A Moment To Remember With Rio Grande Employee Timmy Zann
I sat down at my favorite place, Rio Grande, for lunch, enjoying one of my favorite meals: tacos. Every month, there is a new featured taco; this month was a lobster taco, crunchy and flavorful. I complimented the lobster with their regular cilantro lime tacos that are sweet and tender.
After enjoying every bit of their tacos, I asked my waitress who is the longest standing employee that is working today? She was able to give me a quick answer, I told her about the article I was writing, and she brought out the right employee for the interview: Timmy Zann.
Much of the interview was centered around the restaurant and his involvement with Rio Grande. Me, still being a work-in-progress journalist, started with an obvious first question and gradually got better.
Interview:
Crawford: How has your experience been with Rio Grande?
Zann: Well I’ve been here since they’ve opened which is 33 years coming in June so my experience I would say is very good.
Crawford: Haha I know. Some of these questions were prepared for waiters and stuff.
Zann: That’s alright.
Crawford: What makes Rio Grande different from other restaurants?
Zann: I think, I don’t know how to speak for other restaurants, but it’s sort of a family here and it’s awesome to take care of each other and that’s what I like. The owners have always been really good about letting us do that and take care of ourselves. It’s a family atmosphere, I can’t speak for other places, I don’t know what their secret is but we all seem to get along and we all take care of each other so that’s why I think it works.
Crawford: Right. What do you think makes Rio a popular spot nowadays?
Zann: Well obviously the margaritas but location is good but I think it always feels like a cocktail party in here because it’s so wide open and you can get drinks and can walk around and greet people. Plus it’s kind of for everybody: families, kids, college students, older people that have been here forever and have grown into it like I have and it still works for them too and it still feels like anybody can come here and have a good time.
Crawford: And do you think, is that the main reason you think that CSU alumni and other people keep coming back is because of this family and the memories that they’ve had here?
Zann: Umm. That’s a tough question. I think people have been coming here for so long they’ve always had a lot of good times here. You know from CSU, they have families, they leave town, they come back, so they come. A guy last night hasn’t been here in three years. He lives in Puerto Rico, he just got into town and I knew his face but he couldn’t wait to come here. He’d get his enchiladas and a margarita and it’s like he hadn’t been here in three years.
Crawford: Right.
Zann: First thing thing he did when he got off the plane, he came in here. There’s something magical about the place, I’m not sure.
Crawford: Absolutely. Haha you actually cracked-out quite a bit of questions right there for that.
Zann: Haha okay.
Crawford: Do you think Rio is still the legacy restaurant that it started out to be?
Zann: Ahh no question. I think there’s lots of legacy restaurants so this is definitely one of them. You know we are a great location right downtown. There’s a lot of events in the summer and we’re right in the middle of it. People come in, it’s part of the same party that they’re having outside, it’s sort of the same party they’re having in here.
Crawford: Right.
Zann: Does that make sense?
Crawford: Yeah. So I’ve been researching all of the legacy restaurants here. I also saw some Yelp reviews of Rio Grande. It seems like all the people, whether good comments or bad comments, there’s always an employee of Rio that provides feedback.
Zann: That’s usually the general manager that does that.
Crawford: Why do you think it’s important for Rio to reply to these comments?
Zann: I think it’s good to keep in touch with what people are saying. You know you can get caught up in your own little thing and criticize yourself so it’s good to hear outside voices saying something where you agree 100 percent or not. There’s probably some truth to some of these things and so you hear them, you kind of, you may think twice about and okay maybe you are doing this this way and you should maybe change it a little bit. Or listen to it and have a discussion about it.
Crawford: Right.
Zann: I think that’s what definitely keeps us going. We have older people that have been here forever like me, 30 something years. You got people just come in within a week; they seem to be rolling right with everybody else you know because you can learn a lot from the young people that come in here. Like I still learn from young people. They come here, they have a different idea, fresh approach, I go: I’m going to listen to them and you know just blend right in. I feel young working here.
Crawford: Right, that’s awesome. If you could change one thing about the restaurant as it stands today, what would it be or if not anything?
Zann: Change one thing? Wow. That’s a tough question. I don’t know, I don’t think, I’m not wise enough to know what I would change. It seems to be working the way it is. Zach, you have been eating here for a while right?
Crawford: Yeah, yeah.
Zann: Your parents have been coming here?
Crawford: Yeah my parents are still coming here actually.
Zann: Well there you go. I’d like to meet them one day but I’m sure I know them. Hahahahaha.
Crawford: They have been in here way too many times, but yeah they love it here.
Zann: The vibe just seems to be always good here.
Crawford: Yeah.
Zann: People come in and have a good time. I still hear that from other people. There’s always criticism to restaurants, nothing’s perfect. We’re always trying to improve the food, the drink orders…
Crawford: A lot of the things I hear, especially looking at those reviews, is people have problems with the noise and waiting too long, but see with me it’s just…
Zann: That’s part of the charm…
Crawford: Yeah see, I don’t see a problem as long as the food is good.
Zann: Well you go to visit other towns, you don’t want to go to a place that has nobody there. You go to places that are crowded that people know.
Crawford: Right.
Zann: And to me, that’s part of the atmosphere here. It’s like, people don’t mind waiting to have a margarita, they walk around as I was saying. They start meeting people. There’s people that come in here five or six days a week like this guy at the bar. He comes everyday and you sit there, it’s kind of like Cheers just kind of hang out and you start meeting people.
Crawford: And then, last question, is there anything that people should know about Rio?
Zann: Wow. That they don’t know already?
Crawford: Yeah.
Zann: I don’t know how to answer that one. I’m not sure. Read that question again, maybe something will come up.
Crawford: Is there anything that people should know about Rio? I mean it could be, if people have already gone here before, it could be something they already know but…
Zann: I just think that the owners and management really treat their employees here well so that’s a good thing. I think people like to see that. I think that’s why people keep coming in, they see that we’re having a good time, but I think people already know that so I don’t know how to answer that.
I then asked him if he could write out his name on the piece of paper that I had so that I could spell out his name correctly. He told me as he was writing down his name that he has been working here for 33 years and his wife had worked at Rio for 20 years. At the end, I made sure to let him know how much this interview meant to me.
Crawford: I really appreciate it.
Zann: Hey I’m glad to help you out man.
Crawford: Thank you.
Zann: Your welcome. Hey are you 21?
Crawford: I’m not.
Zann: How old are you?
Crawford: I’m 20. I’m actually going to be 21 in November.
Zann: Awww cool. Well come on in and I’ll give you your first marg.
Crawford: Haha alright. I appreciate it.
Zann: I’d like to meet your parents sometime.
He went on to ask my parent’s names and where this article would be. A little bit after he left the table, he asked how he did and even answered some of my questions in more detail. He said that we’re always changing our menu and he even let me try some of the sausage that they’re adding to their menu.
Timmy Zann was a very nice and humble individual just doing what he loves and it shows in the restaurant known as Rio Grande.
