Moapa Valley Progress
With a large grand opening turnout, Cafe Rio opened at its newest location in Mesquite on Wednesday, Nov. 8. The restaurant is located at 330 N. Sandhill Blvd. next to Smith’s Food and Drug store.
With only 300 free meal vouchers being handed out to attendees of the ribbon cutting, people started lining up outside the doors of the shop starting at 7:00 that morning. The lines didn’t stop until that night when the restaurant closed at 10 p.m.
But despite all of the people demanding hot fresh food, no one needed to wait long. The eatery’s friendly staff was able to keep the line moving quickly.
For years, residents of the Moapa and Virgin Valleys have enjoyed Cafe Rio’s cuisine at their St. George and Las Vegas locations. According to Jennifer Burns, the company’s Media and Community Relations manager, the Mesquite location is the 11th in the state of Nevada and the 112th store nationwide.
“We are extremely excited to bring this to Mesquite,” Burns said. “We look forward to providing a quality dining choice and give back to the community.”
The company was founded not too far away in Salt Lake City, Utah in 1997. Since then it has grown to cover 11 states. Concurrent with the newest store in Mesquite is another new store in Santa Clara, Utah.
With its reputation comes some new features that other area restaurants in Mesquite have yet to adopt. With a Mexican cuisine-influenced menu, customers choose what goes into their food, item by item and step by step.It is all assembled fresh right in front. There are no walls blocking the kitchen from the counter or dining areas. Once that is complete and paid for, patrons will be able to create the drink they want with a complete beverage bar.
The website, www.caferio.com, offers pre-ordering for their customers. With every order, points are collected and can be traded in for free food at different levels. Many other fast food restaurants have switched to such ‘loyalty’ programs, but very few allow the user to pre-order their meals.
Mayor Pro-Tem Geno Withhelder stepped in and announced to the crowd that “this is just another shining example of what is happening in Mesquite these days. Everything is looking positive, we have new business , we have new activity and everything is just looking up!”
To add to that positivity, Burns presented a check for $2,500 to representatives from Three Square out of Las Vegas. The Three Square organization provides food to the Virgin Valley Food Bank each week to distribute food to families in need.
After a ribbon cutting ceremony by the Mesquite Chamber of Commerce and a traditional burrito cutting by the staff of Cafe Rio, the doors were opened.
The Mesquite location is open Mon. – Wed. 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Thurs. – Sat. 10:30 a.m. – 11 p.m. and on Sunday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
