There are many--too many?--Mexican restaurants in Fort Lauderdale now when back in the 80s there only two of which Carlos & Pepe's
set the standard and still do today and until the recent change of
owners Tequila Sunrise was excellent. I like Mexican food--well, full
disclosure, I like Italian, Jewish, Spanish, Cuban, German--oh heck, I
like all every food except oyster plant!!

It
being Wednesday when Allen and I go out for lunch I suggested the new
Mexican restaurant called Maracas which had been opened a few months
and had time to shake out plus they had a successful operation in New
York city so off we went. The parking is a problem not because they
aren't enough spots but because it is far from the entrance. The
restaurant is adjacent to a motel/hotel

The
outside of the restaurant is quite colorful but the inside entrance is
drab until you get by the host's desk when there are colorful strips of
material acting like drapes on the windows which are colors of the
rainbow and the backside of the entrance are bright blue and red with
glass. There are 3 different rooms and for lunch it seems they are only
use the front room which is divide into sections with the front half
being very bright and the rear, where the bar and more tables are, is
quite dark. There are, of course, the invariable large TV sets, by my
count 4 of them.

Though not crowded, there was only one waitress working 5-6 tables so there
was a short wait while she caught up though the manager was a working
manager helping her out . There was a family of 4 sitting next to us, a
single woman at one table and a single man at another, 2 guys in a
corner table and a young couple by the entrance and another couple in
the back.

Their
lunch menu is averaged price with a wide selection of expected Mexican
dishes. The manager brought over a basket of chips with a side of
salsa. The chips were tasteless but the salsa had a good 'bite' to it.
Allen had his diet soda ($1.95) and I had coffee ($1.95) which the
manager served and then we ordered. Usually I will have Fajitas or a chimichanga to judge a Mexican restaurant but still on the search for a good cheeseburger I went that route.

Allen had a pulled pork (carnitas ) sandwich ($7.95) and I had a Mexican cheeseburger ($8.45) They were served with spicy fries and, supposedly, cole slaw but we never got the latter. there seems
to be a new trend in restaurants with instead of their serving a slice
of raw onion they serve 2-3 rings of them. Now it would make sense if
they were trying to save money but they serve 2 slices of tomatoes
which is more expensive. With both sandwiches there was a side of spicy
thousand island dressing. My burger had 2 kinds of cheese and was
cooked the way I ordered and was tasty while Allen didn't seem that
happy with his pork but he ate it!

The
waitress, after finally getting caught up, was attentive. There was a
large, unused room, to the side and the outside sitting, though facing
Federal Highway, had a blue barrier up to separate the tables from the
street and the area was quite attractive.

Our
bill, including tax, was $21.51 plus tip. While the food was okay, I
wish they had the inside as colorful and well spread out as the patio,
I don't think we would go back.

By
the way, if (HA!) I gain weight it is Allen's fault because he insisted
we go to Dairy Queen to get the spicy taste out of our mouth and since
he was driving what could I do?  LOL