In the meantime, everyone who's ever imbibed one of those murderous margaritas always asks the same question: What the hell do they put in there that makes you cry for mercy the morning after?
I posed that question to Patrick, who bartended for a long, long time at the Rio in Fort Collins.
And he knows things. He knows, for example that a Rio margarita consists of two parts Jose Cuervo tequila, one part Juarez triple sec and one part Island House lime juice mix, which Liquor Mart sells for less than $6 a jug. Each margarita is twelve ounces, which means that after you've knocked back three, you've drunk twelve shots of tequila because there's four shots in each margarita. And you wonder why you can't stand up?
Oh...and about that three-and-you're-done limit? Apparently, that rule only applies if you're a douchebag and the bartenders "want an excuse to get rid of you." So Patrick's advice, more or less, is don't be a douchebag.
And one last sobering thought. The Rio is the single largest purchaser in the world of Jose Cuervo tequila.
For more on the Rio, read Nancy Levine's Behind the Bar interview with current bartender Ann Whitley
