Restaurante Arroyo is the world's largest single Mexican restaurant, located in the Tlalpan

Tlalpan

Tlalpan is one of the sixteen administrative boroughs of the Federal District of Mexico City. It is the largest borough, with over eighty percent under conservation as forest and other ecologically sensitive area. The rest, almost all of it on the northern edge, has been urban since the mid 20th...

 area of Mexico City

Mexico City

Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...

. The restaurant has seating for 2,200 patrons in 9 dining rooms and parking for 600 cars. The restaurant also features stages for musical performances, an array of wandering mariachi

Mariachi

Mariachi is a genre of music that originated in the State of Jalisco, in Mexico. It is an integration of stringed instruments highly influenced by the cultural impacts of the historical development of Western Mexico. Throughout the history of mariachi, musicians have experimented with brass, wind,...

 and jarocho

Jarocho

A jarocho is a person, item or style of music from Veracruz, Mexico.One explanation of the origin of the term jarocho is that it evolved from an old Spanish word meaning brusque or disordered. There are many other theories....

 bands, an area for hosting piñata

Piñata

A piñata is a papier-mâché or other type of container that is decorated, filled with toys and or candy and then broken as part of a ceremony or celebration. Piñatas are most commonly associated with Mexico, but its origins are considered to be in China...

 parties, a cockfighting pit, a mechanical bull

Mechanical bull

A mechanical bull, also known as a rodeo bull or bucking bronco is a machine that replicates the sensation of riding a bucking animal, such as a rodeo bull or horse. It is usually powered by a variable-speed electric motor...

 and its own bullring

Bullring

A bullring is an arena where bullfighting is performed. Bullrings are often associated with Spain, but they can also be found in neighboring countries and the New World...

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History and noted menu items

Restaurante Arroyo was founded by Jose Arroyo in 1940. Although its menu has expanded along with its size, its principal claim to gastronomic fame was and is its dishes featuring lamb and mutton, such as barbacoa

Barbacoa

Barbacoa is a form of cooking meat that originated in the Caribbean with the Taíno people, from which the term "barbecue" derives. In contemporary Mexico it generally refers to meats or a whole sheep slow-cooked over an open fire, or more traditionally, in a hole dug in the ground covered with...

 de borrego (slow-roasted barbecue mutton) and consome de borrego, soup made from the drippings of the roasting lamb and sheep.

The restaurant has been featured on Rick Bayless

Rick Bayless

Rick Bayless is an American chef who specializes in traditional Mexican cuisine with modern interpretations. He is perhaps best known for his PBS series Mexico: One Plate at a Time....

' PBS cooking show, "Mexico: One Plate at a Time

Mexico: One Plate at a Time

Mexico: One Plate at a Time is a television series starring chef Rick Bayless distributed to public television stations by WTTW. The show is currently broadcasting its seventh season...

". In terms of size and number of diversions for diners, it is similar to the more famous Denver restaurant Casa Bonita

Casa Bonita

Casa Bonita is a chain of Mexican-themed "eatertainment" restaurants which originated in Oklahoma City. As of 2011, only one location remains open, in the western Denver suburb of Lakewood, Colorado....

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