El Rio Mexican Cuisine

Visited for the second time since moving to Evansville a few months ago. The food was mediocre. Nothing fabulous, but nothing bad. The salsa appeared to be crushed can tomatoes or tomato purée with spices and who knows what else added to it, but it was actually okay! Our waitress asked if we wanted more chips and salsa, but forgot, which is fine. We asked her next time we saw her, and then our food came out. We asked the gentleman who delivered our entrees for some, and he seemed less than thrilled– he never brought it out. We asked a 4^th time, and never got any either. Soooo, I guess you’re only allowed one serving of chips and salsa. We didn’t have great service like we did the only other time we visited. I was pretty disappointed after spending a ton of $$ on my family of 9.

Decent place. I really think that the interiors have no great decorations or anything like that. It basically looks like a car garage with many tables and chairs. Service is fine, I had the lunch 22 which was average or maybe slightly below average in terms of taste. Avg pricing

We are repeat customers of El Rio. Enjoy the great food, great service and reasonable prices!

While the food was ok, not the best Mexican food in town for sure, but that might be overlooked if the service wasn’t so lacking. The servers were apathetic and disinterested. One server couldn’t be bothered to wait on us (and it was not busy at all!) so her coworker came by after a long wait and asked if our order had been taken (ah no… not even drink order) and apologized for the other server. Although when it came time to clear plates the first disinterested server was pulling our plates from the table before one in our party was even finished eating. So yeah… servers leave a lot to be desired. It seams to be more of a family hangout for the people who work there. All in all, not friendly, slow service, and meh food.

We used to go every week with friends and without fail my order was always messed up. I finally came to the conclusion that the server did not like me for some reason so after many tries I told my friends that I will never come back to this place again. There are other places that will treat me better than this place has…

We dined here last week, after a six year hiatus. We moved in 2008, and when I returned to Evansville, we were glad to see that El Rio was still open, and actually have remodeled, and expanded.
Back in the day, pre-​marriage, I was a regular here, after they first opened. The owners are transplants from Mexico, and barely even spoke fluent English when they opened. Their food, which is authentic– not the typical Tex Mex crap, was the first of this type in Evansville. I was hooked.
I generally get the chicken quesadillas, or anything with chicken in it. They use the freshest ingredients, and their cheese is unlike most Mexican restaurants. Honestly, I think they have live chickens in the back, as it really does taste that fresh, and not frozen. Who knows?
Margaritas. Yep, they have them, and the owner proudly gloats how they put 30% more tequila in them, as opposed to most other restaurants.
Great service, great food, and great margaritas. What’s not to like!

We have been eating here for several years. They have kept improving and finessing their menu. They offer a good range of vegetarian options, and I really mean to try some others, but my favorite is the Vegetarian Combo A. I never seem to be able to order anything else because I look forward to Combo A from the time we decide to eat there (or carry out). Combo A consists of a big Chili Relleno — poblano pepper, filled with cheese, potato dice, and carrots, dipped in an egg batter and fried. Also included are a refried bean chalupa with lettuce, tomato, and guacamole on top, and a serving of Spanish rice. It is a most excellent meal, but we usually take more than half of it home because… they have started offering a chunky guacamole bowl (same ingredients as regular, but chopped up, not whizzed in a blender. With that and the chips and salsa (both good) while we are waiting for the meal, we are pretty full; just enough room for the relleno while it is hot! Over the last year, the family has enlarged the restaurant and put in a stage, a bar, and some bright carved and painted booths around the perimeter. There is room for dances, bingo, and other activities. The atmosphere is casual, and the family who operate it are friendly and nice.

My husband and I were invited by a large group of friends to El Rio to hear a band that was playing. We had never been to El Rio and were pleasantly surprised by our experience. It is a large place with a bar, dance floor and stage next to a large dining area. Our server was a family member of the owners and was very knowledgeable about the HUGH menu (too large for pictures). My husband had a pork dish and I had a chicken dish. Both were very good. I reason I gave 5 stars is I loved the «dinner and a show» atmosphere. We had a great time and will definitely go back.

We started going to this restaurant 4 or 5 years ago when we were in Evansville for a yearly weekend trip. We liked it so much the first 2 years, we went twice each time during our stay. This last visit will be our last. The food is average, but don’t make any special requests and heaven forbid if you have a food allergy. Once I requested no cheese or sour creamand got both, decided to just eat it. This last time my son asked for no mushrooms in his dish, the smell of themmake him sick. He pushed the plate to the end of the table and ent it back, that all went well Our wait person was very congenial. The dish came back, it ws not redone, they had simply picked the mushrooms out. The odor of mushrooms remains if they were cooked in the dish. If he had been allergic, this would not have ended well. Mexican food is pretty darn cheap, the $ 2 they saved sending the dish back this way has lost them our business forever. We will not be back.

Interior is pretty sparse, looks like it is setup more as a night club than a restaurant. Staff was friendly and my food was cheap and pretty tasty. No complaints.
Plenty of televisions to keep you entertained during lunch.

Excellent Mexican. Good Service.