Critic's Review
** Maracas said they were re-branding, but they're now closed
Maracas is a colorful place located adjacent to the Best Western Hotel. From the outside it definitely looks like an interesting place. I think "interesting" is the biggest compliment I can give, unfortunately.
Rumor had it that this was a gay hangout so I'd avoided trying this place for quite a while. I'd heard about the Sunday Brunch here, where for $5 you can get unlimited bloody marys, mimosas or margaritas. The brunch itself is $9.95 for most items, with some items between $1 and $4 more (such as the steak and eggs). The menu looks fairly interesting; you can get breakfast or mexican food for brunch. I like a late breakfast myself. Thought it was worth a try on a Sunday.
The first issue you have here is parking. The lot is shared with the Hotel and the Tiki Bar, and there are some spots on the side for the restaurant, but those are usually taken. In the back there's a confusing lot with many of the spots designated for the hotel or the restaurant. Some spots are rather well marked, and some you can't really see very well. Plus its a valet-type lot, that is the spots are stacked, so its not clear that if you park in the back you'll be able to get out if some bozo parks in front of you. Luckily, the hotel is a dump, so the lot is usually fairly empty.
When you walk in, it seems a bit disorganized. There was playoff football to watch, and they have 2 big screen TVs at the bar and a couple more in the dining room, but they're all in odd spots. There's really no good seat at the bar without stuff in the way, and the TVs in the dining room are only good watching from a handful of tables. Only one of the TVs at the bar had the game on, with the other showing music videos, reducing the seating choices further. Since we couldn't be sure we could see the game from a random table, we sat at the bar.
The server was unable to answer a single question we had about the menu. Her answer to one question was "I don't eat here". That should be enough of a warning in itself.
After ordering you get chips and salsa. The chips are fresh and good; the salsa is smooth (as opposed to chunky) and slightly spicy. Its not the freshly made, authentic salsa you'd expect at a decent Mexican place. Another peeve on the salsa is that its ladled ice-cold from a fridge; too cold at first.
The food came quickly, and one look and you can see why. A chorizo and cheese omelet was very small, a perfectly round 6", and clearly microwaved. Perfectly yellow, no scorching and perfect dimensions from a mold. Just like McDs! The chorizo was not the Mexican kind and is not the spicy kind; just junk smoked pork loaf with none of the expected flavor. Breakfast items are served with what's termed "brunch potatos" on the menu. Surprisingly, they were mashed potatoes with flecks of something orange. We guessed carrots; our server had no idea. They added no flavor. Breakfast items also include bacon, which was so underdone that it had to be returned. It came back literally seconds later, obviously microwaved. Salt, pepper or other condiments were not provided or offered.
So for $9.95 you get a 6" microwaved omelet with non-authentic sausage, a scoop of mashed potatoes and 2 strips of microwaved bacon. I suppose if you sit there all afternoon and drink mimosa's (OJ and CHEAP champagne) it might be worth it. If and only if.
Maybe the mexican food here is good, but they sure don't know how to make breakfast.
Note that Mondays are "Gay Fiesta" nights, so keep that in mind.
