Taste of Rio Rancho

This was really fun and I would do it annually. What can be better than tasting all the local restaurants. So much fun. Come to this hungry.

Excellent Unilocal event! Thanks for putting this together Howie. Nice to get in early, before the crowds and get a taste of some old favorites and new-​to-​us places in nearby Rio Rancho.

A little disappointed because there were fewer vendors than last year. Better flow, but too much from the local MC.

This event was pretty amazing.
As I walked into the Star center, I was greeted with a wonderful array of aromas and smiling faces. It was hard to keep my inner child at bay and not run around from booth to booth trying absolutely everything… but overall, it worked out just fine.
Highlights: Street Food truck, Turtle Mountain Brewery, Cheesy Street and Cazuelas.
Street food truck had so many delicious little entrees. My favorite had to be the tempura soft taco. So many new and savory flavors all in one mouthful. Turtle Mountain Brewery had an AMAZINGLY mouth watering bacon Mac ‘N Cheese and even more wonderfully paired craft brew to boot. Cheesy Street. The name says it all. So many deliciously unique grilled cheeses smothered with all things heavenly… then complimented with a smooth and creamy tomato bisque… What more can you ask for? Oh, man… what can I say about Cazuelas… the food here was nothing short of intensely flavorful and prepared with the utmost care. Tamales, beans, rice and sopapillas all wonderfully seasoned and extremely appealing to my every tastebud.
While I appreciated the attendance of the fast food chains present at this event (Little Caesars and Baskin Robbins) I made it a point to venture elsewhere to get a more authentic «Taste of Rio Rancho» … and I must say, I was not dissatisfied. All in all, I came in hungry and left with a happy and full belly. Knowing the area a little better for future food adventures made it all the better. I look forward to what will happen next year!
If you are looking for a truly well-​rounded foodie experience with all the fun and social interactions of a small scale festival, then this is the right place for you.
Bön Appetit!

A diverse assortment of edibles were found at this event. From burgers and pizza to deli, Indian cuisine. Even fine soups and sandwiches with free non alcoholic beverages and a cash bar. It was planned and executed well and I liked the voting feature. All of the staff were courteous and our family enjoyed the event.

Went to this on an invite. I was amazed at all the great food and restaurants Rio Rancho had to offer. The best pizza for the evening was Davido’s Pizza, even if they only had thin crust, although I am told they do make a deep dish if requested! The one place that got my vote was Hot Tamales. I love the name and the food. This is definitely on our list to attend next year. Pay the extra and go in early! Much easier to taste the great food before general admission enters.

I was glad to make this event unfortunately my phone battery was low so no pic s, sigh.
Anyways, all vendors showed up ready to serve and did they ever. I ony lasted about 45 minutes until I was needing to refrain from even the smallest bitefuls. Everything I had was very good but a few things did stick out.
Namaste’s samples were very good. Street food truck had a tempura avocado that was better still.
My favorite of the event had to be Rio Rancho Country Club with their Salmon Tart and Lobster Bisque. Although I must say that the first time thru the sample line I was overlooked or avoided. Laughed it off and got back in line. 2^nd time thru I did get served but I made it a point to tell them to serve everyone even my grungy biker self.
Had on leather vest and stunk of sunscreen.
All in all, very good time with good food, personable servers/​tasters and relaxed atmosphere.

Was happy I came. Got to sample food from places I didn’t know were here. Can’t wait to try some new restaurants. Would love to see more and more food establishments come to RR.

It was great lots of food to sample and friendly people! Amazingly a food truck got my vote Blvd Street Food was amazing!

Mah. Belly. Is. Full…
I lamented on the way there that I wasn’t sure it was worth it to drive ALL THE WAY to the middle of nowhere Rio Rancho for this event — but I changed my mind pretty quick once we were in.
SO MUCH FOOD!!!
And it was all really good! About halfway through, my husband and I started sharing rather than each getting a sample — there was just too much food to keep eating it all. We made our way around the room, eating delightful morsel after delectable bite.
Joe’s Pasta had some seriously delicious sausage and peppers — and excellent bread to go with it. The Blvd Street Food tacos were perfect — well, a little greasy, but otherwise perfect. I’d been wanting to try the Cheesy Truck’s grilled cheese for quite some time — so awesome! O’Hare’s had excellent pork and gravy but I thought the potatoes tasted like they were from a box. Namaste was delicious as always — though we didn’t try the green chile curry and heard it was amazing. Fat Squirrel had a decent cottage pie, but sinfully rich and yummy brownies. Turtle Mountain had an excellent artichoke bruschetta thing as well as pretty darn good mac and cheese. Fresh Frozen Yogurt was pretty disappointing — except the boysenberry flavor, that was amazing. The other flavors were weird and not at all good. The Bagel Deli had excellent green chile cream cheese and black & white cookies (not together…). The rest of the places were okay, nothing stands out in my memory from the rest — EXCEPT…
Cazuela’s. I would drive across town to get their green chile chicken enchiladas. WOW!!! Extremely flavorful without the crazy heat. SO delicious! All three people in our group agreed they were the clear winner, and we all voted our chips for Cazuela’s. Just really amazingly delicious.
The Unilocal table (and inflatable sofas) were very popular, and we got ourselves some swanky new Unilocal water bottles — very cool!
The event was really amazing — though I am really glad we were able to go to the early tasting session. I would absolutely recommend it — great food, good times! (And now — nap time…)

This is a really good event. I am sooo full though. Pacing is clearly a responsible thing to do. A shout out to the Unilocal team!
There were some highlights for the 2015 event. Turtle Mountain Brewery gets my vote for the amazing Mac and Cheese. Spice with green chile and of course BACON! They did it right with chaffing dishes and hot boxes to ensure a good showing. A solid team working the event to make you feel that taking all three samples isn’t a bad thing.
Second place was the Grilled Cheese Truck. Such and easy item so impressing a crowd is hard to do. They also have a nice bread pudding that is worth a try.
The Fat Squirrel also showed well. A friendly staff mixed with a shepherd’s pie is a win. The melty cheese on top didn’t get greasy which can be a hard task.
Overall, this is a good time for families and singles alike.

I walked into the Santa Ana Star Center hungry, I left wanting to curl up in a corner with a warm blanket ready for my food coma. This was my first tasting event with Unilocal and I thoroughly enjoyed myself.
Since I don’t think I should review any one particular food, I’ll review the event as a whole. For starters I would like to thank all the local businesses that participated. I’ll start with my only issue. Yes, I know it was called the «The Taste of Rio Rancho» but wow if was far away. Not sure why they couldn’t hold the event at the Santa Ana Casino?
I really enjoyed tasting what local/​chain restaurants had to offer around Rio Rancho. My wife and I made it a point to try most of everything and there was some very good dishes from restaurants that I can’t wait to try out side of this event. The types of samples ranged from enchiladas to froze yogurt and everything was well represented.
I must point out that the enchiladas from Hot Tamales was probably the best I’ve eaten and they were the closes to home, I can’t wait to try other items on their menu!
In the end the Taste of Rio Rancho event was well organized, well represented by local eateries and it was a good way to market different restaurants to the public. Love it, can’t wait for the next one!

Holy moly do they give you a lot of food here. Only negative is that they charged full price for my 6 and 8 year old kids. Kind of a rip off as they ate one slice of pizza and called it quits.

Taste of Rio Rancho was such a spectacular event, filled with a full list of awesome venders and restaurants.
This year event was held at the humongous Santa Ana Star Center, it costs around $ 10.00 per person however, someone was kind enough and gave me a free ticket at the door as I was waiting in line to purchase ticket. This is the list of the restaurants that I got to taste their yummy food from:
Aldo’s New York Style Pizzeria, Bagel Deli Bakery, Baskin Robbins, Blake’s Lotaburger, Café Bella Coffee, Las Cazuela’s Seafood & Mexican Grill, Chill Zone, Dairy Queen, Davido’s Pizza & More, Einstein Bros. Bagels, El Mezquite Market, Fat Squirrel Pub & Grille, Hot Tamales, Joe’s Pasta House, L.A. Subs (Soon to be Alicea’s New York Bagels & Subs), Little Caesars Pizza, Matheson Winery, Namaste Restaurant, O’Hares Grille & Pub, Pizza 9, Prime by Vernon’s, Rub-​N-​Wood BBQ, Seferino’s New Mexican Restaurant, Subway, Taco John’s and Turtle Mountain Brewing Co.
I learned that new fast food chain that is quite popular in the MId-​West is coming to ABQ and Rio Rancho, that is the awesome Taco John’s. Boy I tell you what, their Potato Olés was out of this world, those were crunchy, crispy golden pieces of potato seasoned with their magnificent seasonings.
when you come to this event, they give each and everyone 3 chips, you can vote for the restaurants that you thought were your favorites and at the end of the food show, they get a People’s choice award. Walking around with my newly, full of flavours, yet refreshing beer whilst tasting food and chllin’ with my friends = the best evening.
Also I believe it is a cash only event if you want to purchase alcoholic beverages inside the venue. I think you can purchase discounted tickets ahead of time from either Living Social or Groupon.
I have got to credit my awesome friend Ms. A and Mr. C for pointing this out to me.