Spice Up Your Love Life Elite Event

Tips from Beth the life coach and matchmaker for singles:
1. meet people and put yourself out there; there are 47 coffee shops in the area; make an effort to go to different ones and go up to people
2. create an online dating profile
–for the boys: don’t wear hats and cover your face
–women: wear heels and look nice; take full body pictures
This event was smaller than some of the Denver events but large for the Boulder Unilocal community. We enjoyed some of Rio’s flautas, empanadas, cheese dips, tropical salsa and shrimp ceviche. For cocktails there were about 6 choices; most of which had tequila. I tried a patron skinny marg with some OJ. I also tried some of my friends coin margarita drink which was one of their classic drinks.
Freebies included mints, sunglasses, conversation hearts, Hershey’s kisses, fun dips and Hello Kitty and My Little Pony valentine’s day cards.

Thanks to Frances for letting us flatlanders from Chicago join in on the fun! We had a great time getting drunk under the table by Coloradan Unilocalers and snacking on fresh, beautifully-​presented Mexican fare.
Rio Grande offered 6 different cocktails including their premium Coin Margarita. Later they also brought out their seasonal blood orange marg, which was fantastic. This was the first time we’d tried a grapefruit-​based Paloma or a Tequila-​style Dark and Stormy and I loved it all, though I have to admit my +1 and I had to majorly slow down after a couple drinks each with the altitude punching up the effects of the booze.
Seven different appetizers were also brought out for sharing. Due to being a veggie I mainly just snacked on chips, salsa and guac, but wow, it was a really great guac! They went easy on the seasonings, which allowed the flavor of the perfectly fresh avocado to shine through. The mango salsa on the side really put it over the top.
Dating coach Beth Hooper was great! She put on a super fun presentation and offered lots of personalized advice to anyone who wanted any.
Hola to our amazing new Unilocaly friends — our tablemates could not have been more hilarious and welcoming. We got some awesome new ideas for things to do in the area — the tea factory tour, a brewery with a slide at the end, even recommendations for our upcoming trip to Austin! A big thanks again to Frances, Tiffany, Beth, and of course Rio Grande for this lovely evening.

I was so excited to attend another wonderful event in Boulder.
I’m a big fan of the Rio (they have roof top yoga in the summer, and support the Polar Plunge for the Special Olympics — which I took part in over the past weekend).
Though I typically visit or their man-​berry margaritas I was tickled to try so many menu items and drinks I may not otherwise choose (such as the blood orange margarita and the Perfect Storm).
A little about the food. The steak empanada was out of this world. It was cooked to perfection and the consistency and seasoning of the meat were tremendous. I also gave the ceviche a try (a first for me as I don’t typically eat seafood) — it was fantastic! All the flavors blended and complimented each other so well and I found it to be quite refreshing — it definitely brought back frond memories from my most recent trip to Mexico.
The staff were very courteous though it was a challenge at our large table to figure out how many plates of food we needed as only a one or two plates came out at a time.
Our love guru Beth was very passionate and animated. It was a bit difficult to hear her while she was presenting a but I had no problem giving her my full attention. I thought it was really awesome that she circled around the room after her presentation to speak one-​on-​one with folks.
Thanks so much for a fun and festive night out! I really enjoyed meeting new Unilocalers, eating great food, imbibing in tasty cocktails, and learning some new dating tips.

Fantastic event last night at the Rio. My review isn’t going to be glowing because it was free. Rather, I’m very impressed that the Rio listened to concerns and feedback. In one of my first reviews of the Rio I noted the lack of apps and sharable plates on the happy hour menu besides the typical guac & salsa. Not everyone wants a burrito at 4pm. Anyway, management responded that they were working on it and last night they delivered. I was in Spain this summer and ate heap of pinxtos and tapas. I thought that a similar concept would work at the Rio. The new menu isn’t tapas but they do have bite sized options that will be great for the table. In particular I liked the steak empanadas and the

Thanks Frances for a fun event in Boulder. You are much appreciated! A good sized group showed up too. Very nice to see so many Unilocalers in person.
The Rio has been around for decades and it has been a very long time since I visited, though I walk by it nearly every week on my way to newer places in downtown Boulder. It is good that they are upgrading their food and enlarging their drink selection. Their new small plates were very tasty, and I tried a new drink, the Paloma, tequila (herradura silver,) soda water and fresh grapefruit juice, which was so much tastier to me than a margarita. My favs of the small plates included the ceviche, the queso (with black bean garnish) and the pork flauta. I appreciated that the flauta was not fried and that it was grilled with a very thin (delicate) tortilla so the pork was prominent.
The servers were very friendly and tried to be efficient, but with the seating arrangement, our table had some problems getting the right amount of plates and distributed in a way that all of us could enjoy. Though once we brought this to their attention, they cheerfully got us sufficient food. Also, since our table was located just under the edge of the very loud upstairs balcony, there was some difficulty hearing the speaker. She was quite entertaining and informative, though I must admit, I was not her target audience.
I think that the next time I am downtown in the evening, I will certainly stop by the Rio. Thanks for having us experience what you are offering these days!

What a fun event this was! I didn’t know what to expect with it being at the Rio, but the food was actually really good. I liked the appetizers; my favorite was the ceviche and tropical guac. The pork flauta was good too, but I wish they had an option for corn tortillas instead of flour. I think it would taste better with the corn tortilla. I tried the grapefruit mixed drink (the Paloma?) and it was really good. Next time I’ll try the skinny marg because it’s only 174 calories!
It was fun listening to Beth give tips about relationships too. Overall, it was a great event!

Talk about Spicing up My Life on every level. This event delivered. Spicy Food, Spicy Host, Spicy Love Tips, Spicy Drinks, Spicy Conversation, Spicy New Unilocalers, Spicy Man on my Arm… this night had it all.
Already a huge fan of the Rio I came in with certain expectations but was VERY pleasantly surprised at their new, fresh menu and drink items. The owner explained the recent focus on the return to their roots of fresh ingredients in the preparation of their food. It really showed. The fresh corn salsas, the fresh guacamole, fresh jicama and radishes. The food was outstanding. My faves were the corn relish, guacamole, ceviche (this one is a star!), and seafood empanadas. Thanks to Rio for hosting us with the never ending stream of deliciousness. I can’t wait to return the favor by spreading the news far and wide.
Thank you to Beth, the love guru for the love tips. I fancy myself a love expert (I mean look at the guy I landed) but even this married girl learned some new things. She was gracious and giving with her time, helping us with questions and advice for a single friend going through romance woes.
What I love about Elite events is the Unilocalers who stock them. I ALWAYS, and I mean ALWAYS, meet new folks who instantly feel like best friends and leads to an after party you never expected.
Thank you Frances and Tiffany for this knocked out of the park event. I bow to you.

How lovely to be reintroduced to the Rio after an absence of many years… a new and more evolved menu was impressive. Big thanks to Frances and Tiffany and the somewhat Streisand-​ish matchmaker & advice giver…
Especially enjoyed the owner’s words… you can tell a lot of love goes into the running of this restaurant.
The seafood empanadas impressed me the most. Highly recommended.

There’s really nothing like an elite event! You are treated extremely well and Unilocal takes care of their own like no other company! Thanks to the Rio for hosting! The food and libations were top notch and the night was really entertaining.
So many people here in Boulder!

Good drinks, good food, lots of fun, repeat. Simple instructions that aren’t always so simple to accomplish. I think the «big river» has it figured out though and I want to thank them for sharing their plan to go back to their roots with us. Way to throw down Rio. Frances and Tiffany as always were their stellar selves. Beth Hooper was entertaining and had some interesting advice. I’m digging that Boulder is coming into their own and the Unilocalers who’ve come to these events are great. For a lot of us that spent some «formative» years here, it brings back great memories.
Ticos? what?