Rating:
Stacey’s birthday dinner last night - at the former MTV real world house turned mexi-fine dining eatery called RIO GRANDE.. There was about 20 of us, and yes, we were drinking heavily.. I had the distinguished pleasure to sit down at the end of the table with Cara and John, Azar and Julianna, Jake and Billy….Yes, my crew is entirely comprised of happy couples…surprised i had an appetite with all the newly-wed pottery barn talk flying around - you guys make me sick. i think me and jimbo were the only single jerks at the 20 person table, and even jimmy got some action from azar. reallydoh.
we had a dude waiting on us that was very good at taking care of the drink orders.. we got our food pretty damn quick as well.. extra points to the Rio staff - (shoutout to Sara-Flynn)

I ordered the Pechuga Tacos (which Cara traslated as Chicken Breast). even before i knew what it meant it did feel appropriate to rub my nipples and say “Pechuuugaa!” in my sloppiest tejano accent. my food came and it looked exactly like chicken fajitas, oh well dig in….. oh shit - they handed me someone else’s plate! had to ignore my hunger pangs and pass the plate down to Quad.
a couple minutes later I got the pechuga, which was arranged kinda like echiladas with flour tortilla and no sauce.. a dolop of sour creme on top and the obligatory rice and black beans flankin this muh. I was hoping for a more traditional taco type arrangement, but I was suprised at the quality of the home-made flour tortillas.. my only gripe isnt really a gripe with Rio in particular, its the whole restaurant biz in general - please stop worrying about the chicken being too rare! you’re overcompensating - I cant remember the last time I ordered chicken in a restaurant and it did not come out over-cooked.. shoulda ordered shrimp..

Cara was sittn to my right and she picked a winner - if you like to eat fire, that is. the Camarones Diablos [pictured] were big and doused in a cayenne pepper paste.. the lingering burn that can only be soothed by continuing to eat.. i tried a bite.. wished i had ordered shrimp fajitas..cuz dem skrimps was good!

but why was the skrimps so hot?
hhmmmm.. could it be…….

SATAN!

but i digress.. I cant finish this without talking about their drinks. heres the lowdown on RIO - there is a limit of 3 margaritas per person.. but they put enough tequila in 1 of them to intoxicate a horse.. and most ppl at the table had their limit id say..and i was def. forewarned- my buddies from Moving Matter have some sordid tales of nights at the Rio in Fort Collins, CO involving alot of puke and DWI’s. suffice to say, I stuck to beer last night..
We finished the meal off with a group tequila shot.. did i mention I dont drink tequila? but you cant turn down a friend’s birthday shot.. so down the hatch.. follow that with about 20 beers and here I am today.. finding it hard to focus on the computer screen with out wincing in pain - my head is in the jose cuervo vice grip………oh god.. and i just threw up in my mouth.

thats not a good way to end this.. is it?
oh well.. heres my scores:

Atmosphere: 7
Service: 9
Quality: 7
Salsa: 6
Price: 5 (everything was around $8 - $14)

Total: 34/50

RIO GRANDE MEXICAN RESTAURANT
301 San Jacinto Map
476-8300
Austin
Hours: 11am-10pm Daily
Web site

and now