Rio Grande Kitchen & Cantina - Oak Ridge — Restaurant in Oak Ridge

My husband and I visited the Rio Grande location in Oakridge, NC tonight for dinner and drinks. We entered the restaurant and put our name on the seating wait list and we were told 15 to 20 minutes for our table to be ready. We headed into the main dining area where the bar is located. The restaurant was packed and very busy so my husband and I stood closer to the wall to stay out of the way of servers and other customers while waiting for our table. My husband asked if I wanted a drink while we wait. I said yes and told him my order. Since the bar was packed, I stayed near the wall and my husband went to the bar to order drinks. The bartender takes the order from my husband and is immediately annoyed that he is ordering a drink for myself. She proceeds to roll her eyes and wave her hand at my husband/waving towards me saying something along the lines of "yeah I need to see her ID". I want to make it clear that I TOTALLY understand her need to see my ID. That is not the problem AT ALL and I realize she is doing her job by asking for that requirement. However, I have never encountered such rude attitude/behavior (rolling her eyes, rude demeanor, rude tone of voice) from a bartender asking for my ID before this encounter. My husband and I have dined at this restaurant before and loved it so this is why we returned tonight for dinner and drinks. We have visited other Rio Grande locations and this one by far has the best tasting food and best margaritas in my opinion. My coworkers and I also love to frequent this location for lunch. We (my husband and I) will not be returning to this Rio Grande location solely due to the extremely rude behavior from the bartender. It is sad that one person can ruin the atmosphere and customer service at a restaurant. At the end of the day, customers should be treated the way that you want...

I’m giving 4 stars because usually they earn that but tonight was really just a 3 star experience. I met a friend and we ate inside at their new location. They are in the same parking lot but in a free standing restaurant with a lot more space. We had to park in the Lowes grocery lot because Rio’s parking is really limited for a busy Friday night. It’s a short walk so no problem. We opted to wait for a booth because the only tables available were close to the entrance, in a heavy traffic area. The inside is typically decorated but the booths are very large and nice and cushy. We ordered a pitcher of Margaritas on the rocks. The pitcher had some ice but the glasses didn’t, so we had to try and pour ice into our glasses. The pitcher was only $20 so it’s a great value but we really needed ice and we never got more. I’m usually fine with the inexpensive margarita mix but this tasted like it had artificial sweetener. We ordered the Elote Dip $7.95 which was really just cheese dip with salsa, corn, cilantro and a sprinkling of cheese. It did not have Cotija cheese so it lacked that salty bite and it was really runny. We both had the new Hibachi Rio Style which was supposed to be slices of grilled chicken, zucchini, carrots and broccoli over rice with cheese dip, a side of Rio white sauce and a choice of retried or black beans. The cheese dip was on the side in a tiny cup. The Rio white sauce looked and tasted like Thousand island dressing, or maybe the orange Yum Yum sauce in the grocery. The chicken wasn’t grilled, it had 2 pieces of zucchini, 3 small pieces of broccoli and 3 carrot slices. It was all coated in something reddish and sweet. Neither one of us received the beans. Luckily, the company was great and we both tipped generously because we gabbed for 3 hours! I will definitely go back but I wouldn’t repeat any...

Our server was very kind but not very attentive. We ordered a pitcher margaritas - there was a big miscommunication because the margaritas we had tasted terrible. The receipt said we ordered a pitcher of margaritas de oro - I do not recommend. Not sure if they made it incorrectly / with cheap tequila or if it wasn’t mixed properly, but it was not good. My mom and I both tried the quesabirria - amazing flavor! My mom couldn’t finish her meal though because her quesadillas were inedibly greasy. My husband ordered the sopes - they never arrived to the table. He ended up having to take them to go because our entire table finished the meal before the sopes were ready. Our server didn’t charge us for the sopes but we still ended up spending $140 for lunch and it wasn’t worth it to us.

Edit: I contacted Rio via email and they gifted our family a $100 gift card for our bad experience. We tried different margaritas this time and they were fresh & tasty. Our server Corina was so very kind and attentive. She made sure we had a good experience and that everything tasted to our liking. We will be back and absolutely requesting Corina again! Thank you for the gift card and the better experience this go around.

Edit #2: We have visited several times since and have had great experiences each time. My new favorite place to get Mexican food. Please don’t let my initial bad review deter you from this wonderful establishment. Not “authentic” Mexican food, but absolutely delicious each time. Just avoid...