Rio Grande Cafe: Delightful Mexican Cuisine & Vibrant Cocktail Bar in Salt Lake City

Finally had a chance to check out this place! Cool vibe in a renovated fire station and great music. Service is very attentive and friendly but I wish the appetizer selection was more creative. And it would be so awesome if there was a mariachi band (maybe once a week) that has a vast knowledge of Música Ranchera!!!

Trying to think of a better place for salsa. It's so fresh. The new brunch menu is so good. I hope they keep it! Kids menu is priced well and the food is priced ok considering the inflation that is killing our economy

Today, we were in the U of U neighborhood, so we stopped in at Rio Grande Cafe for a late lunch. We were immediately seated in the upstairs dining area which is very clean and spacious. Our server was Olivia, a student at the U. from Washington State. Olivia was very pleasant to talk with, and while we did not order drinks from the bar at the start, we eventually did, and the $5 Margaritas were great. We shared a shrimp enchilada, with salad, rice, and beans. This was comfort food for a chilly afternoon! Because we shared an entree, we indulged in some key lime cheesecake. Wow, that was so good. This was an all around great lunch experience!

Monday is free queso night! You get one free per every 4 people. They gave us our own salsa bowl too which was nice! The queso was smooth and delicious! I ordered the taco loco with beef and it was heavenly. Every bite was perfect and had so much flavor. The portions are all large so you could get away with sharing! Music was throwback and it was nice. Not too loud that you can't have nice conversations with your party.

This used to be the old Porcupine Cafe location. It looks very similar with changes to decor. There is an outside patio area for when it gets warmer too. We went on a Tuesday so there was a few specials - half off appetizers and $3 draft beers. I got the halibut tacos but I didn't really taste the halibut at all. It was very small pieces of fish with ALOT of toppings. The sauce given was okay and gave a tiny bit more but was still flavorless. I wish I was given salsa over the orange sauce, and less toppings. The rio grande taco has similar feedback, not a lot of flavor. I'll be back to try something different next time!