Famous for its variety of flavors, spices, and colorful decorations, authentic Mexican food can be hard to find in the U.S., since it is traditionally eaten inside a giant piñata. Fill your papier-mâché stomach with today’s Groupon: for $15, you get $30 worth of Mexican fare and drinks at Moctezuma’s Mexican Restaurant on 56th Street or in Gig Harbor. The award-winning eatery won this year's Weekly Volcano Tournament of Tacos.

Moctezuma’s first came to life in 1978, when Arturo Garcia decided to share his culture, love of cooking, and knowledge of the correct spelling of “Montezuma” with Northwest diners. To this day, diners can expect excellent service and a tasty menu of authentic, home-style Mexican cuisine prepared from the finest ingredients. Focus the palate with some fiesta queso dip ($5.99) or some chorizo bean dip ($5.99), then use your mouth mowers to shred a carne-asada salad ($11.99) with homemade chipotle-ranch dressing. Discriminating diners can find out what it takes to win Weekly Volcano's brutal, no-holds-barred Tournament of Tacos by trying a serving of Mexico City tacos ($12.99) stuffed with carne asada, marinated chicken, or pork carnitas. Final Fantasy fans, meanwhile, will get a kick out of watching the waiter cast Firaga on a plate of steak, chicken, or shrimp fajitas ($16.49) using a little gold tequila and a flamethrower. And if a cheddar-, guacamole-, and sour-cream-topped chimichanga ($11.99) doesn't make one sufficiently nostalgic for one's former life as a mermaid, enjoy a plate of camarones a la diabla ($14.99) with rice and sautéed vegetables, or happily consume a Cabo shrimp cocktail ($12.99) and then wash away the evidence with a refreshing Jalapeño Margarita, with house-made jalapeño-infused tequila, triple sec and fresh-squeezed citrus juices, hand-shaken and served in a 20 oz. shaker ($7.95).

Though coveting thy neighbor's wife or underground sprinkler system is beyond the pale, longing for a mouthful of their cuisine is an understandable desire. Satisfy the desire to eat from the table of our nation's neighbor with today's Groupon to Moctezuma’s Mexican Restaurant.

Dine-in only. Not valid with any other offers or happy-hour specials.

Reviews

Moctezuma's has won a slew of awards, including Weekly Volcano's Tournament of Tacos this year. Yelpers give them three stars, and TripAdvisors and seven Insider Pagers agree on a four-star rating:

• …the restaurant's "Mexico City Tacos" - prepared with some of the freshest corn tortillas, best meat, and delicious seasoning you're likely to find - have long been a customer favorite, and no doubt carried Moctezuma's to the title. – Matt Driscoll, Weekly Volcano
• We had the Carne Asada Burrito and the Red Snapper. Both meals were amply portioned and made great leftovers. – tacoma_ray, TripAdvisor
• I've been trying for years to find anyone who makes a better Carne Asada, both in the U.S. and in Mexico. No one comes close. No one. – Sean G., Insider Pages