Casa Rio

Good food on the river

by MarkCV67 at Citysearch

I was suprised at now good the food was and how affordable itwas. We were not gouged, like you expect at a tourist place. Food for four and GREAT margaritas for two came out to 50 bucks.

On the decline

by KarenJeanne at Citysearch

I have always enjoyed eating at Casa Rio on the Riverwalk, but after our last experience, I'm not sure I want to go back anytime soon. The outside bar was closed the night we were there, so enjoying a margarita as we waited for our table wasn't an option.

Once we were seated, it took too long for a server to greet us. And, to make things worse, he didn't seem to speak or understand English. Needless to say, our order was very difficult to make and we felt that he never clearly understood what we wanted. When the food came, it was obvious that he had no idea what we wanted to eat.

We decided to just keep our plates because to attempt another order would have been too frustrating. It wouldn't have been so bad if the food we were served (but didn't order!) was good, but it was definitely below average.

Overall, the whole experience was a big disappointment. The only good part of the meal was being able to sit outside by the river on a nice night. Next time, we will choose a different place to do that.

Thoroughly enjoyable Mexican

by AMacapugay at Citysearch

There must be a reason that this place draws such a long wait and several other people who ate here earlier in the week recommended it to me. I decided to eat here on my last night while travelling for a conference and went around 9 p.m. so it wasn't as crowded and were seated promptly as a party of four.

Unfortunately, I wasn't very hungry so I only had the soft taco combo and split an order of chicken nachos which I enjoyed. Looking over the menu, their prices were very reasonable. They have a prime location on the river and seem to have the most waterfront tables which are in the shade of the setting sun.

I would definitely recommend this place to anyone and would visit again when back in the area. Allow some waiting time if you plan to eat during prime dinner time.

• Pros: riverfront seating, tasty food, price
• Cons: long wait to be seated

Disappointed

by BobKingwood at Citysearch

Date: Saturday 11/1/08, 5:00 PM

Having eaten at Casa Rio through the years and receiving excellent food, I am disappointed at their current state of operation. My wife and I were seated by the river and ordered a Taco Salad for her and a Chili Relleno (CR) for me. The CR was advertized to be deep fried. It wasn?t. It was covered with cheese and broiled enough to melt the cheese. The meat inside was lukewarm and not too tasty. Thinking it was just a fluke and had been sitting around; I had it replaced with a ?fresh? one. It had a bit more cheese and melted more but was otherwise the same. Not in the mood for cold Mexican food, I questioned the waitress if they had anything hot. She recommended Fajitas so I accepted thinking it would be hard to mess them up since they are customarily served on a sizzling hot metal plate. Wrong again! The Fajitas came on a cold glass plate with the similar lukewarm meat and vegetables. The waitress, gun shy by now, deposited the plate and promptly disappeared.

My wife?s experience was no better. She generally does not complain about bad food, leaving that to me. However, the meat was the same lukewarm fajita meat I had with my order and the greens had the flavor of bagged lettuce. She knows the flavor well and will not use it for the family. She did not like it a bit.

All in all it was a bad experience in light of the excellent food we have received there in the past. Any restaurant can have a bad dish or a bad day and I usually overlook these. However, when they obviously keep food around in warmers and serve it as fresh, this is policy. It is how food is served at sporting events. I suppose with the captive audience on the River Walk they feel they can abandon their long standing traditions, comfortably rest on their laurels and become another tourist trap free from the rigors of turning out good hot fresh food consistently. I hope they turn around. It used to be a good place.

Tourists keep it alive

by JeniMangum at Citysearch

My husband and I eat a lot of Mexican. I would have to say that Taco Bell is better than this place. The only thing nice about it is the location. Bland food.

• Pros: Atmosphere, Cheap prices
• Cons: THE FOOD