Cafe Rio
24312 Rockfield Blvd.
Lake Forest, CA 92630
I have to admit something, I do not like Chipotle. There I said it. I think it is bland tasting Mexican food. Mexican food is all about the flavors, and in my opinion, Chipotle is pretty sterile Mexican food. I have many friends who do not feel the same way as me, though. They love Chipotle, to the point of ridiculing me for not liking it. So when I heard there was going to be a new, "Chipotle" style restaurant opening up, I was not too excited. Still, I wanted to prove to my Chipotle friends that their beloved restaurant could be easily duplicated and thus proven to be just an average place to eat.
So I got six of my most ardent Chipotle fans together on two separate trips, and this is what they came up with.
Here is Richard's dish. Richard is probably the biggest fan of Chipotle that I know. He would take only Chipotle on a deserted island for the rest of his life. He opted for the fire-grilled steak burrito, served enchilada style. The burrito was two dollars more than Chipotle's because it was served wet. He liked the option of getting it with cheese on it but was not into the enchilada sauce. He thought it was too over-powering. However, he felt that the burrito was just as good as Chipotle. He also noted the excellent drink selection that they have. They have twelve beverage options at their fountain.
Now here is Luis's fire-grilled steak burrito. He felt this burrito was more enormous than Chipotle's but was disappointed that chips and guacamole were an extra $4.25. So he decided against the chips and guacamole. He liked the burrito okay, but did not think it was as good as Chipotle. Luis and Richard commented that Chipotle's rice is way better than Cafe Rio's rice.
I decided on the two enchilada plate with pinto beans and rice on this trip. I got one beef and one pork barbacoa enchilada. The meat was bland, but the barbacoa was sweet, almost like a tinge of chocolate. Delicious flavor, but it was not what I was expecting. The boys were right, the rice was just average, and the beans were mediocre. They also used a lot of enchilada sauce on this dish, so it was hard to taste anything but the sauce.
Here is Emily's cheese quesadilla and a side of rice. Emily is on her quest to find the best cheese quesadilla in all of Orange county, so if you could help her out in this, she will be eternally in your debt. Unfortunately, this was not her best quesadilla, but she thought it was good. Emily especially liked the tortilla and could tell that they were made fresh. She felt the rice was okay but not as good as Chipotle's.
Besides myself, Marcy is the only one with us who is not a big fan of Chipotle. She is from the San Diego area, so she likes real Mexican food and thinks that Chipotle is too Americanized. She ordered the chicken tostada. At $5.25, this could be the best value on the menu. The tostada includes a corn tortilla, beans, cheese, rice, sour cream, tortilla strips, a choice of dressing, and your choice of meat. Really more of a taco salad than tostada. She liked the dish and was happy that Cafe Rio had a broader menu and was a little more authentic than Chipotle.
Sara settled on this chicken burrito she described as good, not incredible. She thought it had a plain taste, and after she let me sample it, I decided she was dead on with that account, which was very bland. She did comment that the tortilla was good, but she still likes the Chipotle burrito better.
Kevin got the pork barbacoa burrito. He described the meat as being sugary but flavorful. He did not like that you could not pick the burrito up because there was too much liquid. This is true of many of their dishes, which are very runny. He also thought the overall operation was not as smooth as Chipotle's. The assembly line at Cafe Rio does not run as smoothly as Chipotle's, but we were there at peak lunch hour. There was chaos behind the glass; too many people were back there, and food quickly got lost.
This time I got the two tacos, one barbacoa and the other chile roast beef. The beef was as plain tasting as it looks and very dry, but the pork barbacoa had that sweet, mole-like taste that got raves from Richard and Luis on our first Cafe Rio. I also got black beans and rice, but they were just okay. The salsa they have here tasted like cut-up tomatoes. There is no heat or spice to speak of.
So how did this experiment work out? Well, Richard, Luis, Emily, and Marcy all said they would come back to try it again. Luis especially liked that they have a card that you get one free after you buy ten meals. Richard said that Cafe Rio could work into his rotation of restaurants, but he is still a Chipotle man. He said he was excited to try the coconut shrimp taco special on Tuesdays. Sara and Kevin can not be swayed away from Chipotle. They thought it was okay, but not enough to merit a return trip. Thank you to my guinea pigs, pictured below. Thanks for all of your opinions. You guys rock!
I have been to Cafe Rio three times now. I have seven more times to get my free meal. I think it will be long before I get that elusive meal. Not that it is terrible food, but it is just not my kind of Mexican food, just like Chipotle is not my kind of Mexican food. So I will stop bashing Chipotle and just take it for what it is, not my cup of sangria.
Out of five multi-colored chairs, five being best to zero being worst, Cafe Rio receives 2.5 multi-colored chairs.