El Rio Grande

About this location

A few stories people tell about this place

1. A delivery driver pulled up to El Rio Grande one afternoon and muttered under his breath, ‘I swear I saw that same bag of chips on the shelf last week.’ The next day, a different delivery driver arrived with a big smile. 'Hey, did you see those tortilla chips?' he asked excitedly. 'They’re brand new!' Turns out, El Rio Grande had finally restocked them—just in time for everyone’s weekly snack attack.

2. In the late afternoon shadows of El Rio Grande supermarket, a delivery driver unloaded crates of bananas. Among them, nestled between bunches, he found an old, dusty guitar case. Curious, he opened it—only to discover a note scribbled in pencil: ‘Play me once, return me twice.’ The delivery driver shrugged and played the guitar softly. To his surprise, the store’s tannoy suddenly crackled with a scratchy voice singing along. Everyone stopped what they were doing to listen. Later that night, as people left El Rio Grande, someone whispered, ‘I wonder if next time it’ll ask for chocolate instead.’

3. In the dimly lit aisles of El Rio Grande supermarket, a delivery driver unloaded boxes from his truck. Among the usual groceries, he noticed something peculiar—a small, handwritten sign taped to a bag of flour read: ‘Take only if hungry, buy only if curious.’ Curious as to what it meant, he took a closer look and saw that the flour was almost expired. With a mischievous smile, he decided to grab a bag, thinking it would be fun to see who’d notice. Later that evening, while baking bread with his neighbor, they both laughed when someone finally asked, ‘Did you get the free flour?’

4. In the early morning fog outside El Rio Grande supermarket, a delivery driver heard an eerie humming sound. As he approached the loading dock, the noise grew louder—like distant mariachi music, but not quite right. Curious, he followed the sound around the corner and saw nothing but empty streets. Just as he was about to shrug it off, his headphones buzzed with a familiar tune: ‘La Cucaracha.’ Realizing too late that his phone had been playing loud enough to carry outside, he sheepishly waved at a nearby neighbor who had stopped to watch him dance alone in the mist.