Cafe Rio Sucks!

[LA Ute]

The hype is the thing. I heard about Cafe Rio long before I ate there. I do enjoy Mexican food, but it's sometimes hard to know what's authentic Mexican and what's not. With Cafe Rio, that's easy to say - it's not. Maybe that's the reason for the derision. It's such a departure from what people know as Mexican food. I guess it's like how the original Volkswagen Beetle was designed by Ferdinande Porsche - but if you try to equate it with a Porsche, you're going to get laughed out of the building.

Yeah, there's Tex Mex and Cali Mex, but I guess that the real difference is that a lot of the Cali-Mex and Tex-Mex restaurants have a true Mexican influence, while Cafe Rio was started by a caucasian, Mormon couple from St. George and is headquartered in Cottonwood Heights, Utah. For example: one of my favorite Cali-Mex chains is Wahoo's. It was started by brothers who grew up in Brazil, moved to California and became surfers, spending lots of time in Mexico - they brought the Mexican fish tacos they grew to love into California.

Utah Mex, on the other hand, is much more counterintuitive. Cafe Rio is just so white. It's way too sweet, and strikes me as a returned missionary version of "authentic" Mexican food that he sweetens way too much because if he has to be honest, he doesn't really like the taste of the real stuff, but it's the cool thing to be obsessed with your mission food.

The discussion of this subject has always seemed odd to me. (BTW, the guy who started Cafe Rio was from Bountiful - he's since passed away, and far too young -- in his early 40s). It's just food, and every kind has its buyer, it seems to me. There used to be a place in Bountiful called Casa Melinda, and it was the most Gringo-ized Mexican-themed food I've ever tasted. But my in-laws loved it. So did lots of other Bountiful folks. But we are not talking about Mexican food, we are talking about Mexican-themed food, IMO.

Cuisine evolves. The only place to get "real" (i.e., less-evolved) Mexican-themed food is in Mexico. The same is true of most ethnic dishes. For example, on the very rare occasion when I want a pupusa (Salvadoran), there are plenty of pupuserias in L.A. The more recently the owner immigrated from El Salvador, the more it reminds me of the pupusas I used to eat on my mission. The ones at farmer's markets are the most authentic from that standpoint. But the longer the purveyor has been in the USA, the more creative he or she gets (different ingredients, different type of preparation, oil used for frying, etc.), and the more evolved the food is. I'll bet if I went back to El Salvador I'd find that pupusas are different and more varied now than they were 30 years ago. I could say the same thing about Guatemalan tamales. Or "Italian" pizza, for that matter. When it comes to food I guess I am a firm believer in evolution.

So when I am in Salt Lake and want Mexican-themed food, I can choose Cafe Rio or Chipotle (I prefer Chipotle) or Red Iguana or that place at the Rio Grande terminal. I'll go based on what sounds good to me at the time. But I am under no illusion that I will be getting "real" Mexican food. I'm not even sure what that means, or if I can get it even in Mexico.

End of rant! Not directed at you, SC Coug. Just at the subject in general.

[UtahDan]

So when I am in Salt Lake and want Mexican-themed food, I can choose Cafe Rio or Chipotle (I prefer Chipotle) or Red Iguana or that place at the Rio Grande terminal. I'll go based on what sounds good to me at the time. But I am under no illusion that I will be getting "real" Mexican food. I'm not even sure what that means, or if I can get it even in Mexico.

End of rant! Not directed at you, SC Coug. Just at the subject in general.

Human beings ever wish to distinguish themselves from others. To me, saying you do or don't care for something speaks to your tastes. Saying that you hate something or love it has more to do with identity, as Jeff suggests, even if in a small way.

[mpfunk]

If you ever want to wish you were at Cafe Rio, go to the "Italian" restaurant started by these same people. I've never had a more disgustingly sweet red sauce in my life.

[NorthwestUteFan]

This guy likes Cafe Rio:

19685_513937291990832_972810717_n.jpg

[SoCalCoug]

The discussion of this subject has always seemed odd to me. (BTW, the guy who started Cafe Rio was from Bountiful - he's since passed away, and far too young -- in his early 40s). It's just food, and every kind has its buyer, it seems to me. There used to be a place in Bountiful called Casa Melinda, and it was the most Gringo-ized Mexican-themed food I've ever tasted. But my in-laws loved it. So did lots of other Bountiful folks. But we are not talking about Mexican food, we are talking about Mexican-themed food, IMO.

Cuisine evolves. The only place to get "real" (i.e., less-evolved) Mexican-themed food is in Mexico. The same is true of most ethnic dishes. For example, on the very rare occasion when I want a pupusa (Salvadoran), there are plenty of pupuserias in L.A. The more recently the owner immigrated from El Salvador, the more it reminds me of the pupusas I used to eat on my mission. The ones at farmer's markets are the most authentic from that standpoint. But the longer the purveyor has been in the USA, the more creative he or she gets (different ingredients, different type of preparation, oil used for frying, etc.), and the more evolved the food is. I'll bet if I went back to El Salvador I'd find that pupusas are different and more varied now than they were 30 years ago. I could say the same thing about Guatemalan tamales. Or "Italian" pizza, for that matter. When it comes to food I guess I am a firm believer in evolution.

So when I am in Salt Lake and want Mexican-themed food, I can choose Cafe Rio or Chipotle (I prefer Chipotle) or Red Iguana or that place at the Rio Grande terminal. I'll go based on what sounds good to me at the time. But I am under no illusion that I will be getting "real" Mexican food. I'm not even sure what that means, or if I can get it even in Mexico.

End of rant! Not directed at you, SC Coug. Just at the subject in general.

No, I hear you. I just don't like how Cafe Rio tastes (or Chipotle, for that matter - by the way, started by a guy from Colorado who went to culinary school in New York, became a line cook in San Francisco, and liked San Francisco-Mex, so he brought it to Colorado - McDonalds was a major investor until 2006), and I hate that my wife and daughter like it and always want to go there.

Believe me, I go to Taco Bell and Del Taco as much as anyone. And I would rather go to either those than to Chipotle.

But my favorite Cali-Mex is definitely Wahoo's. I have been playing with the idea of grabbing a taco from one of those taco trucks in Santa Ana, though.

I always wanted to go to Guadalahonkey's, which used to be somewhere south of Salt Lake. I don't think it's there any more.

[Slim]

I always wanted to go to Guadalahonkey's, which used to be somewhere south of Salt Lake. I don't think it's there any more.

Guadalahonkeys is on 12300 south and about 300 east in Draper. If I'm in the mood for Mexican we either go to Guadalahonkeys or La Fountain ( formerly known as La Puente). Not sure how authentic they are but we like them.

Growing up we used to hit up La Cosina all the time. It didn't hurt that the owners lived across the street from us. Nothing like a Greek family running a Mexican restaurant

[SoCalCoug]

Guadalahonkeys is on 12300 south and about 300 east in Draper.

Awesome! I'm going to try to go there next time I'm in Utah. Just so I can say I've been to Guadalahonkeys.

[LA Ute]

Awesome! I'm going to try to go there next time I'm in Utah. Just so I can say I've been to Guadalahonkeys.

It wins the prize for restaurant naming.