My family of 7 who are pizza lovers stopped in while strolling Midtown. I browsed some restaurants online prior to our venture to Ruidoso and this was on our list of places to try thanks to the many raving reviews. The place was packed when we arrived, but gratefully time was on our side and we were able to be seated promptly without a wait. They have a walk up counter outside where you can place to-go orders. Just come back in 15 minutes after ordering (they won't call ya). Looks simple, divey and well loved and the crowds are the proof! We ordered jumbo pizzas and a couple of cheese slices for my 10-year old. The slices are huge, definitely only need 1 for a kiddo. We didn't know lol. Slices are giving New York, so fold in half and bite. If you have toddlers that typically eat 1 slice, I would even say order 1 slice to cut in half. Mom of 5 here ‍...you're welcome lol. Lemonade was fresh squeezed, sweetened, but naturally on the tart side. My kids weren't a fan, but I thought it was excellent! They don't know what's up. But if you have kids, maybe yours won't like it either lol. I enjoy Gingerale but usually don't get it because most brands contain high fructose corn syrup amongst other junk. I was unaware of the Boylan brand until today! Enjoyed it very much with our meal. Was light and refreshing. We'll look for it elsewhere now. I like gourmet pizza and my husband doesn't. This was a good middle. "Not too gourmet" he says. I say it's a step above the major chains. Thin crust and lighter without all the bloat to follow, but still a little greasy lol. Take that as you may! Highly recommend this stop for pizza lovers. We'd come back! Staff was attentive though the place was and seems constantly busy. When I hear cafe I don't think pizza, but now I just might lol. No complaints! read more

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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... read more

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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. read more

Cafe Rio - Greek salad - Pizza Near Me - Ruidoso, New Mexico

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

Cafe Rio - Rio classic pizza w/added black olives yummy!!! - Pizza Near Me - Ruidoso, New Mexico

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. read more

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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. read more

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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".... read more

Cafe Rio - Pizza Near Me - Ruidoso, New Mexico

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 ‍ read more

Cafe Rio - Half Tuscan Half Rio 18" pizza - Pizza Near Me - Ruidoso, New Mexico

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. read more

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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! read more

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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! read more

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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. read more

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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 ! read more

Cafe Rio - Pizza Near Me - Ruidoso, New Mexico

Wouldn't let us get a 4 chair table because there was 3 of us and expensive and mid food waiter was very nice tho. Was very small and inside looked dirty and trashy they need a new spot read more

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! read more

Cafe Rio - Spicy breadstick w cheese and marinara sauce - Pizza Near Me - Ruidoso, New Mexico

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Best Greek salad we've ever had! Fast lunch service. The wait staff was so kind and helpful! Classic ruidoso hospitality read more

Cafe Rio - Greek salad, 2 pieces of pepperoni pizza - Pizza Near Me - Ruidoso, New Mexico

The atmosphere was super relaxed and easygoing, which made for a really enjoyable experience. I particularly loved the unique wall decor. Our server, Rebecca, was incredibly friendly. The breadsticks had a nice little kick to them, and the pizza was absolutely delicious!! read more

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Pizza was great-nice employees- loved the eclectic decorations! We got the special with pizza, 2 drinks and yummy dessert for their Thursday night special. read more

If you're a pizza lover, you have to stop by this place. The pizza here is absolutely fantastic -- crispy crust, rich sauce, gooey cheese, and toppings that actually mean something. You can tell everything is made with care, and the flavors are on point. Whether you go classic pepperoni or something more adventurous, you really can't go wrong. Easily one of the best pizza joints I've been to in a long time. read more

TheAbsolutely Most Disappointing Experience in Ruidoso! We've been loyal customers of Cafe Rio for three years. We've brought friends, recommended it to everyone visiting Ruidoso, and always spoke highly of the food -- especially the pizza. But after today's experience, we're done. We went to meet friends who wanted to try other food, so we told them, "Grab what you want, but you have to try Cafe Rio's pizza." When we arrived, our friends were told they could come in but had to leave their food outside. Ridiculous, but fine -- we decided to order our pizza to go and eat down the street instead. When we opened the box, there it was: a pizza covered in anchovies, even though we very clearly said no anchovies. We went back immediately, expecting them to fix their mistake. Instead, we were met with attitude and told they wouldn't replace or refund the pizza because we had "left the premises." Their so-called "solution"? "Why don't you just pluck them out." Really? Anchovies soak into everything -- the flavor, the oil, the crust. That's not a fix; that's an insult. After three years of loyalty, this was beyond disappointing -- it was downright disrespectful. Terrible customer service, no accountability, and a shocking lack of basic decency. Do yourself a favor -- take your money somewhere that values customers, gets orders right, and doesn't tell you to 'pluck it out' when they mess up your food. read more

Excellent food as always! Hot, fresh and so good. We visit this place every time we are in town! read more

Cafe Rio - Cafe Rio Classic - Pizza Near Me - Ruidoso, New Mexico

Best pizza in Ruidoso!! The crust was perfectly done, not too thick and not too thin and just the right amount of sauce. Waitors checked on us repeatedly and very friendly. read more

Our whole family agreed that this was one of our favorite pizzas ever. We ordered three different pizzas to accommodate our families tastes. We were all very happy with our choices. Drawbacks...it was very busy. They suggest you order ahead for pickup. We attempted to do that but the phone went unanswered. We had to walk there to place our order and then go back an hour later to pick up our pizzas. Plan ahead! read more

Quiet, intriguing, desirable, and highly recommend of all who walk out of the establishment. While you can see the gal making the pizzas in the front windows. Locals and visitors to Ruidoso; they all say it's highly recommended and worth the wait to eat in. So.... We did just that. The wife and the 3 kids went in after a 10 min wait and tried the spicy bread sticks w/cheese, Margherita pizza, and a sausage, pepperoni, green chili pizza. One of the nice gentleman told us the Margherita was not available but comped our next choice which was outstanding! A first visit but not a last by far! read more

Cafe Rio - two bottles of beer on a table - Pizza Near Me - Ruidoso, New Mexico

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

Cool little place! Service feels like family and is excellent. Will definitely be getting pizza again next time we're in town. read more

Cafe Rio - Large Greek Salad - Pizza Near Me - Ruidoso, New Mexico

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We stopped in a few weeks ago when we were in Ruidoso. This restaurant is located the main street. We had the pineapple and ham pizza which was crispy and delicious. The salad has their own signature celery seed vinaigrette which was amazing! It has a very cozy trendy ambience to it The service was great! We even had the owner deliver our pizza to our table and answered any questions that we had. I hope all my pictures posted The only one I see at this time is my salad for some reason. But it is really cute on the outside too and you can't miss it. When you're in Ruidoso please check out Cafe Rio they are great! read more

Yummy hot made to order pizza. Get there early to get a seat. Worth the wait. Hand tossed homemade pizza. Great bottled root bear. Great friendly waitstaff. Free public parking nearby and great shopping. read more

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Fantastic pizza!!! Fantastic!! Salad and dressing were excellent as well. And a huge shout out to Darlene who was super friendly and was working her tail off!!!! The "pizza guy" Jericho was great as well!!! read more

This place use to be a favorite, but it's really gone downhill. Was there on a recent trip to Ruidoso & it makes me sad, was not good at all. Pizza was so stingy on toppings & the crust (I use to love) was terribly burnt on bottom & rubbery on top. Staff seemed annoyed people had the nerve to eat there. It's really more like 1/2 or 1/4 of a star ‍ read more

Pretty good Pizza! Place was very busy - pizza was good thin crust and toppings were fresh. It would have been nice to have a beer with our pizza. We felt very rushed. We asked for ranch and were told we couldn't have it because that's not how you eat east Coast pizza. Lol. Well we kind of thought we could eat pizza any way we wanted. read more

The bomb basically. One cook and one server and the place was packed. We got fast and attentive service and our food came out surprisingly quick. We got the Tzatziki appetizer and the Tuscan and BBQ Chicken pizzas. The Italian Sausage was *chefs kiss* We only had time on our trip to eat out once and I'm glad we made this our stop. I hope we can come back because the people next to us had the roasted garlic bulbs and a pepperoni pizza that looked insane. The vibe in the shop was high. Reminded me of somewhere I would frequent with friends in college. Complete with a soundtrack of old school metal. My first visit but at the same time it felt familiar. read more

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This joint is downtown Ruidoso, NM on Sudderth. Long lines and great recommendations by our local friends Ordered jumbo pepperoni Italian sausage with green peppers-we had bell, hatch and jalapeño Were we surprised!! 8 slices in jumbo and they were huge, foldable, chewy, hand tossed goodness!!!! So many pizzas flying out the front door Brian was nice, helpful and efficient running the pickup procedure. YOU need to call and order some of this pizza! Highly recommend this joint read more

Cafe Rio - Sooooo good - Pizza Near Me - Ruidoso, New Mexico

Located in the midtown area with plenty of parking lots this should be your sign to grab pizza! The place is small filled with so much character, you can get lost in their decor and be throughly entertained. Menu has everything you'd expect and a little more! The service was great! My only gripe is that we ordered the everything in the kitchen pizza that was delish but made the pizza soggy. My fault, I should have ordered just one or two toppings. DO NOT SKIP DESSERT! The hummingbird cake not pictured because I inhaled it was so so good! read more

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Cafe rio is a must when you visit Ruidoso. Best pizza hands down. Great service- they always give you a time and your price when you call to go. Cool atmosphere, tolerates children. read more

One of the best pizzas I've had. If you love thin and crispy New York style pies, this spot is for you. Get it by the slice or whole pie, or calzones. Quality toppings and service was great. It is a small place so get there early but even the wait is worth it. read more

Cafe Rio - Spicy cheesey bread. - Pizza Near Me - Ruidoso, New Mexico

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Outstanding. Of the best I have ever eaten in my 75 years. Go order We took ours home AND HAD LEFT OVERS NEXT AM read more

Great service! Wonderful pizza and roasted garlic head as an appetizer! We got there about half an hour before dinner time and it was perfect bc we only waited 20 minutes to be seated. read more

Cafe Rio - Half and half pizza - Pizza Near Me - Ruidoso, New Mexico

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This chef-owned restaurant always hits the mark. Great food, great service. You can also eat at the bar to watch your favorite team.

Cafe Rio is located in a busy part of Ruidoso. It's currently takeout only and I'd recommend calling ahead of time to place your order unless you'll be expecting a wait. I had to wait around 30min for my pie. I ordered the Rio Classic ($16) which comes with pepperoni, mushrooms, bell peppers, red onions, and Italian sausage. Their pizzas aren't that large and pricey for what you're getting. One pizza was only able to feed me and one other person. The pizza was really tasty and featured a load of toppings, but the pie is pretty thin. TLDR: Takeout only pizza joint that features quality toppings, but small portions. read more

Cafe Rio - Pizza Rio Classic - Pizza Near Me - Ruidoso, New Mexico