Mural-covered Mexican restaurant from family behind Casa Ramos opens in Citrus Heights

An expansive Mexican restaurant from the family behind local chain Casa Ramos served its first customer in Citrus Heights on Friday.

R Vida Cantina had its soft opening Friday at 7040 Sunrise Blvd., the former location of Cattle Rustlers steakhouse. Owned by Carlos Ramos Rodriguez and family friend Kevin Miles Jr., the restaurant’s deep blue-hued interior and copius art are steps above Casa Ramos’ casual ambiance.

“We kind of wanted to do our own thing and give it a modern Mexican flair, more of an update,” Ramos Rodriguez said. “It’s still the same great food ... (but) the recipes are a little different here.”

Those new recipes include one for aguachile, a spicy shrimp dish prepared in lime juice and native to Sinaloa. Tacos alambre — steak or chicken tucked into corn tortillas with bacon, cheese, onions, peppers, cilantro, cabbage and salsa — have long been a secret item for staff and in-the-know customers at Casa Ramos, but get their own spot on R Vida’s menu.

R Vida’s chef is Cruz Mercado, a former Casa Ramos employee who previously cooked at local taquerias and Denny’s, Ramos Rodriguez said. The 6,500-square-foot restaurant’s walls are covered in murals painted by Ramos Rodriguez’s cousin Andres Navarrete, including an agave farmer at work, a guitar-playing skeleton and a woman in Dia de los Muertos makeup.

Construction to elongate Cattle Rustlers’ old bar will take another month or so, but a mural behind the bar of a luchador with the restaurant’s name tattooed on his forearms is done. Navarrete’s Mexican wrestler is also represented on R Vida’s menu in the El Luchador Burrito (shrimp, scallops, and fish smothered in house salsa, wrapped in a flour tortilla and served with rice and beans).

Ramos Rodriguez’s uncle Marco Ramos founded Casa Ramos in 1997 and helped build it out to 14 current Northern California locations; a Citrus Heights store closed in 2009. A bitter family dispute over restaurant ownership evolved after Ramos’ death in 2015, resulting in dual lawsuits that remain ongoing.

R Vida is open 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and until 12:30 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights.