The Rio – Mountain Mex

Attractively committed to the myth of its own relevance, the Rio has for close to a decade found a popular niche on the corner of Walnut and Eleventh downtown. Quality Mexican-inspired fare that strives to rise above the level of your average burrito shack, the Rio barely succeeds, but really, that’s not the point. The point is the roundhouse margheritas and the fashionably dressed young professional crowd, who might have something interesting to say were it not for the brain-melting decibel levels achieved by the spectacularly out-of-place industrial strength sound system in the bar. The rooftop patio offers breathtaking skylines on a summer’s eve when you can find a table uninhabited by grinning undergrads.  Passable if undistinguished Mexican fare, elegant eye candy, a generally respectful staff (when they are not high) make the long wait on weekend nights tolerable, if you don’t mind, well, waiting. And of course there are those margs