Grill Caliente

Came in for dinner on a weekday, and it was certainly not busy
The service was good, we were seated promptly and waited on fairly quickly.

The food left much to be desired. The green chile chicken enchiladas were not as flavorful as I would've hoped and came with hard beans and rice (overcooked).

The queso for the chips and dip tasted like watery sour cream.

Overall, the quality of food left much to be desired but the staff and environment seemed nice. Whether it would be nice enough to make up for would be up to you.

Freshly arrived in Ruidoso for the weekend, as always we greatly rely on reviews from others. Most restaurants in the area were a real mixed bag going from 5 stars to 1 stars in the same week. I opted for Grill Caliente. It showed an interesting menu and had a full bar and a few craft beers. As suggested by the website, I called for a reservation and was assured that they weren't needed. The town on a Thursday night seemed very quiet. We arrived around 6:45pm. Upon our arrival the restaurant had several tables, but obviously not very busy. The sign at the hostess stand said to wait to be seated and it didn't take long for an older gentleman to show up. My wife who's a bit more outgoing than I am, threw in a cheerful good evening. The host, which I strongly believed was the owner, looked at us, looked at his watch, and without saying a single word grabbed 2 menus and showed us to a table. We were obviously disturbing a quiet night- my wife and I looked at each other and wondered if we had mistaken 6:45pm for a much later time. I contemplated just leaving - and then what? Where were we going to eat? We sat down, and started looking at the menu. Within a few minutes our server Ezra showed up and made up for that first bad impression. She was gracious, polite, and extremely effective. I started out with their house salad - greens, with several nice slices of tomatoes, grilled purple onions, and my choice of dressing - a chipotle ranch which was obviously house made. We followed with 2 burgers. Both were gigantic, cooked to perfection and a nice size of house French fries. Overall a great dinner and pleasant service. On the way out, the owner thank us and wished us goodnight. We had obviously came in at a bad time. I'm happy that we decided to stay to enjoy this great meal. First impressions can be deceptive, but are so important. We will surely be back if we return in the area.

the restaurant's friendly staff, delicious food, and cozy atmosphere. Some customers mention specific dishes they enjoyed, such as the green chili cheeseburger and the fish tacos. Others appreciate the reasonable prices and generous portion sizes.

Flavorful enchiladas. I love the Green Chile Chicken enchiladas, they are always packed with delicious flavor and have a spicy kick to them. The black beans and rice that accompany them are also flavorful. I love them. The Mushroom Swiss burger is a crowd pleaser, hearty and delicious. The Chile Rellenos were also satisfying and delicious but they do pack a kick so if you don’t like spicy food, pick something else. They are really good though.

This place offers various alcoholic drinks, the margaritas are a personal favorite. They have a variety of local and imported beers on bottle.

There’s plenty of seating indoors and on their patio area, which is enclosed so you’re not really sitting outside.

The service has always been friendly and fast and the restaurant is always clean. It’s kid friendly, group friendly, and also has a small selection of vegetarian options.

Both my family and me enjoy this restaurant and have never been disappointed with the food, it’s tasty and satisfying.