What oil does Cafe Rio fry in?
Cafe Rio cooks with soybean/canola blend for cooking (the chain's April 2025 nutrition sheet footnotes that its only soy-derived ingredient is highly refined soybean oil); creamy dressings on a soybean-oil mayo base. The flour tortillas are NOT a soybean-oil product: the chain's own panel prints 7 g saturated on 14 g fat (50%) for the 12-inch tortilla with a vegetarian mark and 0 g trans, which reads as a palm-type shortening..
The 5 cleanest things to order at Cafe Rio
Learn this once: a salad with grilled protein and the dressing left off is nearly always the lowest seed oil order anywhere. So the list below sticks to real meals, salads included, never just a water.
| Item | PUFA |
|---|---|
| Pico de Gallo | 0.0g |
| Mint Limeade | 0.0g |
| Blueberry Mint Limeade | 0.0g |
| Sour Cream | 0.1g |
| Famous Tres Leches | 0.9g |
Lower PUFA is cleaner. These are estimates from published nutrition data and disclosed oils; preparation varies by location.
Why the frying oil matters
Most fast-food chains fry in seed oils like soybean, canola, corn, or a blend of them, which are high in polyunsaturated fat (PUFA). A handful still use beef tallow or other stable fats, which are far lower in PUFA. The oil a kitchen fries in is the single biggest driver of how much seed oil ends up on your plate. See the full breakdown on the Cafe Rio report card, or where it lands on the Seed Oil Index.
Frequently asked
Does Cafe Rio use beef tallow?
No. Cafe Rio cooks with soybean/canola blend for cooking (the chain's April 2025 nutrition sheet footnotes that its only soy-derived ingredient is highly refined soybean oil); creamy dressings on a soybean-oil mayo base. The flour tortillas are NOT a soybean-oil product: the chain's own panel prints 7 g saturated on 14 g fat (50%) for the 12-inch tortilla with a vegetarian mark and 0 g trans, which reads as a palm-type shortening., not beef tallow. See which chains fry in real fats on Tallow Watch.