had just spent $45+ for 2 burritos. read more

Great place amazing time I can recommend this place espically for a quick bite to get in and out.

This place is terrible. I have been to a location in... Utah i think it was and that location was really good. This place... the opposite. I tried it one other time and it was bad but i ordered their sweet pork barbacoa and i thought maybe i just didnt like that dish so i tried it once more. I got the pollo asado burrito and it was just terrible. For one the guy behing the counter gave me the tiniest little scoop of meat that for some reason was a dollar upcharge... for CHICKEN. Who upcharges for chicken? A $15 burrito and i get one little dinky scoop of chicken... Anyway its probably for the best because the chicken was not good at all. It had this weird sweetness to it and almost like a curry taste. Idk but not good and the salsa i chose (medium) was disgusting. This is the last time. I will never go back. read more

Service was really really sweet all the people were really cool and answered all my questions. But too bad the food was absolutely horrible. It had such a bad after taste and smell. This place being called modern Mexican is not true at all this place is on par with Taco Bell. No reason a burrito should be 20 dollars. Save your money. read more

Love the handmade tortillas and shredded beef tacos with the Fresca salsa. Then throw in a cheese dilla to boot....now we are talking. Highly recommend this location! read more

Taste terrible. I loved the food at the Long Beach location and was so excited to see one close by when we moved. But it was such a let down. The tortilla was prepared in advanced unlike the other location, and it they scoop so much sauce from the meat to the taco it's like a taco soup, but still manage to make the meat very dry. The staff putting sour cream on didn't even care and just plopped the sour cream outside of the taco. The barbacoa was so sweet I guess they can advertise that as a dessert taco soup. There's no redeeming quality to this restaurant. I guess other than the fountain drinks were not messed up? read more

We visited here a few months ago and it was subpar. Today we ordered a few things and in our nachos there were four long hairs, absolutely unsanitary and disgusting. The burrito we ordered looked like a bowl of soup with a gummy tortilla. We will not be returning. read more

We went for lunch the staff and manager were very friendly .... Love the food will definitely go back

To be fair with this review, I've only had Cafe Rio for takeout since they first opened during the pandemic. So far I haven't been blown away with the food but I think it may be due to the fact I haven't had the opportunity to try in fresh from the kitchen. Difficult to say. The flavors seem a bit on the bland side from what I'm accustomed to and the burritos haven't thrilled me thus far. What I do like is ordering through the app. It's not as sophisticated as some of the big chains but it does work pretty well. Also, Cafe Rio has a lot of options to choose from in order to fully customize your meal. I have had Cafe Rio 3 times thus far and will likely consider them in the future. I'm just not ever really craving them at this juncture. read more

Super fresh ingredients. Not many Mexican places make fresh, homemade flour and corn tortillas, Cafe Rio makes both in-house. I got the wet, chicken burrito, super delish. Cafe Rio is many miles ahead of Chipotle...if you have to choose one or the other, definitely give Cafe Rio a go. The customer service was great, super friendly staff. The restaurant itself was clean. Fast service if you're in a hurry for lunch. read more

It isn't worth eating here any longer. The service tonight was awful. The guy taking my order wasn't interested in doing the job. He didn't listen to my order and he made my food incorrectly. This is happening too often at this location. Our family rarely eats here now, and we will be avoiding it all together now. read more

Check your receipt before paying, they will charge you for items you didn't ask for and won't receive, they also will not honor they're coupons, DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY HERE read more

one thing when the food is not fresh the other thing is the manager at this location is the worst I ever encountered. I thought i recognized her from the west hill's location. she bought the exact same attitude to this location. unprofessional loud and very nasty when dealing with customers. she really needs to be retrained because this is not what is expected coming from a well established brand. on July 24, 2025 cava has lost a customer. she is very nasty to patrons. read more

Sadly my order was missing 1/2 of what was supposed to be in the bowl.. I have no clue how that's possible. 0/3 cheeses, no sour cream, no guacamole, no tortilla strips, no cilantro, no lime, and no dressing.. read more

Cafe Rio Fresh Modern Mexican - Bowl missing half of the ingredients - Mexican Near Me - Thousand Oaks, California

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Went here today for lunch after a funeral. We had loaded nachos, meat/cheese quesadilla & tortilla soup. Everything was good and had a good taste. A few comments. The guacamole was a little brown. The pork was a bit sweeter then I'm used to. The tortillas for the quesadillas were were freshly made & tasted good. My son liked their fresh lemonades and tried a few different kinds. read more

Ordered mango shrimp special but no mango salsa. Stacks of tortillas are prepared way in advance inviting you to this not so fresh experience. read more

Recently checked them out for first time and food was really delicious but my enchilada was missing the melted cheese on top. Was def a bummer but their sweet pork enchiladas are so delicious so had to visit again and second time they got it right. Good portions and tasty food! Not bad for fast food style Mexican. read more

This place is the cooking of a sit down restaurant and the price of and feeling of a Chipotle. The food seems to be all made in house including the tortillas. But what takes the cake is the Quaso Cheese dip/sauce. I have had all different kinds from Chilis, Qdoba, and Chipotle and this one at Cafe Rio is definitely the best one. You can taste the and see the good fresh cheese and roasted peppers inside of it. It's delicious and definitely not from a can. You could slather on a shoe and I would still want to eat it. As for the service they are in need of some help just like any other restaurant in 2023. read more

Cafe Rio Fresh Modern Mexican - Queso!!! - Mexican Near Me - Thousand Oaks, California

I've been there two times within the first week that they opened and based on that give it five stars. Everything was delicious that we tried, including barbacoa burrito, shredded chicken burrito, vegetarian burrito, the "fideo" (which is a noodle dish with kind of the consistency of chow mein but with Mexican flavor, for lack of a better description) and the chips. Everything was excellent and the quantities were good. It's kind of like a Chipotle, where you pick the item you want, add a protein, etc., except it actually tastes good. I also like the fact that they heat up your item after they make it, thus melting the cheese into the burrito (an ongoing issue I have with the way Chipotle makes their food). Staff was nice and although there was a significant line, they kept it moving pretty well. Nice energy. It was really buzzing both times I went. People seemed genuinely happy to be working there. They sing little songs from time to time when people order something of note. I think "Nacho Man" was one of the songs. Oh, they also make their tortillas there, right in front of you. They were outstanding. Also tried both desserts - the tres leches and the lime pie - both outstanding. Overall five stars for me. Finally, a new fast-serve place that I like enough to actually think about when's the next time I'm going there. Hoping that feeling continues. read more

Cafe Rio Fresh Modern Mexican - My barbacoa burrito. Delicious. - Mexican Near Me - Thousand Oaks, California

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I have been wanting to try Café Rio as I come to Peets early in the morning and they are not open yet came by this afternoon really surprised excellent food fast service clean restaurant save room for the delicious flan desert Sal read more

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