Sandy, Utah -
Mayan-Themed Restaurant

This restaurant has been closed permanently.

The Mayan is Casa Bonita plus Rainforest Cafe, and I would dare to say that the food is better than either (especially Casa Bonita, but that's no mystery). Not only do the cliff divers jump into the water, they also walk around to tables to poke you with sticks and teach you shadow puppets. All it needs is a cave. [Michelle, 06/17/2009]

[RA: The Mayan was built by the owner of Utah's pro basketball team after he'd visited Casa Bonita, and opened in time for the 2002 Winter Olympics.]

The food at the Mayan is not terrible, as another poster said. It's fabulous! The food at Casa Bonita in Denver, however, *is* terrible. We love the Mayan. [Alisha, 06/09/2006]

Made up to look like an ancient Mayan temple, the 40,000 square foot restaurant has replicas of ruins, talking animals (singing green lizards and giant robotic birds that caw and actually tell visitors to "sit back and drink more margaritas."), and hunky college-aged cliff divers! You can get a downstairs table by the waterfall and dive pool (various "shows" start every 15 minutes, from singing birds, storms, or a tiki god who lights up with smoke and red "fire"), or you can opt to sit in an upstairs room that resembles the tops of jungle trees. The food is truly awful, but who cares that their tacos are bland when there's a 36 foot cliff in the middle of the restaurant, complete with rushing waterfall, tropical storms and even a flash flood!

A note of warning that fans of Casa Bonita in Colorado will most likely be disappointed, as Mayan tries to compete with the "original" but comes up way, way short. However, it is still a fun experience and a great roadside attraction. [Louisa Moore, 02/29/2004]