Rio Tacos and Tequila

 

I've been wanting to try Rio Taco and Tequila for a while and this past week when we had no events for work seemed like the perfect opportunity to head downtown and check it out! I love Mexican food, and I love happy hour deals, so let's dive into the good stuff!

One of the best parts about happy hour at Rio is that it lasts until 7pm. By the time you leave work at 5 and head somewhere for happy hour, that extra hour comes in pretty handy to make sure you have maximum deals. During happy hour, the frozen margaritas are $5 and Mexican beers are $3. They also have a selection of $5 appetizers. 

After they brought the chips and salsa to the table, we started with a round of the margaritas and the happy hour sized queso. The queso had a good flavor, which I'm guessing was from the hatch chilis. My friend also ordered a happy hour quac for herself, since I don't like avocados. (I know! Unpopular opinion, but I think avocados are gross.) The margaritas were refreshing since it was pretty humid outside and a little on the strong side. 

Once we had the dips out of the way in the tasting our way through happy hour adventure, it was time to move on to the $5 apps. One thing I will say, is that you do get what you pay for. While the food is pretty good, you're only going to get $5 worth of it. Which is fine, because you can either order a bunch of these to share, like we did, or you can order one (or two...) for yourself and be plenty full from them. I'll go through these appetizers from my least favorite to favorite. I'm not saying that the first one I mention isn't good, it very much is, but it would not be my first choice if you said I could only pick one. 

Chicken Taquitos 

First up, chicken taquitos. Look, I love chicken taquitos, but there wasn't really anything special about these. They taste like your average chicken taquito. My recommendation is to order one of the happy hour quesos to dip them in, because that will help take them to the next level. 

Jalapeno Poppers

I've been scouring the menu trying to figure out what these jalapeno poppers are stuffed with and what exactly is the sauce they come with. I cannot find this item on the menu. I'm hoping that these become more of a staple because they are very close to being my favorite of the happy hour apps. Everything about them is delicious. We ended up ordering a second order because we all wanted more. I know they will probably never read this, but this is my plea to Rio to make these a permanent menu item if they are not already. 

Pork Empanadas

I saw these on the menu and knew that when I went, I was going to get them. I love empanadas, and wish more Mexican places in the city had them on the menu. These lovely little pillows of dough are stuffed with slow cooked shredded pork and shredded cheese, and then drizzled with a jalapeno lime crema. 😊😋 I would just like to buy a bottle of that crema to bring home and drizzle on everything. The empanadas were packed with filling and we ordered multiple rounds of them. I could easily eat these for a meal and leave happy. 

Have you been to Rio for happy hour? What are your favorite happy hours that I need to try? Let me know!