Cancel

    Open app

    Search

    Cafe Rio

    3.8 (472 reviews)
    Closed • 11:30 am - 8:00 pm
    Updated 1 month ago

    Cafe Rio Photos

    CAFE RIO ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Divey
    Casual
    Moderate noise
    Good for groups

    You might also consider

    Recommended Reviews - Cafe Rio

    Your trust is our priority, so businesses can't pay to alter or remove their reviews. Learn more about reviews.
    Yelp app icon
    Browse more easily on the app
    Review Feed Illustration

    Reviews With Photos

    Julio H.

    This is a locals favorite, and you will see lines that span several people. I am not a fan of thin pizza, hence the 3 stars. I also didn't find the flavors to be appealing. We tried a kale soup with sausage, it tasted healthy, if you know what I mean. The pizza also tasted healthy, despite being full of meats. I wonder if I misread the menu and this is a vegan place, or a health store. The place looks a little bit like a ski shop. Our waitress was nice but other random staff members were nicer. At some point, a podcast started playing and replaced the emo/skater playlist. This place is weird. I think this is a thin crust pizza town...

    Greek salad
    Alyssa H.

    This was probably the best place we ate at. It is super popular and for good reason. When I tell you to be prepared to wait, be prepared to wait! It was an hour ish wait for a table but that didn't bother us, we weren't in a hurry. Carry out orders were also about an hour wait. But it is worth the wait! The staff was so wonderful and the food was just so good! This definitely gives hometown favorite vibes and it is easy to see why. I highly recommend trying it but pack your patience.

    Sylvia C.

    They open at 11:30 on Sundays, and there was a very long line of people waiting to get in. The wait was worth it! The food was excellent and the staff was attentive without making you feel rushed. It was a great meal and great way to end the weekend before heading back home. 5/5 Recommended.

    Rio classic pizza w/added black olives   yummy!!!
    Sarah R.

    Pizza was freakin delicious! Our server & the staff were great I highly recommend anyone looking for some fresh delicious pizza.... this is the place!

    Half Tuscan Half Rio 18" pizza
    Joe B.

    The ambiance has a lot of character, old license plates and old cell phone's and a variety of things to look at while you wait for your delicious food. Service prompt and friendly. The crust was top notch crispy chewy and delicious. Quality ingredients also. Food came out pretty fast. This was a really busy place. You could order from the sidewalk, call in or dine in. I would highly recommend. I heard that it's the best place to eat on the strip. Oh make sure to try the iced tea. It was really good. It didn't seem like your average tea. Tastes like it was actually brewed fresh but I'm not sure about that. It just tastes better than other restaurants tea ‍

    Half & Half Pizza
    Teresa R.

    Their unsweetened peach tea is the bomb! Chef salad was very delicious but next I will ask for side dressing a little too much for me. Have pizza have I don't remember to tell you which one, but it was delicious. Either way it was thin and crispy. I'll put a picture so you can see what kind of pizza I ordered and you can ask him because I actually asked the server I wanted this pizza so you may have to to do the same I saw a pic someone took. The service was tremendous. He was great attentive, even though he was the only waiter he was awesome.

    Anthea S.

    The pizza , salads, and pizza tossers/servers/ underwater ceramic technicians (ie:customer service) are both amazing!! Thank you Cafe Rio for being "so cool Ruidoso"....

    Chef Salad
    Wendy T.

    Busy place with lots of to go orders flowing out. The cheese pizza slices were huge with a lovely thin crust. Really tasty! The small house salads were abundant the chef salad was full of good stuff with a nice dressing. The service was friendly. The variety of fun sodas was a sweet surprise.

    Shrimp jambalaya with rice
    Joshua H.

    Back again just over a year after our very first visit here. Not much has changed and that's good because everything was Greta the first time and it still is the second time around! This time I got the shrimp jambalaya after turning a bite from a friend last time and loving it. It's as good or better than I remember it being. My wife loved her meatball sandwich and my kiddo crushed his pizza slice. He even told me it was a solid 9/10 for best pepperoni pizza he'd had. Service is fast even when busy at lunch time. We had a 30 minutes wait but we knew that would be normal during a weekday lunch time stop. Worth it!

    Interior
    Susie W.

    It had been a while since we visited Cafe Rio, so we were pleasantly surprised to find that dining was reopened. The staff was amazing! Although we couldn't sit at a regular table and had to use a high-top in the back, they moved us to a table as soon as one became available since we have a small child. The food was great, as usual. I have always loved Cafe Rio; it's a must-visit whenever I'm in Ruidoso. After this visit, the staff truly impressed us. They went above and beyond with their service, food, salads, and pizza. I can't wait to go back and dine in again!

    the menu, through the window
    Morgan R.

    The menu looks good -- many options for toppings on pizza, and generally good Yelp reviews. What a disappointment! We got a pizza with mushrooms, black olives, artichoke hearts and anchovies. Those toppings were good. But the base pizza was mediocre. I don't know if it was frozen and from a big vendor, or hand-made in the store, but either way, it just wasn't good. The crust was thin but card-board-like, the tomato sauce lacking in flavor, the cheese bland. A good indicator of the crust quality was that we didn't finish the edge pieces - too chewy and lacking in texture and flavor. Had we ordered it as a cheese pizza without the toppings, we probably wouldn't have finished it. This is obviously a busy place at times. They took our phone order promptly, and the pizza was ready when we got there. But they go to some trouble to keep people with "to-go" orders outside, picking up and paying through an exterior window. I was not impressed with the kid who helped us on pick-up ... nothing terrible, but not engaged. So it's clear that there are lots of fans of this restaurant in town -- but I'm not one of them.

    Spicy breadstick w cheese and marinara sauce
    Chris M.

    3rd time visiting and we made it there right after they opened so we didn't have a wait!! As always, a friendly staff greeted us and gave recommendations and provided a great ambiance and experience. Today my niece and I enjoyed the spicy cheesy breadsticks and shared a 12" pizza w pepp, Italian sausage & mush on one side and Hawaiian-style on the other half. The breadsticks are not spicy, have a perfect red pepper kick and the marinara sauce is delicious. The pizza was great as usual! Even w so many topping on it the crust was still crispy and chewy! I keep thinking I'm going to try something new but the pizza is so good I haven't tried a salad or anything else yet. Next time!

    Great pizza and fantastic service! We ordered 12 pizzas for my son's wedding rehearsal dinner and they took care of us start to finish! We called just after opening and they took our order and had it ready when we got there at 5. They even helped carry it to the car! And the pizza was amazing !

    Greek salad, 2 pieces of pepperoni pizza

    See all

    1 month ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    3 months ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    6 months ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 2
    Oh no 1

    27 days ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Julio H.
    1014
    1459
    6795

    8 months ago

    Helpful 3
    Thanks 1
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    1 month ago

    Great PIZZA LONG ASS LINE!!! Weekends are out the door crowded!! I waited down the street as they have no place to sit!!!!

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    7 months ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    1 year ago

    Helpful 9
    Thanks 3
    Love this 11
    Oh no 0

    2 months ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    1 month ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    5 months ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    1 year ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 1
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Teresa R.
    11
    26
    18

    6 months ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    7 months ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    2 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 1
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0

    2 years ago

    Helpful 2
    Thanks 1
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    1 year ago

    Helpful 2
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0

    3 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    3 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Cloe M.
    162
    3
    1

    11 months ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Shayli H.
    84
    18
    17

    1 year ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    1 year ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    1 year ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    4 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 1
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0

    1 year ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 1
    Love this 0
    Oh no 1

    7 months ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    1 year ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Liz G.
    30
    27
    7

    1 year ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    1 year ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    8 months ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Tim T.
    2
    23
    0

    1 year ago

    Pizza doesn't get much better than this. It's a busy place but well worth it. The Kitchen Sink pizza is awsome!

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    1 year ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    2 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 1
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0

    3 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 1

    2 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    1 year ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    2 years ago

    Helpful 3
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    6 years ago

    Helpful 2
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0

    4 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0

    4 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    Page 1 of 12

    Cafe Rio Reviews in Other Languages

    Ask the Community - Cafe Rio

    Do they serve wines?

    They do not serve any alcohol is what I heard the waitress tell someone.

    View All 2 Questions

    You might also consider

    Verify this business for free

    People searched for Pizza 164 times last month within 15 miles of this business.

    Verify this business

    Michael J's - Butter cake w carmelized peaches w a Whipped amd sweetened vanilla mouse mascarpone.

    Michael J's

    3.6(305 reviews)
    0.8 mi
    •$$

    We went to Michael J's expecting a mediocre experience based on the reviews we'd seen, and left…read moreabsolutely puzzled that they're not higher rated. The interior was charming and surprisingly classy. The service was attentive and helpful, and the food was great. They were very accommodating of our two year old. We had low expectations and ended up wonderfully surprised with a nice dinner. We would absolutely return!

    Extremely Disappointing Experience…read more My husband and I had dinner at Michael J's on Saturday, September 26th, while spending the weekend in Ruidoso. Unfortunately, what was supposed to be a nice dinner turned into one of the most uncomfortable restaurant experiences we've ever had. We arrived around 8:00 PM, an hour before closing, and stood at the entrance for about five minutes waiting to be seated, even though the restaurant was practically empty. I ordered a bottle of Alamos Cabernet listed for $36. Our server, who was also the bartender, came back and told me they were out of it. I then specifically asked for the house Cabernet listed for $28. She brought us a bottle, and we assumed it was what I had ordered. Throughout dinner, her demeanor toward us was noticeably short and unfriendly. Then, at approximately 8:40 PM--20 minutes before closing--they TURNED THE LIGHTS OFF while we were still eating. I asked if they could please turn them back on, and they did. About two minutes later, they turned them off again. We literally had to use the lights on our phones to see and finish our dinner. I have never experienced anything like that at a restaurant. When our bill arrived, we discovered we had been charged $46 for a bottle of Silver Palm, which I NEVER ordered. When I questioned our server, she told me they had been out of the house wine. I explained that she should have come back to the table, told me it was unavailable, and allowed me to choose another bottle--especially before substituting one that cost significantly more. Her response was essentially, Too bad, you drank it." We asked to speak with a manager and were told that everyone had already left. If a restaurant chooses to seat customers an hour before closing, those customers should be allowed to finish their meal with the lights on and without being made to feel like an inconvenience. And if something a customer orders is unavailable, you do not substitute a more expensive item without telling them, charge them for it, and then dismiss their concern because they already consumed it. And somehow, we still left a $10 tip. I honestly cannot remember ever leaving less than 20% at a restaurant. Even when service isn't perfect, I believe in tipping well, but this experience was completely different. I have the receipt from that evening and am posting it with this review. We came to Ruidoso for a nice weekend together and were looking forward to dinner here. Unfortunately, this experience left us feeling extremely unwelcome and disappointed. We will not return.

    Photos
    Michael J's - The duckhorn sauv blanc on the patio

    The duckhorn sauv blanc on the patio

    Michael J's
    Michael J's - Other half of the lasagna portion size is great!

    See all

    Other half of the lasagna portion size is great!

    Cafe Rio - pizza - Updated October 2026

    Loading...
    Loading...
    Loading...