Rio Bravo Cantina

Infobox_Company
company_name = Rio Bravo Cantina
company_type = Restaurant
foundation = 1985 – 2002
location = Atlanta, Georgia
key_people = Ray Shoenbaum Founder
industry = Tex-Mex restaurant

The Rio Bravo concept began in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, the first restaurant opening in the Buckhead section of Atlanta in May 1985.

The concept was created by Ray Shoenbaum in conjunction with Innovative Restaurant Concepts Inc (or IRC).

Rio Bravo was initially a huge success, attracting the growing bar crowd in Buckhead’s bar and night club scene, so much so it expanded to other restaurants in the Atlanta area.

The second Rio Bravo was built on Northside Drive in Atlanta and the third location was built on Barrett Parkway in Kennesaw, Georgia. A fourth restaurant was located on Ashford-Dunwoody Road in Dunwoody, Georgia.

The restaurant concept was good food, good service, large margaritas and a fun atmosphere. It was not uncommon for people to wait around two hours for a table on a Friday or Saturday night.

Kennesaw

Rio Bravo on Barrett Parkway in Kennesaw, Georgia was a monster success, owing largely to two factors: 1) It was a fun, unique place to enjoy a meal 2) There weren’t a lot of other restaurants on Barrett Parkway when Rio Bravo first opened. While eating at Rio Bravo was fun, some saw it as a lack of options rather than a choice, as there were so few restaurants in the area.

Much of the staff and clientele came from nearby Kennesaw State University (formerly Kennesaw State College) and as the college was grew, so did the town of Kennesaw.

Cinco de Mayo

The biggest day of the year for Rio Bravo was Cinco do Mayo, or 5th of May. The restaurants were packed wall to wall with people, many of whom were college students celebrating finishing their final exams for the summer.

The restaurants often booked DJs, live bands, extra staff, people to check ID at the door and off-duty police officers to serve as security for the biggest party of the year.

Chevy’s buyout

In 1999 Applebee’s sold the Rio Bravo concept to Chevy’s Fresh Mex. Initially, the only change was the signage and decorations within the restaurant. Signs that used to say “Rio Bravo Cantina” now read “Rio Bravo Fresh Mex.” The menu was soon changed as well as the soft drinks. Rio Bravo and Applebee’s sold Coca-Cola and Chevy’s soft drink of choice was Pepsi-Cola.

The new menu, the change from Coke to Pepsi and the new taste of the food (Fresh Mex meant everything was prepared fresh - no cans) started to turn off an otherwise receptive audience.

People were beginning to complain about the changes, not only with their voices, but with their wallets. In Kennesaw, Georgia, for example, Rio Bravo was losing business to other restaurants in town, including other Tex-Mex restaurants. On The Border was built down the street on Barrettt Parkway, as was Hopps, Copeland’s and a few other establishments.

Going to eat at Rio Bravo in Kennesaw was no longer a lack of options, but a choice.

Cinco de Mayo vs. Music Midtown 2000 and 2001

Music Midtown, an Atlanta music festival that ran until 2005, was traditionally held on the first weekend in May. This conflicted with Rio Bravo's annual Cinco de Mayo parties in 2000 and 2001. In 2000 Cinco de Mayo was on a Friday and 2001 it was on a Saturday. Rio Bravo’s much needed Cinco de Mayo party crowd was attending Music Midtown in downtown Atlanta. Cinco de Mayo 2000 and 2001 were disappointments, bringing in lower sales than years past.

Rio Bravo in Kennesaw is mentioned because it was being watched by Chevy’s executives in order to determine how to best continue with their new venture. It failed miserably. when Chevy's bought Rio Bravo they tried to fix something that wasn’t broken and destroyed the concept. In 2002 they tried to sell Rio Bravo to a company in Texas,Fact|date=October 2007 but no one purchased the concept.

In December 2002 Chevy’s converted or closed all Rio Bravo restaurants.

External links

* [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3190/is_n42_v28/ai_15848767/ Applebee’s buys Rio Bravo October 1994]
* [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3190/is_n30_v30/ai_18562144]
* [http://bizjournals.bison.com/press/pr4-13apple.html/ Applebee’s sells Rio Bravo to Chevy’s 13 April 1999]
* [http://bizjournals.bison.com/press/pr2-10chevy.html]
* [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C05E3D6163AF931A25751C0A96F958260]