| Type | Restaurant |
|---|---|
| Industry | Tex-Mex restaurant |
| Founded | 1985–2002 |
| Headquarters | Atlanta, Georgia |
| Key people | Ray Shoenbaum Founder |
Rio Bravo was a Tex-Mex style Mexican restaurant serving the metro the southern United States and Michigan from its opening in 1985 until its closure in 2004.
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).
On February 11, 1999 Applebee’s sold the Rio Bravo concept to Chevy’s Fresh Mex [1]. After Chevy's purchase the menus between both chains were merged for supply and marketing purposes.
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. In December 2002 Chevy’s converted or closed all Rio Bravo restaurants.
Besides suburban Atlanta, the chain also operated in Metro Detroit including locations in Ann Arbor, MI and Lansing, MI, Orlando, Florida, Tallahassee, Florida and Nashville, Tennessee.