"What the heck is a Mocajeta!" were the first words out of my mouth as the waitress watched me perusing the menu. She gave me a short answer and I ordered it. Frankly the picture in the menu looked interesting and it sounded interesting so I went for it.  But hey, I was starving! I hadn't eaten much of anything all day. I had relaxed in the morning, ran to the hardware store and bought a chainsaw, pruned some trees, and went down to tour a movie set in the afternoon sun. When we were done I found myself famished! We found place to eat in Santaquin, Utah named Maracas Mexican Grill, recommend by my wife's sister-in-law over the phone as we drove. The restaurant is in a rather boring little strip mall, but hey it was Santaquin, what could I expect. (Santaquin is a nice place, it is just a small town.) We walked in and asked for a table and were told it would be just a moment while they cleaned one for us. While we were waiting at least two or three people walking by asked us if we had been helped. It's always a good sign of great service when you are noticed. After a short wait we were shown to our table and immediately presented with menus and asked about drinks that arrived soon afterwards. Well back to the food. As I said, I did order the Mocajeta. My wife inquired about the Sopes and order them, Two Chicken and one beef. From her comments they were different than what she expected, but she liked them.  My Mocajeta was something else! It was delivered on three plates, well sort of. One was not a plate, it was a carved volcanic rock looking like a bowl with three legs. The Mocajeta was in the bowl, still boiling when it set infront of me. The stone bowl was hot to the touch. Next to the bowl was a large dish with the usual re-fried beans, rice, lettuce, and tomatoes. The last dish contained a stack of soft corn tortillas. The Mocajeta was full of meat strips, I believe chicken, Pork, and shrimp along with a sausage. There were onion bulbs with the stems, a Halapena pepper which was not very spicy and a cactus plant leaf that hung over the side of the bowl adding a nice touch. The presentation made me hungrier, but I know I wouldn't be finishing all of this in the first round. A doggie bag would be the final order of the visit. I wasn't quite sure how I'd eat it at first, but decided to just put stuff in the center of the tortillas wrap it up and start eating. It was good stuff. The meat and sauce was just a bit salty for my palette, but everything else muted that a bit. The only real disappointment is the soft corn tortillas where not freshly made although they were not bad either. As I predicted, I didn't finish the meal and had to call for a doggie bag. My wife was the same. In retrospect we should have just ordered the Mocajeta and shared it. My meal was about $18, her's about $10 so you can eat at whatever your palette an or wallet can handle. By the way the menu contained the usual Mexican dishes you'd expect to see. Had I gone my usual way I'd have ordered the Chili Relleno.  That's the first thing I look for when I check out a Mexican menu. Our first meal there wasn't 100% perfect, but the service was great, the meals were good, and the experience with new dishes fun. Give Maracas Mexican Grill a try, I think you will find it a pleasant experience. And remember, if you want to maintain that "'girlish" figure consider sharing a meal with your spouse because they serve you a lot of food!

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