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Mayan Dining
Tue Jan 11, 2005
Listen in RealAudio 
No doubt you've heard about restaurants offering dining "alfresco"-- outside in the fresh
air and weather. But what about the few restaurants that have dared to bring the
weather inside. Hi, I'm Bryan Yeaton and this is The Weather Notebook. As
correspondent, Jeff Rice reports today there is one such restaurant in Salt Lake City,
Utah where soaking rainstorms with lightning and thunder are a centerpiece to the
indoor dining experience.
JR: It's the middle of winter and outside it's freezing. We're in the suburbs of Salt Lake
City eating dinner in a simulated tropical rain forest. Young men are throwing
themselves off cliffs into a lagoon near our table. Now this is entertainment.
JR: A few years ago a local car dealer had a vision. As far as I can tell it was to recreate
the Mayan civilization as if it were a cross between Chuck E Cheese and Las Vegas.
Restaurant manager Jor'l Campbell:
JC: The Mayan Restaurant is a very unique themed restaurant. We seat a thousand
people. The rain forest floor is really the temple ruins of the Mayan society, so as you
walk up each level you're actually climbing up a Mayan temple.
JR: And, if you're going to put your restaurant in a simulated plastic plant rainforest
you're going to need some simulated rain. Every 20 minutes or so a Mayan goddess
conjures up a monsoon and flash flood.
JC: Oh, weather's definitely important. It creates that excitement.
JR: Except we don't actually have to get wet.
JC: I hate to admit it's not all natural.
JR: But, while the ancient Mayans were said to have made sacrifices to the gods to
bring the weather, here it's a lot easier. The rains come like clockwork accompanied by
chips and salsa.
Correspondent Jeff Rice often dines closer to home in Boise, Idaho.
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