Rio Mambo Tex-Mex y Más has closed its restaurants in Burleson, Colleyville and Weatherford, leaving just one location standing — the original spot at 6125 SW Loop 820 in Fort Worth's Cityview Centre. That restaurant remained open on Tuesday, even as the chain's suburban footprint quietly shrank to nothing.
The closures were first reported by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, whose Eats Beat columnist Bud Kennedy has covered Texas restaurants since 1985 and written more than 3,000 columns on the subject. Rio Mambo's remaining Fort Worth restaurant opened at that Cityview Centre address on September 11, 2001, and operated under founder Brent Johnson for 22 years before it was sold, according to earlier Hoodline reporting. Over the years, the chain also ran several other restaurants, including a former location in Arlington, per the Star-Telegram.
California-based Xperience Restaurant Group bought Rio Mambo in 2023, folding it into a national portfolio that also includes the 75-year-old El Torito chain. That acquisition, which also swept up sister concept The Rim Scratch Craft Eats, shifted Rio Mambo from local, family-run ownership to national corporate management, according to a Xperience from that time.
A Pattern of Retreat Across North Texas
The Rio Mambo closures follow the same playbook Xperience Restaurant Group already used on The Rim, which promoted itself as serving “food with soul” before the company shut it down at Fort Worth's Waterside shops on July 26. Diners were encouraged to visit the brand's remaining location instead; Hoodline previously reported on the Waterside closure. Since the 2023 acquisition, the corporate parent has systematically pared down its North Texas footprint, closing The Rim and now three of four Rio Mambo restaurants, leaving only the 2001 original open.
That contraction is unfolding as Z Capital Group, the private equity firm behind Xperience Restaurant Group, restructures the company into a new platform called Apex Hospitality alongside Pink Taco and Mrs. Fields, according to the Orange County Business Journal. Xperience Restaurant Group is headquartered in Cypress, California, and as of mid-2026 operated 56 restaurants across 11 concepts, with its core focus on Southern California coastal Mexican dining brands like El Torito, Chevys Fresh Mex and Acapulco.
Fort Worth Tex-Mex Scene Losing Landmarks
Rio Mambo is not the only Tarrant County Tex-Mex fixture disappearing this year. La Playa Maya closed its North Main Street location in the Fort Worth Stockyards, and that space is set to become Panther City BBQ, according to the Star-Telegram. Local operator Westland Restaurant Group also closed the Hurst location of its Pulido's Kitchen & Cantina brand, while keeping the chain's original Fort Worth restaurant running, per CultureMap Fort Worth.
Some closures have hit chains with even deeper roots. In Houston, Pappasito's Cantina is set to close its original Richmond Avenue location on September 13, ending a run that stretches back 43 years, per the Star-Telegram. Meanwhile, Fuzzy's Taco Shop has closed several of its own locations, and national bankruptcy filings have hammered other casual Tex-Mex brands — Abuelo's Mexican Restaurant closed more than half of its locations, and On the Border shuttered restaurants nationwide as well.
Vacant Storefronts Find New Life
The retreat of legacy Tex-Mex chains is opening the door for local concepts to expand into prime real estate. Panther City BBQ, which is Michelin-recommended, is moving into the 6,463-square-foot building La Playa Maya vacated in the Stockyards, a lease brokered by LanCarte Commercial, according to CultureMap Fort Worth. It's a small but telling sign of how the neighborhood's dining landscape keeps shifting even as familiar names disappear.
For now, Rio Mambo's Cityview Centre location remains the last of its kind in North Texas, still serving the same address where the chain got its start nearly a quarter-century ago. Whether Xperience Restaurant Group intends to keep that single restaurant running long-term has not been addressed by the company.
