The food here.....sub par. We had a group of 6 and not one of us finished our meal...everything was weirdly over sweet, the rice, pork, quesadillas, sauces.....everything! The steak was super salty. I would definitely not recommend this place, nor will I be back. *UPDATE-Two of us ended up getting sick from this place. No bueno! read more

This place is great. Affordable, delicious, and friendly staff. I enjoyed the tacos. I tried the sweet corn and onions and chicken breast. We also had the seasoned beef tacos and they were really good. The chips and salsa were probably our favorite. This is a great place to stop in for a casual meal. read more

At Cafe Mexicali, they attempt to make extremely poor quality food edible by using a large quantity of seasonings. But instead, they just end up producing a very subpar product. And though the food tastes kinda good at first, the horrible sickness that follows will surely make you never want to come back. This restaurant cuts a lot of corners, and if the food doesn't improve, they won't last very long. read more

If you don't get the sweet pork burrito smothered with creamy habanero sauce then you're doing it all wrong!

Food here is pretty sub-par. I know it's not supposed to be an authentic type of Mexican food place but I've eaten here a few times trying to see if maybe the last time I was there I just got unlucky with bad food, but no, their food here is just very bland and not very good. I don't enjoy writing bad reviews for a place and I have a rule that I'll eat at a place at least 3 times before I'll give a low rating to where I feel comfortable in saying that I wouldn't recommend this place to anyone, but yeah seriously it's always crazy to me when you eat somewhere and you just think like "how is this place even in business?" 10/10 would not recommend. read more

Cafe Mexicali is a step down from Chipotle. The food is mediocre and I don't plan to come back. I got two tacos: carne asada and chicken and both were enough to get me full, but ask me about "goodness", yea not so much. The rice is dry, the guacamole is eh, ok. read more

Great tortillas! And the portions are generous which is a change of pace. But that being said the rest of the food is just fair. I almost tipped the person ringing me up but was informed that the tips go to the owners which is just down right appalling. This place should be shut down for that. What a terrible business practice and thievery to steal your hard working employees tips for minimal monetary gains. No wonder they have a lawsuit against them!!! read more

Amazing food, quick and easy, however, the service sucks. They're all just college students who don't give a f**k about you. Kind of rude staff when you ask for simple things. I still go back because of how good the bowls are though. If everyone got fired it would be a 5 star rating for sure. read more

Best burritos in Boulder!!! This place is amazing and so fast and always fresh! 10/10 recommend. The staff is super friendly and the food is very reasonably priced as well! read more

There are two huge issues to this place that have nothing to do with the food. First there is a sign on the wall behind the cash register that says all tips belong to the business and not the employees. This just screams greedy owners who don't care about their employees. Then they follow it up by everything being aluminum trays, which is fine if you are taking it to go, but they uses these for customers that stay and eat on location. This is a huge amount of waste. So this just adds to the my feeling that the owners don't care. This suggests to me that they have the same attitude about the food. Reading two other comments about people getting sick here, just backs up the theory. This also caused me to toss my burrito after one bite because I didn't want to get sick. The only good thing I can say is that sause I tried tasted good. But I won't be back here, unless I hear about serious changes to the business. read more

It's about time they opened one down here! I've been going to the one in FoCo and Greeley for years, and loved it every time! The Boulder one is relatively the same, though for obvious reasons the staff are a bit, new, and the location reminds me of being in an office building. All n' all, great food, fresh ingredients, friendly staff and HUGE portions. It's all good, but I suggest you get the pork barbacoa burrito, with green chili, and use ample amounts of their homemade hot sauce. The tortilla soup is also pretty tasty, since they give your two fresh tortillas with it. read more

Bland, weirdly sweet, terrible mexican food. Would not recommend to anyone. Chipotle or illegal peets seems like high class dining compared to this place. Yuck yuck yuck. Boyfriend and I felt sick for an hour after eating it. Customer service was rushed even though we were the only customers in the whole restaurant at 1pm on a Saturday. read more

The food is good and we come back for certain items, but... the service is ridiculous most of the time. It's baffling that these (roughly college age) kids have not been fired. The lunch time kids, especially the males, are more often than not annoyed to even have to serve humans, not polite, messy looking, don't serve consistent portions, ask dumb questions, and are clearly either hung over or under the influence. There was an older worker who was good once and a female who was better, but wow. We actually boycotted for several months, tried again, and it was only slightly better. If I owned or managed that place, I would be in their faces training and correcting and firing. I swear one day one of these college age boys actually BLED on our to go bag! He didn't stop and take care of his cut and we didn't realize that he actually dropped on the bag (only the exterior) until we got back to work. Just no. Training/Mgmt has some serious challenges here. read more

Two visits so far, and the first time there was a mixup where they forgot about our food, but opening day pains are to be expected. They were extremely apologetic and gave us a $10 gift card and free drinks, which really wasn't necessary but greatly appreciated. The food so far is quite good, although I hope they offer a few more vegetarian friendly dishes in the future. Two things worth an extra mention are the raspberry lime drink (which had fresh raspberries in it) and the Queso. Prices are all generally within the $6-$8 range which is quite reasonable given the amount of food you get, and they make their tortillas in house. I do have two requests for them though: 1 - Cut up and give reject tortillas to everyone waiting in line! It's sad to see them being tossed straight into the trash because they're too small or deformed. 2 - More vegetarian options, especially for the breakfast burritos. This is Boulder, so you might be surprised how well they'll do. read more

The only pro to this place was I was impressed with how knowledgable the staff was with knowing the ingredients in the dishes, but unfortunately the food was not up to par. I ordered the burrito bowl and tried the corn and onion enchilada. I didn't find any of the food to be particularly exciting. The food didn't have very good flavor and something tasted artificially sweet to me. I couldn't exactly put my finger on it. I don't know if everything is made fresh there but I definitely got the impression some things came out of a can. The whole wheat tortillas have lard in them. There is no need or reason for whole wheat tortillas to have lard, just replace it with oil so more people can eat it. And 2 of the salsas had cream in them, when I called earlier that day I was misinformed and told that all the salsas were vegan. This place produces a lot of trash with to go dishes for everything even if you are sitting there to eat. When asked about recycling and compost the staff didn't even know! As a vegan I think there are many more mexican restaurants in Boulder that can accommodate my diet. read more

First off, their tortillas are great. However... that's it The rest of their food is mediocre and both looks and tastes like it's frozen generic glops of something microwaved for the meal. Arguably the worst Mexican food in Boulder. read more

Picture the biggest burrito you've ever had. Wrapped in the most delicious, authentic tortillas in the world. Then add on the smother sauce that'll make you cry with joy. Cafe Mex is a classic for late Tuesday nights when all you want is satisfyingly cheesy and fresh Mexican food. Be warned; they don't mess around with these burritos! They're fully stuffed with rice, beans, AMAZINGLY FLAVORFUL MEAT, and too many salsas to choose from. You'll be in heaven. Highly recommend the sweet pork or the beef and the white smother sauce! But maybe skip the breakfast burritos. Santiagos on the hill is cheaper and has better green chili read more

This is the 3rd time in a row that they've messed up my order 2 times because the person who originally took my order started talking to someone the knew that walked in and just gave me a bowl of chips instead of nachos which meant I paid 4 extra bucks for some chips I have no clue how but it happened twice and then the third time I ordered a chicken quesadilla how the hell could they mess that up she even confirmed my order and some how they put beef In it and I don't end up checking till I get home where there's no pint I'm going back so I have to either make my own nachos with the bowl of chips or just eating steak even tho I don't like red meat that much, I don't like complaining but there attention there is shit I'm not talking quietly or anything I don't get it and this the third time, just go to chipotle or illegal Pete's. read more

Not impressed. Food was mediocre. I got the chicken smothered burrito. I was told the "chicken molido" was ground with their spicy salsa and pico de gallo. While I'm sure it was, it was very bland with no spice at all. The two medium to hot salsas I got in and in and on top, the creamy habanero and green chili were the same as the chicken. Bland and no spice. My total was $9 something since I got a side of sour cream (chipotle apparently... Which oddly enough had the most flavor). If it was good food I wouldn't mind. But it wasn't. THE WORST PART about the whole thing though, and the one thing I can't get over, is how freaking long it took! There were about 5 or 6 people ahead of me and it took me a good 10-15 min to get through the line. It's assembling burritos people! What is taking so long?! It took forever for them to put each and every item together. The guy in front of me ordered 3 steak burritos, all with the same fillings, and it was like the most complicated thing for the guy behind the counter. So frustrating! They should take note on how chipotle works, that line could be out the door and you know you'll have your food and pay within 5 min. Obviously, I'll be going there for my next Mexican craving. So disappointing. The only good thing was the beautiful roof top patio. An abundance of seating, gorgeous views and even a couch in front of a fireplace. Too bad I don't want to eat there. read more

On the day that I went: The staff who made my food seemed really miserable. I'm pretty low maintenance as far as customers go. I don't need a bunch of small talk and fake high pitch customer service voice. But these guys just seemed like they had chains shackled to their ankles. Staff just shoved my food along and never asked if I wanted vegetables, guac, etc. At the cashier it was plopped in front of me and I asked "Is there anything else I can get in this... vegetables, guac, etc" and the guy goes "uhhh, sure, what do you want?" "Well what do you have?!" The area where staff make your meal is not visible (unlike Illegal Petes) so you cant even tell what is an option to get on your burrito. I asked for jalapenos the guy responds "ummm.... Id have to cut those up." I say "no sour cream, please" What do they do? Slop sour cream on. WTF?! Amateur. I find out at the end that there is no tip jar. This is possibly why the employees are miserable and disinterested in asking if you want extra ingredients on your burrito. There is no incentive. There is no tip spot on the receipt when you pay with your card so the owner must be anti-tip. Maybe employees should be friendly without the potential of a tip. Maybe not. Maybe it really sucks to work there. I don't know. But I wouldn't have written this review on just the food. The food was average grade, white lettuce, blah. Not terrible, not great. Not very fresh. Not seasoned as well as Illegal Petes. Ill just deal with the parking at Illegals next time. Maybe this was an Off-Day. Maybe my review is subjective. Doubt it, though. Everyone with me said the same thing. To be fair, the roof looks like a nice spot for lunch on a sunny day! read more

Delicious breakfast burritos at a great price. Ordering online with curbside pick up is super convenient.

Before I even eat I'd like to say thank you to you guys for the best delivery ever I ordered the wrong thing sent an email explaining what happened and within 20 minutes from the first delivery I had my order mistakes happen thank you for fixing it with a perfectly delicious burrito always a favorite place to got to in colorado read more

I eat a Paleo diet... So Mexican restaurants are usually not great if you're into variety, which I am. You can pretty much only get a bowl of burrito ingredients. So I ordered a bowl...with no rice, and no beans. Just veggies and chicken. "We don't have veggies, unless you count iceberg lettuce...and corn," the guy behind the glass said. Ugh. Lettuce, is a veggie, but iceberg lettuce is mostly water. But corn is a grain. No dice. "I guess I'll just have the chicken...and the lettuce... and the Pico sauce... And some guacamole." That cost me $8.50 plus tax. It was served in a flimsy foil bowl. The chicken looked and tasted like dry canned tuna. Probably came in a giant Sysco box. The guacamole wasn't terrible, but it was bland. The iceberg lettuce was as it should be...flavorless. I ate two bites of the chicken and gave up. If you like proper chunky cuts of grilled chicken, the chicken at Cafe Mexicali will anger you. Go to Illegal Pete's or even Chipotle for better burrito bowls. This cafe Mexicali's is basically a glorified fast food joint. Of the 6 patrons I counted, 4 were overweight or obese. This is their kind of food. If you have taste buds and enjoy standing up from the couch without wincing under your own weight, avoid this dump at all costs. The food is 1 star. I only gave it 2 stars because the place was moderately clean and some effort went into decoration. But indeed, the decor is betrayed by the cafeteria taste I still have in my mouth. Ugh. read more

Ok, but if you're not getting the sweet pork enchilada with creamy habanero sauce, you're doing it wrong!! So. Freaking. Good.

They have the best breakfast burritos and every time I've come my food has been incredibly tasty. They also have really friendly staff. I've never had a bad experience at this place. read more

Really good egg breakfast burrito, but they will not serve breakfast after 11am. I was even there 15 minutes before 11am and they already switched to lunch. Do they just throw all the food away? A place in Longmont has breakfast all day, they just charge more if you come in after 11am. The other food on the menu has been average. read more

Well, it's NOT Mexican and it's not Cali, but it is good, freshly made food at a good price. They hand press their tortillas and chips, both of which are very tasty. The salsas and guacamole is fresh and also very good. Basically, it is a good place to eat - but it's about as authentic Mexican as TacoBell. read more

Love this place the food is great and affordable. Love the habanero sauce mm. It's amazing post hike food.

Poor service, expensive for lack of flavor and authenticity. Visited this location 2/9/20 around 5pm. First time visiting and asked girl serving food what the sweet corn and onion filling was like, she said "it's sweet corn and onions", thank you so much for clarifying. Seems like all the kids working there just wanted to hang out and do no work. Waited quite some time to be checked out while everyone was talking about going on breaks. Big portions but no flavor in any of the food, black beans had no flavor, tasted like they just came out of the can and cooked. Not to mention, I got sick after eating this food so not worth the $4 drink cost and $12 for mushy enchiladas just to throw it back up a few hours later. read more

Would be five stars if the music wasn't giving me such a headache. Specifically just this song "I'll be there" TERRIBLE. Other than that this place is great read more

The only reason that they get even one star is that there is no zero. I have to share this review. Without exaggeration, this has to be the worst food I have EVER eaten. We both took one bite of this $#!+ and it tasted so salty and bad that I literally brought back to the counter and said this is inedible. I haver NEVER done this before. The only good thing I can say id that the Manager gave me back our money without a hassle. I wouldn't eat here again if they paid me. read more

Tortillas are ok and salsa is fine but they totally screwed up my vegetarian order putting chicken bits on my cheese enchiladas. Not very clean. Food all over the floor where the servers are. Really a disappointment. read more

i get takeout from this place all the time because i'm obsessed with the smothered burrito. they've given me free chips and salsa with my order before and the portion size is extremely generous!! i love that because i often save the rest of the huge burrito for later and it gives me more than one meal. you can tell from the food that this place is legit and everything is freshly made. love this place for a good food option right by campus, it's so satisfying and yummy read more

My absolute FAVORITE restaurant in the world. Hands down best burritos ever. Clean, well maintained and has great service. Price is also super reasonable. Order this: creamy habanero sauce on a steak burrito with homemade chips and a big glass of Mountain Dew after a great hike in Chataqua. Nothing better!!! Ps you need a Denver location desperately! read more

I LOVE THIS PLACE. The first time I went in the service was amazing and the student working let me sample each type of meat. The sweet pork smothered burritos, the quesole and the creamy chicken tortilla soup! I crave it probably once a week. Especially the creamy habanero sauce on anything- I could drink it, it is so good. read more

The thing about this place is you HAVE to order the right thing. What I always order and what everyone I know gets is the sweet barbacoa meat with the white sauce. They make the tortillas right there in front so they're always warm and fresh. This burrito is to die for it's so delicious. The people working are very polite and there's always plenty of seating (including a second floor balcony). read more

Horrible horrible customer service!!! I've been here many times before, but this last time was the worst there was just a bunch of high school girls that acted like me and my family were stupid, when we tried to ask questions. Put super small serving, Most of the burrito was just tortillas. Then when they were finishing up packing the order, the cashier touched the change from the cash register, then touched my lettuce that was hanging out of the container! While COVID is going around!!! Terrible costumer service! If the manger reads this I hope they fire those girls that were working today! 12/3/20 read more

Excellent burritos. Price reasonable. For Boulder, you will not do better for a burrito. Service good. Covid prevention (masks etc) good.

The food is great here, and the serving sizes are huge. I highly recommend the pork barbacoa smothered burrito, with creamy habeñero sauce. The only thing about café Mex it is not authentic Mexican food. It is very americanized. If you're expecting authenticity this is not the place for you. read more

Really really bland food, no seasoning in any of the ingredients, I had to add salt pepper and hit sauce to make it edible. Perfect food for 8 yr olds, otherwise you are better off at chipotle or qdoba. read more