Much Ado About Cafe Rio

The first time I heard of Cafe Rio was when I was in junior college. I was taking a nutrition class, and during the discussion, another student raised his hand and told the teacher that he had eaten a salad at Cafe Rio the night before, and he wanted to know if it was considered "nutritious."

(I don't remember how the teacher answered, but she tended to be of the mentality that if you're putting a vegetable in your body, you're doing something good for it, even if it's wrapped in a 400 calorie tortilla. I'm cool with that since I ate half a carrot cake yesterday).

That was in 2003. Three years later, I ate Cafe Rio for the first time. I was working at a school, and we were having a big staff inservice, and Cafe Rio did the catering. One of my coworkers ran from table to table plopping salads in front of people. They were either chicken or pork, randomly distributed, and then traded, if necessary. I don't even remember which meat I ate. What I do remember is that I had heard about these salads for years, and I was finally going to eat one, and I had high expectations. I put the dressing on and started eating, and frankly, I wasn't impressed. I ate anyway... because free food, but I couldn't understand why everyone raved about these salads. I couldn't even find the meat in mine. Then after I ate through the lettuce, I found the pile of rice, beans, and meat in the bottom. I had no idea it was down there. I felt like I'd been tricked!

My co-worker (turned BFF) Christie ended up taking me under her wing and saying, "Come, child. I will teach you the ways of Cafe Rio." And thus, I became a regular at Cafe Rio.

{Christie & me with our over-sized cups of salad dressing}

Now, there's something you need to know about Christie. Christie is very loyal to her food establishments and her menu items. To know Christie is to know her food choices. For example, at Red Robin she orders the gourmet cheeseburger - no tomato, no pickles, no relish, no mayo. Every time. At Olive Garden she used to get the chicken Caesar salad, which they've since removed from the menu, much to her dismay (they don't know what they've done!) At Leatherby's, it's chicken fingers and fries and toasted almond ice cream.

Christie is Cafe Rio's number one fan. There is no competition. She has eaten there at least once a week for a decade.

In 2006, there wasn't a Cafe Rio in our city, but there was one in the next city over, so that's where we went for my first couple of years as a Cafe Rio customer. Then one day I got a very enthusiastic phone call from Christie. They were building a Cafe Rio down the street, and I thought she was going to pass out from overexcitement. Christie and I met for lunch at that Cafe Rio more times than anyone needs to know during the following ten years.

This summer, it relocated. I ate there on the last day they were open (I didn't know it was the last day, though. I got a notification on my phone the next day that the new location was open). Last week I went to the new location for the first time. I didn't know it mattered so much, but I walked in and my heart sank. The food was the same, but the experience was different. I didn't realize how special the old location had been, but as I sat down to eat in the new building, I understood that my Cafe Rio is gone (as is the one in the next city over, which relocated a few years ago).

I can't even tell you how many lunches and conversations I shared over those multicolored tables - not just with Christie, but with so many friends and family. I ate there with everyone! All of my kids have sat in and grown out of the Cafe Rio high chairs. We've spilled a thousand black beans and dropped a hundred drinks. I've rushed potty training three-year-olds to the restroom and stood outside the locked doors frantically waiting our turn. My kids have stuffed my purse pockets with a thousand mints. We know the green trays, the way the blinds need to be positioned at each point in the day, where to sit in the winter so the cold doesn't blow on us when people open the doors, and what time to arrive to beat the rush and get to preschool pick-up on time.

When I picture that Cafe Rio, it's like picturing a type of home. In a way, I grew up there.

(This is me getting freakishly sentimental over something I had no idea I would get freakishly sentimental over).