Rio Grande Mexican Restaurant

12/27/08

Still the Original by Rajeev M. at InsiderPages

Contributor at Insider Pages

Located right near Pearl Street, the Rio is a favorite among the locals. The margaritas are great and the food is excellent. It can often be packed and have long waiting times, but it is well worth the wait.

02/05/09

Terrible, Bland Food

by misskimberly at Citysearch

TERRIBLE, bland food; I cant even eat it when Im drunk.

The margaritas are good, however...but dont even bother with an appetizer at this joint.

10/21/08

A Boulder Classic

by IanB1413 at Citysearch

OK, so there's alot of differing opinions about the Rio. The truth- it is one of the best places in Boulder. Nowhere else can u go for the atmosphere, overall food quality and delicious margarita. As a long time regular I'm going to lay out a set of rules to keep in mind if u have never been there and respond to the 'naysayers,' which is bound to happen when u serve as many people as the Rio does.

1- the price. u can be in and out with a margarita and entree for under 20$. Try that anywhere else in Boulder that isn't a dive inside like Juanita's. 2- to the one who complained about a chicken bone in her enchilada. This isn't taco bell, they use real chickens, which have bones. Did u know that?

3- The trick to the Rio is keeping things simple. Its high volume and cheap, so u cant expect "Frasca-like" service. Also the waitstaff is mostly college kids looking to pay their bills and have a good time while they work. I have met so many people that come every week, alot of families, because they know the faces and love the prices. Anywhere else in town you will pay 8$ and up for a margarita that has less tequila.

Did you know the Rio's has 3 shots of alcohol? Hence the 3 limit. 4- The rooftop patio is one of the best on earth. Problem is there is no kitchen or bar on the roof so things take longer, plus they have a whole downstairs with hundreds of hungry, thirsty people. How to avoid that? Grab a drink downstairs and carry it up, or order extra when the waiter "finally" arrives. Be patient, u are lucky to be served in such a beautiful place! 5- Cinco de Mayo at the Rio trumps any other Cinco party.

Menu tips- Bobby Flay isn't cooking, got it?

-Guacamole is amazing. Simple, delicious, no unnecessary ingredients.

-Burrito de Carne smothered in Green/spicy or ranchero sauce. So good, especially w/ a margarita!

-Cheese queso appetizer

-Enchiladas,Tostadas,Chicken Salads,Fajitas

-Agave Martini on the rocks= Top shelf margarita for 8-9$!

• Pros: Awesome food, margaritas and service. Rooftop patio, "Garage" seats.
• Cons: Can get a busy on weekends, but worth the wait!

07/19/08

Great Margs and Nachos!

by LizWhite2 at Citysearch

I've been here numerous times and have yet to have a bad experience. There margs are tasty, if you like them strong. Being a vegetarian I love the fajitas and nachos. Granted it's not the best mexican food out there, but it's got average prices and a nice atmosphere. Also seating area outdoors - perfect for the hot summer nights! Another good place is Tahona!

05/08/08

Chicken Bone in Enchilada

by caitlisbeth at Citysearch

The margaritas are definitely worth going there, but the food is a different story. I refuse to eat there since I found a 3 in. chicken bone in my enchilada. Go for a margarita and chips and salsa, anything more than that is a gamble.

• Pros: Margaritas, Service
• Cons: Parking, Food

04/29/08

Great Food, Amazine Margs and Cool Staff

by Safarigirl at Citysearch

This place ROCKS! Literally, the margs are the best and the food is amazing. Their food is fresh and they don't use any lard in any recipe. Their salsa is heavenly and when you sit on the rooftop, sip a marg and eat a healthy Salad, nothing beats The Rio. The servers are laid-back and friendly. Tahona is a joke compared to this place

• Pros: Mexican, Margs, Service
• Cons: Parking

04/13/08

Centro is the place to go, NOT RIO

by alicevans at Citysearch

If you think that Azteca is actually good Mexican food, than you might like this place. Otherwise, if you own a tongue, please stay way. Cheap margaritas are ok, but if you want real good Latin food, check out Centro or Tahona Tequila Bar.

• Pros: margaritas
• Cons: bland food

02/20/08

Margaritas, of course.

by abd1350 at Citysearch

I am not from Boulder and was taken here by my friend and wow. I am now Rio obsessed. Their margaritas really are as amazing as they and everyone else says, and the food was fantastic. It's a really fun place to eat and get ridiculous, haha. If I lived there, it would be a bit dangerous for me...

• Pros: Margaritas, Ambience

10/19/07

The 'LAST PLACE' in Boulder to eat

by man_in_boulder at Citysearch

Unfortunately, I have eaten at the Rio Grande Mexican Restaurant 3 times. Each time was worse than the last. I don't know how it stays in business. On my second and third visits I tried to convince my friends to choose another restaurant (Boulder has MANY) but they wanted to try this one. The wait staff seemed to be waiting for other jobs and ignored every table they had. We had to get up to find them to ask for more water. After a 45 min. wait, our food arrived with the appetizers and everything was OLD and COLD. I see from the reviews that some enjoy the ambiance but, you can't eat the decor. This restaurant is the first place I have ever left less than a 20% gratuity - the service WAS that bad. Yes, we did tell the management of the poor service and food quality but they had obviously heard it many times before and did nothing other than a quick, "Sorry about that." Save yourself the unsavory experience and dine elsewhere!

• Pros: Interesting location
• Cons: Food and service was unbelievably POOR. Taco Bell has better of both?!?

09/20/07

I am so sorry, this review was meant for Centro on Pearl Street.

by tkm303 at Citysearch

I don't ever do this and I created an account just to write this review. I would have to say this was the worst meal I have ever had. The service from the waitstaff was good but the manager was far from it. My visit here a year ago was an exceptional one, so when family from all over the states came for my younger sisters wedding (she is 27), they wanted to visit boulder. I did not hesitate to recommend Rio for a nice dinner. To my surprise the food was aweful (2 of my nieces actually cried) and when the manager came by to see if everything was good I told him "honostley, the food is horrible". He walked away without ANY RESPONSE nor did he try to make things right with us. Hmmm.. so why even ask if you did not get an answer you should be ready for. I was super embarrased I brought in a party of 15, they are lucky I even gave them one star. If you want great food and great service in Boulder, go to Frasca! Your $400.00 will be well worth it there.

• Pros: Waitstaff
• Cons: Everthing else

09/15/07

Poor management and service

by radhikapradhan at Citysearch

Had an awful experience on Sep 15th . We chose rooftop seating as the day was nice but the service was beyond poor. We waited for 20 minutes in the hot sun and finally had to flag a server to get us water. The hostess did ask the couple of servers on the rooftop to attend to our table but we were ignored. Noone took our order . Finally we got up to leave and thought we would talk to the manager on the way out. She was a witch from hell. Instead of apologizing for the poor service she made excuses as to how busy she was and could not get to the rooftop and there were other things that took priority. She didnot care that we were leaving neither did the other servers. Shame on the management . Cannot even talk about the food or the drinks as we were not given a chance to sample those.

• Pros: great rooftop seating on a sunny day
• Cons: poor service and unapologetic management