When my wife and I walked into Maria Bonita's, we were greeted with hugs and an enthusiastic exclamation of "Princess!!! Champion!!! ". This is the third time I have visited, but I was received the same way the first two times. Though the restaurant was full and it was a Friday night, our party of seven was seated after about 6 minutes. For some reason my father in law thought it would work out to get the the $17 nachos...for himself. The nachos were covered in shrimp, jalepeños, cheese, beans, all piled in a stack higher than a trained circus dog could jump over. They brought out the chips and salsa first (they were decent) followed by a small cup of chicken rice soup broth.
The first time I ate here I was halfway full by the time the entree was put on the table. The main course was brought out ( I got the Carne con chile rojo) and it tasted fantastic. Did I mention they serve unlimited horchata on tap? Well they do. While you'll pay more here than you will at some other places, the portion sizes ensure that you'll get at least two meals out of every entree. If you have the Utah entertainment book, you can buy an entree and get one free, allowing you to feed a small army or two hungry hobbits. The only downside is that they don't have a smooth process for handling quick payment when you're done. One employee was struggling to hand write receipts for a line of 10 people who wanted to pay for their food. I've heard from others that they had similar experiences; good food, great atmosphere, slow service. I give this restaurant 4 out of 5 sombreros.
The first time I ate here I was halfway full by the time the entree was put on the table. The main course was brought out ( I got the Carne con chile rojo) and it tasted fantastic. Did I mention they serve unlimited horchata on tap? Well they do. While you'll pay more here than you will at some other places, the portion sizes ensure that you'll get at least two meals out of every entree. If you have the Utah entertainment book, you can buy an entree and get one free, allowing you to feed a small army or two hungry hobbits. The only downside is that they don't have a smooth process for handling quick payment when you're done. One employee was struggling to hand write receipts for a line of 10 people who wanted to pay for their food. I've heard from others that they had similar experiences; good food, great atmosphere, slow service. I give this restaurant 4 out of 5 sombreros.