If you're in the mood for a kitchy American Mexican restaurant, this place is great, and I'd give it a "best in class" rating for this category.

Let's start with the decor. It's nice, clean, spacious, and would be over the top of it weren't so meticulously done. To be clear, I've never been to Mexico, and certainly not to any actual Aztec temple, but it definitely feels like they went all in on trying to create an atmosphere. It's kind of what I would expect the Disney version of "Aztec" to look like, kind of a theme park ride. Cool if you can get past the nagging sense of gross cultural appropriation. It was a Thursday night and this restaurant was nextdoor to our hotel.

Like many American Mexican places the menu is overwhelming until you realize that it's a hundred permutations on the same seven ingredients, and fifty shades of margarita. Again, my elitist foodie snobbery gives way to a grudging respect for their commitment to turn everything up to eleven. They absolutely got way more creative than I expected, and I'm glad I went based on that alone.

For example, one of our first cocktails took the concept of "smoky mezcal" to a new level, serving the drink topped with a burning cinnamon stick. The cinnamon stick was fully on fire with no obvious way to extinguish it without dunking it in the drink and imbibing the ashes. Our server seemed to have no appreciation of the dilemma, and we just looked at him incredulously until he carried the flaming stick away somewhere.

I give them props for the creativity of their cocktails--one of mine was garnished with an actual orchid--but balance wasn't one of their criteria. All the drinks we had were cloyingly sweet variations on adult Kool aid, great if that's what you're in the mood for.

I really liked that they served complimentary house made chips and salsa like the "good ol' days," and the salsa actually had some kick to it.

Our entrees were well prepared but ENORMOUS! We got one of the more expensive house specialties that was served in a huge, hot, heavy iron bowl. It's a good thing we liked it because we ended up getting five meals out of it! You almost got the sense that they price them by the pound--my guess is that there were at least two pounds of food served in a single dish.

At any rate, I think it's clear that I have mixed feelings about this place. On the one hand, at it's heart Plaza Azteca is just another variation on the typical American Mexican restaurant. On the other, they've taken this concept, doubled down on it, and taken it to a whole new level. In other words, while they may have chosen to go in a dubious direction, I give them full marks for going the extra mile. At the end of the day, the food was good, and we absolutely got what we paid for.