What a party – always in Ajua Maya – fantastic cusine, incredible service, fabulous music, casual and sophisticated!
June 1st, 2011Enjoy a bit of our “Ten Years in Playa del Carmen” anniversary party. What a great night
“AMAZING!”
May 27th, 2011“AMAZING!”
awesome food, awesome service. i would go back anytime! definitely don’t miss out!
Would you recommend this restaurant to a friend? Yes
Ajua Maya Restaurant Celebrates 10th Anniversary in Playa del Carmen
May 19th, 2011The Alfaro Group Celebrates Ajua Maya Restaurant 10th Anniversary in Playa del Carmen.
Ajua Maya Restaurant is celebrating ten years in Playa del Carmen on May 21, 2011 with an Invitation-Only Celebration of Traditional Mayan, Mestizo and Mexican cuisine plus a touch of Virginia with live music all night – and, featuring, Chef Gabriel Sanchez Gómez, Ajua Maya’s new Executive Chef, will provide a sampling of his extraordinary traditional exican and Mestizo cuisines.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Press Release) May 19, 2011 – Playa del Carmen, Q. Roo, Mexico
On March 21, 2001, Jorge and Brenda Alfaro acquired Ajua Restaurant (now Ajua Maya) in Playa del Carmen. Their 2001 acquisition began a fantastic culinary journey, which transformed a small Playa restaurant into the current, Ajua Maya — a casual, sophisticated, five star dining experience. Ajua Maya specializes in Mayan, Mestizo, Mexican and a touch of Virginian cuisine; and now, ten years later, the Alfaros enjoy working with many of the same staff and wonderful Ajua friends who return each and every year to share their success.
“Immediately after the acquisition of Ajua, we worked hard to provide our customers with the highest quality ingredients and preparations available on the Riviera Maya,” said Brenda Alfaro, the Virginian partner. “This commitment to excellence for our customers and our staff has created a wonderfully warm and trusted environment, coupled with the extraordinary friendly service our Mayan staff provides, and the memorable culinary experiences created by our Mayan chefs.”
“We feel blessed,” said Jorge Alfaro, the Mexican-Mayan side of the couple. “Those who experience our creative and inclusive restaurant style, convey to us that we
are one of the best, if not the best, restaurant experiences they have ever had in their life. What a compliment. “
The Alfaros attribute their restaurant’s success to the extraordinary Mayan staff they have worked with for ten years. Brenda explained that the Maya infuse Ajua Maya with
their noble heritage, including their traditional community culture, which ensures harmony in daily life and in work, free of negativity and full of the joy of working together as a family and a village.
Their General Manager, Jorge Huchim Martin, and their In-House Accountant, Amilcar Torres Canul, along with their long term Ajua Maya brothers (yes, they have an all male staff – the norm in this part of the world — except for the lonely Virginian, Brenda), have dedicated the past ten years to ensure Ajua Maya not only maintains its commitment to quality but continues to strive to be better than before. They have been successful beyond anyone’s goals and expectations.
In 2011, with the extraordinary growth of Ajua Maya and its expanding reputation, the executive staff strategized it was time to bring additional talent into the fold at a management level, an executive chef , and the search began.
“It was quite a challenge to find the right personality match,” said Brenda Alfaro. “First, we reviewed many resumes and interviewed quite a few candidates. We felt we needed a chef who specialized in ancient Mexican Indian cuisine as well as Mestizo style (the fusion of ancient Indian recipes with those of the Mexican’s Spanish and French conquerors). In addition, we searched for a chef who was trained professionally and had a degree in culinary arts.
The challenge was not to find that combination; the challenge was to find someone outside of the Mayan world that would be able to respect the Mayan culture and the Mayan staff at Ajua Maya. Not an easy task.”
“We are proud to announce that Chef Gabriel Sánchez Gómez. originally from Puebla, Puebla, is a chef with great talent and dedication to traditional Mexican cuisine, joined us three months ago and has successfully bonded with his new Ajua Maya family plus the one Virginian female, my wife and partner!”, said Jorge Alfaro. “We are proud to have him with us and look forward to many more years of success and growth under his and all of our staff’s guidance.”
On May 21, 2011, Chef Gabriel will debut his Mexican and Mestizo cuisine in Ajua Maya, along with ancient Mayan dishes, at the ten year invitation-only anniversary bash at Ajua Maya for Ajua Maya’s friends, patrons, and VIP guests from Playa del Carmen.
Chef Gabriel debut will be supported by the incredible Ajua Maya staff, along with live music including Mariachis, Tierra Vera – Ajua ‘s Salsa and Latin Jazz Band, and “UnRated” – Ajua’ s Rock ‘n Roll Sundays band.
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For
additional information, please contact Brenda Long Alfaro (Brenda@ajua.biz )
Office: +52 984 803 1118
skype: ajuaevents
About The Alfaro Group
The Alfaro Group was formed in 2001 in Playa del Carmen and includes Ajua Maya Restaurant, Ajua Weddings and Ajua Events.
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“Great food, live music, and super fun dining off of Avenue 5!”
May 16th, 2011Date of review: May 14, 2011- New
We enjoyed Ajua Maya so much that we went there twice for dinner during our most recent trip to Playa del Carmen. It is located just off of Avenue Five, with great fish, dishes, kebabs, as well as Mexican standards that are more tasty here. They flambe a number of dishes, desserts, and drinks, and it is great fun to sit outside and have the flambeed dishes at your table. The waiters are also very entertaining and balance huge schooners of margaritas and sangria on their heads and jest with the diners. A live band played during both of our visits so my husband and I danced a bit. Great, fun!
Perfect Date Night”
May 6th, 2011What a fantastic spot! Everything was top notch, our meal, the service, the atmosphere…all excellent. We had an appetizer, 2 steak dinners (best steak I’ve ever had) and a few cervasas for around $85. Totally worth it, would go back in a second and will recommend this restaurant to all of my clients who travel to Playa (I’m a travel agent). A very entertaining dining experience as well…waiters with many drinks piled on their heads, Mexican guitarists, fun with napkin folding etc. LOVED THIS PLACE 
Thanks for making “date night” so wonderful!
Date of review: May 4, 2011- New
Date of visit: April 2011
Member since: April 15, 2010
- Would you recommend this restaurant to a friend? Yes
Was this review helpful? Yes
Excellent meal and service!”
May 2nd, 2011When in Playa, we try to experience new restaurants each time. We chose this restaurant for dinner one night our last trip and we were very pleased.
The staff was wonderful right from the start. They were more than happy to explain the menu, give their recommendations, etc. We enjoyed a bottle of wine with our dinner, and heaven forbid my husband grabbed for the bottle to refill my glass! I never saw a waiter move so fast (and scold my hubby)!
We had more to eat than we should have, but it was all good. We were early that night (skipped lunch), but I understand they had a band/entertainment later that night.
To finish off our dinner, the waiters gave us each a shot of Xtabentun to sip on.
We would recommend this place to anyone. Thank you for a great exerience!!!
- Date of visit: April 2011
- Member since: November 15, 2004
- Would you recommend this restaurant to a friend? Yes
Was this review helpful? Yes
Date of review: Apr 28, 2011- New
“wonderful and fun!”
April 25th, 2011We were recommended to stop at Ajua! by our travel liason. What a great recommendation! The food was exceptional, the service was amazing and entertaining! We would definitely go back! It was a bit pricey, but you get what you pay for! Our tables were outside, we were serenaded by mariachi bands and felt like we were in a quaint little town, rather than being in the middle of a busy town. Go and enjoy!
Date of review: Apr 23, 2011 – New
“The Spirit of Playa”
April 20th, 2011Our drinks came and I said to my husband, “This isn’t it (not Ajua – another restaurant). Let’s just get a drink and an appetizer. This isn’t what I want on our last night in Playa.” It should have been, open air, live music, friendly waiters – we had been there before. (Karaoke, back room, stiff chairs.)
We left, walked down 5th ave. enticed by menus and hosts. Literally standing at the cross roads I looked down the little side street. “What’s that down there?” An open table in the front, comfortable seats to relax and kick back, wonderful menu with varied choices and reasonable prices, a live band whose music blended with the atmosphere and the waiters were having fun. No pressure, just come in and enjoy.
Our experience at Ajua Maya was the best dining experience we have ever had and by far the best we have had in Playa. This was our fourth trip. Our two boys, ages 9 and 15 loved their meals, enjoyed the fun but professional shenanigans of our waiter and took home the most wonderful memories of our last night in Mexico. They are still showing all of their friends new toothpick games, pyramid challenges but haven’t quite mastered how to set our table by bringing drinks on their heads.
The food was delicious, fresh and done to perfection. My husband ordered a Caesar salad. A Caesar salad…in Mexico???? Boring. What a great choice. Prepared at our table, with a fresh flambe dressing. AMAZING. I ordered a steak kabab – the meat and vegetables were flavorful and grilled exactly how I ordered. The margaritas were pretty killer too!
Intuition brought us there the first time; great service, brilliantly delicious food, creative and professional service and a menu we only briefly touched will bring us back. Thank you Ajua Maya!
Tofield, Alberta
- Date of visit: April 2011
- Trip Advisor Member since: August 08, 2010
New Chef, New Ajua Maya Menu, New Design, New Energy — Coming Semana Santa
April 9th, 2011Well I am on a creative jag redesiging the Ajua Maya menu for new leather menu covers & all other related marketing pieces. Lots of fun. So, to track changes and our new Chef Gabrie’s impact, I added to the customer survey a 4th category – Fantastic! Now we are getting more Fantastics than Excellents and we have not even introduced the new dishes and presentations from the new Chef.! What Next? a fifth category? ….. Perfect????
PS. Don’t worry. We are keeping our traditional menu as well – just took a few dishes off and will be adding some great ones like Whole Fresh Fish grilled over charcoal with five chiles (Pescado Entero Fresco a la Talla). Also, we will be having monthly specials featuring traditional Mexican cuisine focusing on Mexican regions and states. This will be introduced for Samana Santa with several Whole Fish Dishes and Tuna Tartar. The month of May – Puebla! It will be worth a special trip to Playa!
“Consistently Tops”
April 7th, 2011I can’t remember in what year I first ate at the Ajúa Maya — probably when it opened, but I keep going back. Since I live inland I usually choose seafood: the shrimp in its many presentations (salad, wine sauce, etc.), the lobster flambéd with an anis liqueur, the salmon steak. Also, I’ve enjoyed the food typical of the Yucatán peninsula: the pok chuk (poc chuk), chicken pibil, pork pibil (cochinita pibil), chicken in relleno negro, and recommend guests to order the assorted platter of this.
What I like best, is that mostly Mexican food is offered, though there are international dishes as well. Also, the setting is Mexican style at its most festive.
The margaritas (my favorite drink) are great.
The musical group from Vera Cruz inspired these old bones to get up and dance.
- Jolly Crone – Trip Advisor Member since: May 13, 2009
- Would you recommend this restaurant to a friend? Yes