Café Rio is truly a hidden gem in the heart of Ruidoso. It’s a small shop, but don’t let the size fool you—the pizza here is mighty. From the moment you walk in, you can feel the charm of a cozy village spot, and the atmosphere is just as inviting as the food. The crust is perfectly done, the toppings are fresh and generous, and every bite is full of flavor. You can tell the team here takes pride in what they make. Whether you’re dining inside or grabbing some to take with you, it’s the kind of place that makes you want to slow down and enjoy the moment. If you’re in Ruidoso and love food, Café Rio is an absolute must-visit!!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Sarah Salado
A must when visiting Ruidoso! I personally am not a huge fan of New Mexico style cuisine, but I am a huge fan of delicious pizza and this place is just that! The bread, the pizza- yum! The best pizza in town !
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Pam Smith
Delicious pizzas, try the Portuguese Kale Soup and the Hummingbird Cake.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 4
Mitch Baxter
We had the Greek white pizza. I believe all of their pizzas are thin crust, and it works well. Lots of combinations you can try for a decent price. I would definitely comeback and try another specialty pizza.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Jarrod Smith
Food was awesome and fresh. Nice staff. Highly recommend.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Celeste C
This restaurant was a huge disappointment. They had no ranch dressing, which was surprising for a place serving pizza. Our waitress was extremely rude, talking down to our party of 9 as if we were children. Another male server was equally unprofessional, suggesting we take our food to go and eat at a park if we didn’t like our seating arrangement—after we waited 1.5 hours! Speaking of seating, we were never informed when we put our name down that our group would be split across two tables, which was inconvenient and poorly handled. The vibe felt uncomfortably racist, and the staff’s attitude seemed to align with their sign stating “the customer is never right.” If their brand is intentionally rude, like those “jerk” restaurants, they should make that clear and rebrand accordingly. Reading replies by Daniel’s responses to negative reviews online, it’s obvious they don’t care about customer service. I’ve worked in the restaurant industry for years and would never treat customers this way. The pizza was decent but nothing special, and the Greek salad was bland and uninspired. We’ll be taking our business to Downshift next time.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 2
Service: 1
Andrew Cisneros
Absolutely rude staff! It’s very ironic that they have a flag that says “practice radical empathy” but they will talk to you like you are worthless. Pizza was decent but I’ll take my business to Downshift which is a much more superior establishment.
Food: 4
Daniel Cozad
Cozy place with good food and service.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
Kim Wiseman
Excellent service by Gloria. Pizza was super. Loud heavy metal music not to my liking, but to each his own.
I'm just so impressed with Gloria's service! This place is so charming, warmth, and the food is amazing. The fact that Gloria served me with so much caring, and charisma makes everything about this place so much better. Thanks, Gloria!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Calzones
Paul Jaramillo
These guys are amazing! New in town and they showed me so much love! Made me feel very welcome! I wont forget these guys they got my business for sure , I wont get pizza from anywhere else! Thanks guys
Frouzan Ali Niyaei (Rosa)
Delicious pizza , friendly staff .. would visit again for sure. They have changed our pizza since we don’t eat pepperoni and received a discount on top of that. Special thanks to all amazing people working there !
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Jessica Wolfe
For the life of me I don’t get the hype about this place. There is always a line out the door, I’ve had it twice and both times were a solid meh. I’ve had better frozen pizza at home. The crust is just very odd. The specialty Kale soup is basically canned diced potatoes, canned kidney beans, a few slices of sausage and some kale. They only spice or seasoning was from what the sausage provided. It’s served with what they called focaccia, it looks more like wedges of cornbread and is dry and no flavour. I’m kinda speechless. They did a great job luring me in with the description of the soup on the menu though! The place gives off old pizzeria vibes but is a little too much on the dingy side. Ice machine is missing the cover and you can see mechanical parts and they are all dirty and covered with dust. Staff was nice and friendly but don’t see any reason to return for the food. Oh, also decided to try their baked goods, some cookies and a slice of cake. Everything was dry.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 2
Service: 4
Jesse O
The pizza fell flat, was expecting a lot more! The biggest letdown was the dough/crust, no chew or airy-ness just flat and hard. Also, their cookies were not good, I threw them out after one bite of each...and the cake was dry. Please reassess your pizza dough and baking! At least the service was good.
Café Rio is truly a hidden gem in the heart of Ruidoso. It’s a small shop, but don’t let the size fool you—the pizza here is mighty. From the moment you walk in, you can feel the charm of a cozy village spot, and the atmosphere is just as inviting as the food. The crust is perfectly done, the toppings are fresh and generous, and every bite is full of flavor. You can tell the team here takes pride in what they make. Whether you’re dining inside or grabbing some to take with you, it’s the kind of place that makes you want to slow down and enjoy the moment. If you’re in Ruidoso and love food, Café Rio is an absolute must-visit!!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
A must when visiting Ruidoso! I personally am not a huge fan of New Mexico style cuisine, but I am a huge fan of delicious pizza and this place is just that! The bread, the pizza- yum! The best pizza in town !
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Delicious pizzas, try the Portuguese Kale Soup and the Hummingbird Cake.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 4
We had the Greek white pizza. I believe all of their pizzas are thin crust, and it works well. Lots of combinations you can try for a decent price. I would definitely comeback and try another specialty pizza.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Food was awesome and fresh. Nice staff. Highly recommend.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
This restaurant was a huge disappointment. They had no ranch dressing, which was surprising for a place serving pizza. Our waitress was extremely rude, talking down to our party of 9 as if we were children. Another male server was equally unprofessional, suggesting we take our food to go and eat at a park if we didn’t like our seating arrangement—after we waited 1.5 hours! Speaking of seating, we were never informed when we put our name down that our group would be split across two tables, which was inconvenient and poorly handled.
The vibe felt uncomfortably racist, and the staff’s attitude seemed to align with their sign stating “the customer is never right.” If their brand is intentionally rude, like those “jerk” restaurants, they should make that clear and rebrand accordingly. Reading replies by Daniel’s responses to negative reviews online, it’s obvious they don’t care about customer service. I’ve worked in the restaurant industry for years and would never treat customers this way.
The pizza was decent but nothing special, and the Greek salad was bland and uninspired. We’ll be taking our business to Downshift next time.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 2
Service: 1
Absolutely rude staff! It’s very ironic that they have a flag that says “practice radical empathy” but they will talk to you like you are worthless. Pizza was decent but I’ll take my business to Downshift which is a much more superior establishment.
Food: 4
Cozy place with good food and service.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
Excellent service by Gloria. Pizza was super. Loud heavy metal music not to my liking, but to each his own.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 5
Service: 5
Wow... pizza is amazing. Cool little place.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Restaurantji Recommends
I'm just so impressed with Gloria's service! This place is so charming, warmth, and the food is amazing. The fact that Gloria served me with so much caring, and charisma makes everything about this place so much better. Thanks, Gloria!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Calzones
These guys are amazing! New in town and they showed me so much love! Made me feel very welcome! I wont forget these guys they got my business for sure , I wont get pizza from anywhere else! Thanks guys
Delicious pizza , friendly staff .. would visit again for sure. They have changed our pizza since we don’t eat pepperoni and received a discount on top of that. Special thanks to all amazing people working there !
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
For the life of me I don’t get the hype about this place. There is always a line out the door, I’ve had it twice and both times were a solid meh. I’ve had better frozen pizza at home. The crust is just very odd. The specialty Kale soup is basically canned diced potatoes, canned kidney beans, a few slices of sausage and some kale. They only spice or seasoning was from what the sausage provided. It’s served with what they called focaccia, it looks more like wedges of cornbread and is dry and no flavour. I’m kinda speechless. They did a great job luring me in with the description of the soup on the menu though! The place gives off old pizzeria vibes but is a little too much on the dingy side. Ice machine is missing the cover and you can see mechanical parts and they are all dirty and covered with dust. Staff was nice and friendly but don’t see any reason to return for the food. Oh, also decided to try their baked goods, some cookies and a slice of cake. Everything was dry.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 2
Service: 4
The pizza fell flat, was expecting a lot more! The biggest letdown was the dough/crust, no chew or airy-ness just flat and hard. Also, their cookies were not good, I threw them out after one bite of each...and the cake was dry. Please reassess your pizza dough and baking!
At least the service was good.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 2
Service: 4
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