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Rio Grande Mexican Restaurant
Rating Details »
- Price Range:
-
$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Good for:
- Lunch, Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
11 reviews for Rio Grande Mexican Restaurant
Mexican Food at its best...in the midwest! It's pretty authentic when it's run by Mexican people! Hey....would you want the food served to you by people who are Chinese?! (This is not a racist comment)
The Quesadilla Rellana is my favorite. You can order it with beef or chicken....go beef! It's perfect amount, and the cost is pretty decent.
Before gorging in your meal, you get awesome chips and salsa....be sure to order a side of the white queso dip because it's moi excellente!
The place can get busy and it is in Kentucky...."Smoking or Non-Smoking"? (YUCK!) So expect to wait a little bit for your table, but also expect to get your food in an awesome timely manner! You may also want to bring febreeze to air your clothes out of smoke, too...but those smokers are on the other side of the restaurant!
Bon Appetit...(learning Spanish next quarter! hehe)
I love Rio Grande! Yet, only the the Newport one!
This location is by far the best, it's a friendly staff, the food is made fast, and is always a great price, especially for lunch.
The restaurant seems to be in a very sketchy position, at the end of a strip mall, but that should not push you away from trying it out.
Parking isn't really a problem, sometimes the waits can be decent, I do wish they would make it non-smoking though.
My friends and I used to go every Tuesday as a large group, they would always remember us, and often even have a table ready for us.
Family Owned, Well Priced, Friendly Staff, a definite A+ in my book.
As soon as I walk up to this restaurant , I got a good feeling, must be the green shutters, I was not disappointed. The friendly and efficient service was there at the get go, chips and salsa as soon as I sat. The margarita on the rocks with salt was perfect, until I noticed 2 guys at the bar drinking out of fish bowls, Margarita envy. The Tamales were excellent. burrito great, and all at a fair price.
Like Mexican?, you can't beat this place, great food, service and atmosphere, a new favorite for me.
Ay, caramba! Rio Grande won the "AOL (America Online) Newport: City's Best Mexican Food" award last year. This restaurant, which opened in May 1997, must be doing something right.
When entering this dimly lit restaurant, guests are greeted with Mexican music and decorations, such as sombreros and fake cacti. The restaurant, which serves both Mexican and Tex-Mex dishes,
has booth seating available throughout, except for the bar. Rio Grande's cooks and many of its servers are Mexicans. The atmosphere manages to be Mexican, though the vast majority of the
customers are not.
The restaurant is usually crowded with happy customers. Carrie Martinez, a frequent guest from Cincinnati is one of them.
"I love the flavor of the food, I love the service of the employees," says Martinez. "And I love the Mexican decorations."
While waiting for their orders, customers can take advantage of the free chips and salsa at the table - with refills. Rio Grande's salsa is chunky, spicy, tasty and addictive. The restaurant also has a full-service bar with reasonable prices, offering wine, margaritas, daiquiris, pia coladas and American and Mexican beer. If you wish to try a Mexican cerveza, you can choose from Bohemia, Tecata, Carta Blanca, Corona, Negra Modelo and XX - Dos Equis. The bar has a happy hour Monday through Thursday from 4 to 6 p.m.
The Food Rio Grande can best be described as an authentic Mexican restaurant that caters to American tastes. The spice level of many dishes is toned down to accommodate American palates. If you want your dish spicy, you'll have to request it that way.
The same head cook has led thekitchen for over five years. Rio
Grande makes all of its own sauces in house, including those
for enchiladas and burritos, as well as guacamole and salsas.
Almost all dishes at Rio Grande have corn and beans-the staples of Mexican cuisine-in some form. Corn is used to make tortillas and beans are served with most meals.
"In Mexico if they don't have beans on the plate, it's not Mexican," says
Alma de Leon, Rio Grande's manager. "Rio Grande in Newport is unique because of the great amount of quality food you get for the price you pay," de Leon says.
Ironically, the most popular dish at Rio Grande is the fajita, which is
Tex-Mex in origin. Mexican ranch workers in Texas created fajitas -
grilled meat and vegetables served on a tortilla - in the 1930s. The dish gained popularity outside the region beginning in the 1970s.
Rio Grande's offers fajitas made of beef, chicken, asado (Mexican styled spicy pork), chorizo (Mexican sausage), shrimp or a combination of each. The fajitas are served with sauted onions, bell peppers, lettuce, tomatoes, sour cream, and pico de gallo (a garnish that includes onion, tomato and jalapeo) with either corn
(crunchy) or flour (soft) tortillas. Refried beans and Mexican rice accompany the fajitas, which are on a sizzling skillet with the tortillas and sides on a separate plate. The presentation, and taste, is great.
Another popular dish is the chimichanga - deep-fried (flour) tortillas stuffed with beef or chicken and topped with lettuce, sour cream, pico de gallo and cheese sauce. It's served with refried beans and rice.
Rio Grande also serves the tastiest tamales this side of the Rio Ohio. Tamales, which can be traced back over 5,000 years, are made different ways in different parts of Mexico. Rio Grande serves tamales made from tortillas -- rather than cornhusks, which is the traditional preparation - stuffed with pork, salsa and other ingredients. They are
small, but you can eat several to satisfy your appetite.
For dessert, try the sopapilla - a fried tortilla with honey, butter and cinnamon served with a scoop of ice cream. This dessert is rich, tasty and sweet.
Rio Grande Mexican Restaurant is at 34 Carothers Rd., Newport, (859) 292-8750 Open Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., Friday, 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m., Saturday, 11:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. and Sunday 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Lunches are $4.99 to $6.25, Dinner entrees: $7.99 to $11.25, dinner combinations, $6.99.
best mexican i've had in cincinnati (not saying too much) but it's good. it's always busy. the chips and salsa are awesome.
We all know that outside appearances do not paint the entire picture of a Mexican restaurant. Rio Grande in Newport is about as nondescript as can be from the outside, located in a very drab strip-style shopping center. However, inside you'll find a festive, yet subdued, Mexican feel with full bar and plenty of smoking and non-smoking tables for eating.
The platter sizes are huge, the service is speedy and prices are very reasonable...equating to leftovers for tomorrow's lunch. Expect to wait a while for a table on weekends, but week nights are not so crowded.
In a strip of Newport infamous for bad food, Rio Grande is the grand exception. My friend and I ate there last night after an afternoon of playing disk golf in Highland Hills Park. We both ordered margaritas (mine frozen, his on the rocks) and knew after the first sip that we'd made the right choices.
After devouring some chips and fresh, spicy salsa, I ordered the deluxe burrito ($6.99, if I recall correctly). It didn't come with beans and rice like many of the other entrees, so I ordered a side of rice thinking the burrito might not be enough to satisfy my voracious appetite. I was so wrong. The gargantuan burrito was about as big as a man's shoe and covered in a light chili sauce, a tomato slice, sour cream, cheese sauce, and shredded Mexican cheese. Now, I understand why no other accompaniment was needed.
Rio Grande is an excellent, casual Mexican restaurant with portions that could feed a linebacker on a shoe-string budget.
This place is great for good American/Mexican food that is also cheap. It seems like the food is at your table always within minutes after your order. The pitchers of margaritas are also pretty tasty! Be aware of very large people when you go....I have never seen people so big!
The inside of Rio is dark, very Mexican and lively. You are greeted with a smile and a complementary bowl of salsa with chips. I think they should bottle this stuff it's so good. Just the right amount of chunky so it won't break the thin crisp chip and fiery enough to get you going but not enough to light you up.
The Margaritas are something to write home about and the service is fast like grease lightning.
I have been frequenting Rio Grande for I don't know how long. You know how you get a group of people together and no one can decide where to go? Well, when that happens we go Rio Grande. R.G. is the sort of place that everyone loves.
Hidden in the back of a strip mall in Newport and surrounded by hills it would also make a great hide out because you will never get any bars on your cell phone once inside the building.
I have never had bad service, even back when you couldn't ask questions about the menu without getting a confused look. The servers are usually the same faces and they are very friendly. It is fun to eavesdrop on their family style banter even if you don't understand anything. and a bonus is that they don't laugh at me when I try really hard to say camerones accent and all (I am certain it must amuse them).
Tonight we went to R.G. and it appears they have replaced almost half of the staff, I won't venture to guess why, it was a little weird not seeing the family style banter between them. But the food and service was still awesome.
R.G. is always consistent, Mexican the way gringos like it: fast, cheap, big and salty.
I have never left without a take out box or a full belly with and a margarita grin to accompany it. They should also have a prize for cleaning you plate, I think it might be impossible because they pile so much stuff on it.
Any how go to Rio Grande you'll love it!
I love this restaurant! The food is awesome, the people are awesome! My kids love to tell the waiters and waitresses thank you and please in Spanish. Every time we go we have a great time! Highly recommend!
Most of the staff in this restaurant are from Mexico, so be patient with your server's english, you will be rewarded. The house specialty is the fajitas, they offer beef, chicken, and a deluxe for two with beef,chicken, sausage and shrimp, the good smell fills the restaurant. The guacamole is also first rate. Save room for the xangas, a cheesecake confection topped with caramel and ice cream. They have lunch specials every day and have a full bar. Its a good family friendly restaurant
