Party at Perico’s

CANCUN, Mexico – Go to Perico’s for the party. Country singer Reba McEntire has come every New Year’s Eve for the past dozen years, they say.

Go to Perico’s for the cantina. There are seven saddles, instead of stools, along one stretch of the long bar; Bill Clinton and Margaret Thatcher are among the notables who’ve parked themselves there.

Or go for the food. While not Yucatan cuisine, the classic Mexican fare is fine and filling.

Enjoy all of the above, plus the ongoing show – plastic cockroaches included.

Perico’s (Spanish for “parrot”) is a high-volume place, packed most Wednesday through Friday evenings. All food must be brought hands-free, perched on the server’s head.

Appetizers are clocked to be in front of you in 10 minutes; 25 minutes on average for most entrees.

There’s plenty to take in while you wait. Mariachi or marimba bands play from a stage off to the side; there’s the occasional parade of servers winding through the place.

Get up and scope the heavily decorated walls. Paintings by Pamela Brooks, a Texas artist, include a portrait of famed Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, done in Kahlo’s style.

Check the ceilings in the entryway. Suspended from above is a large array of Day of the Dead figures – the comic, papier-mâché skeletons that are sold as figurines throughout the country.

These are much larger and were crafted by the Linares family of Mexico City, internationally recognized masters of this craft whose works are purchased by folk-art museums around the world.

On the large landing en route to the second-floor bathrooms, you’ll see an enormous diorama of these toon-ish skeletons.

Mexicans and art connoisseurs will recognize the scene: It’s a spot-on Day of the Dead rendering of “Paseo por la Alameda” (“A Walk in the Park”) – the famous mural by Mexican painter Diego Rivera.

Back at your table, if your attention wanders, expect your waiter to keep you amused. Egildio Ek, for example, has a plastic cockroach tied to a thread that he pulls across your table linen. When not making small talk. Or head-balancing assorted barware.

And then there’s Jhonny Herrera, who many years back showed up at the door looking for a job as an accountant. There wasn’t an opening, but Perico’s hired him to empty ashtrays: Herrera is a dwarf, and that’s as high as he could reach.

The owners somehow knew that Herrera could contribute to the floor show, and dressed in a type of devil suit as Jhonny Boy, he became part of the cast – a trickster famous for wry or ribald pranks.

He’s now a celebrity host on Telehit, a Mexican riff on MTV, and sells official Jhonny Boy T-shirts through Perico’s – at $15 apiece.