¡Arriba, abajo, al centro, pa' dentro!
Rito's history is as beautiful as their cuisine. Learning about the owners and how the restaurant came to be where it is today was one of the highlights of our first experience.
Service is friendly and food is delicious...
You will walk through a land of savory seduction with a plate of their elote appetizer. Sweet, tender corn with that signature elote coating, cilantro, and onion. They say it's for sharing, but just get your own. If you've never tried elote, this is a sign that you must do so here.
A margarita playground beckons from a good portion of the simple menu's real estate, which evoked excitement for all the ways we envisioned consuming tequila paired with their in-house-crafted syrups. Yes, thanks to their fabulous flights, I tried every single flavor. In one visit. Don't judge.
My favorites are the pomegranate margarita, prickly pear margarita, and Margarito. Their customizable flights are perfect for the indecisive, or for general libation lovers.
The green chile beef burrito, chimichanga style, was my favorite. It fed me for five full days with tender, shredded beef and tangy verde sauce. Even though I portioned it out, it had me overeating like I was never going to see food again. Hubby loved the red and green sauces, homemade chips, and two salsas (which we thought tasted best when combined in a 1:1 ratio).
We loved Rito's so much, we went back a second time with a few friends. While the food was still fantastic, service from the bar was painfully slow. We had taken an Uber to the restaurant with the intent of each of us drinking SEVERAL margaritas (we were celebrating). However, even with a mostly empty restaurant, the bar service was SO slow, we were only served one drink after splitting a margarita flight between the four us, which is essentially one ounce per person. At one point, the server informed us the bartender was more interested in arguing with her about flavors and colors of drinks he was making, than he was about mixing and pouring said drinks. Get a new bartender. That's ridiculous.
It's a shame, because the restaurant missed out on a decent chunk of revenue with our table, at a massive margin (alcohol), AND we had to take an Uber home while fully sober. Womp womp.
If I had to guess, I'd say the inept bartender cost the restaurant at least $500 at just our table that night... multiply that by a few hundred patrons throughout the night, and you have yourself a pretty big issue and a bartender costing you far more than he's making for you.
The entire Uber ride home was a comical lamenting about not even feeling a buzz after WANTING to spend money and really "throw some back" that night. Sadly, more money went to the Uber that night than Rito's.
The restaurant is cute inside; open, airy, clean and with huge booths that can easily seat six and maybe eight in some cases.
We may be back, but we will also set our expectations lower than hoping for a constant supply of margaritas. I hope management sees this and understands the vast opportunity costs with having a subpar bartender. read more