September 22nd, 2008 By Jenna Walker
East Side Review: El Rio
A few days ago we went to El Rio, a Mexican restaurant on North Green River Rd that we had been eying for quite a while. It is not new, and I believe its been there since I was in high school, but until this month, we’d never eaten there. I hadn’t heard much about it from anyone either.
The restaurant is located in a strip mall, so its outer decor isn’t much to be seen. Unfortunately, the interior isn’t very different. The first things I noticed when I walked in were its darkness, blandness, and over all brown color. Plain old brown tables and booths seemed to be sporadically, yet neatly, placed throughout the one large room. A handful of booths have carved and painted scenes (ie. birds or fish), but only a handful at best. I’ll give it to them that they tried to liven up the place by putting up a few pinatas and banners, but that’s it. The restaurant could really use some fresh (bright) paint and more than sparse “stereotypical” decorations.
The menu seemed to be of a good size and actually had some things on it that weren’t the norm for Mexican restaurants, though we did stick to the basics. I thought the chips and salsa were great, and we ordered cheese dip to go along with it. While the foundation of the cheese dip itself was good, there was no kick from spices and jalapenos to go along with it like any good cheese dip has. He decided on getting the chicken chimichanga that came with rice and beans–it looked good and though I didn’t try it, he said it was good. I ordered a dinner combination that came with rice, beans, a taco, and enchilada. The rice wasn’t my favorite; though it wasn’t bad, it was just average. I thought the taco was good and the enchiladas were average. The problem was that the meat was hardly seasoned; it tasted just like basic ground beef without any flavor. Had it been flavored better, I imagine I would’ve liked this restaurant a lot more.
Overall, I won’t be going back here on my own, but if someone else wanted to eat here, I wouldn’t resist. It wasn’t good, but it wasn’t bad–it was just “eh.” I think there are a lot of logical improvements to the decor and the food that the restaurant could make to easily improve their quality: paint and seasoning.
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I love the tamales at this place! Also the Guacamole salad is yum! They put slices of fresh cucumbers in it and it makes all the difference! The margarita’s aren’t bad either!
I was introduced to El Rio a long time ago, it’s pretty good for Mexican food, but most people in this area assume Tex-Mex is Mexican. Mexican food is, on the whole, blander than Tex-Mex. They’re really well priced though, it’s fairly quiet there, and the service I’ve always gotten has been good. Plus, after you eat you can pop to the market next door and get awesome Ramen and such.
yeah there is a lot of tex-mex or americanized mexican food around here. I’m pretty obsessed with Mexican food, and there is much much better “fake” mexican and real mexican food around here.
La Cabana IS authentic Mexican food, but it has a lot more flavor than El Rio.
I’ve been to Mexico–MexicoMexico, not the touristy spots (never been to tourist-mexico). Talking real Mexico. My friend lives there, born and raised. She took me around to some real Mexican restaurants, what they eat there, and that’s such good and flavorful and delicious food–nothing like El Rio. To me, El Rio was bland Americanized-Mexican food
I have also been to MexicoMexico (Galeana to be exact). And not the touristy fun parts as well. I got searched by the military among other things.
The biggest thing I noticed is that they dont eat cheese or meat much. Which seems to be the staple of mexican food in America. (Kind of like chinese.)
I agree with you mostly about La Cabana. However, I don’t think you can really double the food of a country in America. If you want real mexican, go off the beaten path in mexico, just take some charcoal tabs and toilet paper (they charge for it!).
look for the travel rolls of Charmen toilet paper in the travel section of Target if you choose that path! I agree though, the most “Mexican” meal I had in Mexico was mostly veggis now that I think of it. Still, MUCH more flavorful.
I guess it depends on what part of Mexico you go to. My mother in law is Mexican and she cooks a lot like Los Bravos or El Rio. A lot. As a matter of fact, my husband insists on one or the other every Friday night. It’s like his moms cooking to him.
I have been there several times. One time as a special request, my wife and I asked for them to make Lingua Burritos. They did an excellent job. When I worked on that side of town, I would eat there at least once a week. Now, it is more if I am on that side of town.