Rio Grande Cafe

He said:

The Rio Grande Cafe has been around for over 40 years. However, it only moved to its current location on Salt Lake City’s east bench within the last few years. Its original location in the Rio Grande Depot closed at the beginning of the COVID pandemic, a closure at first intended to be temporary. The UTA had planned to renovate the building to include a garage for electric buses. However, the Magna earthquake soon followed, creating new structural problems in the building as well as revealing asbestos within. With these new problems, the UTA concluded that modifying the existing building would cost more than removing and reconstructing it.

Thus, the Rio Grande Cafe sought a new home, which it found in the historic Fire Station No. 8, which they call the “Estación de Bomberos No8”. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, this building was built in 1930 to meet the needs of the “outlying” east bench area, one of the fastest growing residential areas of the time. The City Engineer’s staff designed the building to blend in with its attractive residential surroundings, thus establishing much of the current building’s charm. It served as a fire station until 1980, when it was converted into a restaurant¹.

After just a short wait, we took a table in the ground floor dining room. Another dining area sits on the upper level. Our friendly waiter wore a pink shirt and a Valentine’s head bopper. Kathy said he must be brave; we both thought he pulled it off nicely. We began with chips. We each got our own bowl of salsa, which meant I didn’t have to worry about Kathy’s double dipping. The salsa was full of large tomato cubes, still fresh and firm. It had very little spicy kick to it, so I knew Kathy would enjoy it, but it didn’t lack in flavor. Plenty of mild but robust peppers, onions, and garlic gave it a wonderful flavor. It also had some cilantro, which they didn’t allow to overwhelm the other flavors. The chips didn’t disappoint, either. They were light and fresh, among the best in my recent memory.

The waiter was happy to describe the menu, offering several recommendations. In fact, even after Kathy chose one of his suggestions, he insisted on reciting the rest of his favorites. I settled on the Steak Ranchero Combo. It included a burrito and a tostada, both with marinated sirloin tips, beans, onions, Anaheim chilis, cheese, lettuce, and tomatoes. A spray of lettuce and a spoonful of tomatoes gave a splash of color to the otherwise all-brown fare, but whatever its color, it tasted great.

My meal was filling and satisfying, so I skipped dessert, even though my mouth watered when I saw the fried ice cream delivered to a nearby table. Still, being full didn’t stop Kathy. She just ordered the Key Lime pie to go.

She said:

I love historical buildings, and have always been a fan of great architecture and attention to detail. The Rio Grande Cafe boasts a wonderful backstory (which Brian highlighted), and had character to spare. I appreciated the scarred wood floors, the super-tall wood-clad ceilings, the staircase, the wrought iron railing that surrounded the second floor, the brick walls, and the wide window casements that had been painted bright white. They contrasted nicely with the brick and wood accents.

Upon our waiter’s recommendation, I chose the pork-filled chimichanga. He took the time to explain the difference between the chile verde and the chile rojo when I asked him about the spiciness of the dish. Because, you know, anything too spicy literally makes me ill.

My chimichanga didn’t disappoint. It was grilled, rather than deep fried, and was served with melted cheese over the refried beans, Mexican rice, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, guacamole, and sour cream. The sauce that the tender pork had been marinated in was delicious. It made the entire dish.

Oh, and Brian was right about the salsa. It was really good. Yay! Finally a salsa that didn’t bring me to tears and was actually flavorful without tremendous heat.

And, of course, when our waiter mentioned dessert, I couldn’t resist. He had me at “Key Lime pie.” Wrap some up to go, please! 😄

Conclusion:

Great food served by great people in a great setting.