Blame It on Rio
The Wild West in Bar Form

You’re about to go to a magical place.

A place where ZZ Top plays constantly. Where tequila comingles peacefully with whiskey. Where the bars have stripper poles...

Yep: that magical place is Mid-Market.

More specifically: Rio Grande, a new pop-up roadhouse from the Bon Vivants on Market Street, opening Friday through... potentially a year or more from now.

If Clint Eastwood (circa Unforgiven), Patrick Swayze (circa Road House) and ZZ Top (circa always) teamed up to open a bar, a) we’d love to sit in on the meetings, and b) it’d be this place.

On the walls: cowhides and ranchero blankets. The columns: tiled with gold mirrors. In the corner: Buck Hunter. And on either side of the bar: two floor-to-ceiling poles. (We have no idea what those are for.)

Typically, the music will be set to the ZZ Top Pandora station. (We’re imagining the algorithm is something like “Legs” + beards ÷ awesome.) But every once in a while, you’ll also witness real live bands of the twang/swagger variety.

If all this divey goodness makes you thirsty (spoiler alert: it will), you’ll have options. Tequila flights. Shots of American whiskey. Canned beer. All fine, good and true. But you’ll also want to check out the joint’s old-school fountain juice dispensers—serving up rotating drinks like the namesake Rio Grande, a mix of a whiskey sour and a margarita.

Two great tastes that taste great together.