Cafe Rio - The Last of the Chains

At least I think it's the last of the chains. Of course, this thing has been going for like a year, so I have a few I need to add to the list, meaning I'm probably wrong. Bwa bwa.

Cafe Rio is an odd ball. For the most part I like their food, aside from the sweet pork, which is garbage. Seriously. If you like their sweet pork I'm going to reconsider our friendship. Blech. Anyway, decent food, but the evening environment is usually terrible. Just dominated with herds of uncontrolled children. I want to (and may have in the past) stick a foot out as they run past and send them tumbling into a table. CONTROL YOUR CHILDREN OR STOP BREEDING! OR IDEALLY BOTH! I digress.

Presentation - I prefer the layout of the Meridian store a bit, but the Boise one isn't terrible, especially when it's not full of kids. Good counter service sequence, decently open seating, and a nice drink bar. The issue is there are always kids. I had one wonderful experience at a work lunch that was nice and quiet, but otherwise it's just lousy with the little bastards. The service is average and the plating is typical counter service meh. Can't muster up a good score here. 2/5

Aroma - Caught me off guard a bit, they smelled really good. I think it was the tomatillo dressing and the lime just jiving well. Credit where credit's due. 4/5

Value - I originally scored them a bit low here, $9.69 for two tacos, rice, and beans isn't great for a counter service place. However, the price does include a drink and after eating them, I was nice and full, they are good sized tacos. That bumped them a few points. 6/10

Fish - Salmon isn't my favorite, tends to be a bit too fishy for me. I think I'm in the minority here. These were grilled and they included a good portion of fish with a nice seasoning. It was as expected, too fishy for me, but it was done properly. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt. 5/10

Not Fish - The dressing was solid, as was the pico. The tortilla was flour, but decent. Way too much cilantro and romaine instead of cabbage. The sides were pretty boring and small too. Middle of the road. 5/10

Overall Taste - Not bad, but nothing to write home about. Definitely not the best salmon tacos on the tour. 5/10

Bonus Points - They offer a free quesadilla to kids under 6 with the purchase of an adult entree. That's worth something. +1

Overall Overall - 28/30

For what it's worth these are only available on Fridays. If you're dying for some fish tacos on Friday, you can definitely stop here, but bring earplugs. And maybe a nerf gun. Damn kids.