How’s this for a story: it was a bright and sunny day—a perfect fall moment on the River Walk when the tourists aren’t totally belly to belly, there’s a light breeze, and tables are available right at river’s edge. A celebratory margarita seems obligatatory. Damn: with the arrival of the “Rio Rita,” everything suddenly turns dark and stormy. Instead of fresh orange and lime, a mix comes to mind, followed by an oddly metallic taste. Patron Citronge? It’s well disguised. And, waiter, there’s a maraschino cherry submerged in the bottom of the glass.

Okay, on to the chips and salsa—they pass, but barely. Too much tomato. Too much seems to be a mantra for that matter, with words like “enormous” and “huge” getting a workout on burritos, quesadillas, and the like. Cheese is strewn about like leaves on autumn’s lawns. A chicken enchilada is adequately filled, but the filling isn’t especially tasty, and the tomatillo sauce lacks zing. Cheese to the rescue. It also adorns the chile relleno with shredded beef and enough raisin to make that the dominant taste. Rio Rio admits upfront that their Mex is more Cal- than Tex- by using an Anaheim chile as the container, where a poblano would be the local norm. The sauce is a chunkier and less pungent version of the table salsa. Still too much tomato. And did we mention cheese? Oh yeah—three times. There was none on the decent charro beans, the meal’s highlight.