Not just a free trip . . . the lucky winner and a guest will join Steve and Dalton, (the owners of Sonora Grill) on a guided excursion to Mexico, just south of Puerto Vallarta.

FREE airfare

FREE accommodations in a private beach house (3 days, 2 nights)

FREE meals

FREE transfers

Be prepared for some relaxing on the beach and lots of great Mexican food!

To be eligible for the contest, enter the Sonora Club by Sunday, February 5th. The winner will be randomly selected from the entire Sonora Club and need not be present to win. The drawing will take place Monday, February 6th and the winner’s name will be posted that night. One entry per person. Sonora Grill employees and family members are not eligible to win. Must be 18 years or older. Must live within 100 miles of Sonora Grill. Passport required. Prize is non-negtioable, non-transferrable, and not redeemable for cash.

Click here to enter Sonora Club or go to http://www.thesonoragrill.com/sonora-club/

We go through 40 gallons of our red smoky morita salsa and 40 gallons of our green tomatillo salsa every week!

And there are plenty of our customers who like it HOT! We use 10 gallons of habanero salsa per week.

Any guesses how many chips are needed for all of that salsa? 44,000 per week!

During the month of May, tomatoes were priced incredibly high due to weather and demand. We spent over $20,000 to provide our customers free chips and salsa.

Sonora Grill used 10,000 pounds of chicken last year. Our numbers will probably exceed 16,000 pounds this year!

We use an average of 1000 avocados per week.

Our tortilla lady makes about 1000 tortillas, by hand, every day. On weekends, the number goes up to almost 1800!

The winner of the $75 gift card is: Candice Monson.

And since there were SO many people who entered our drawing, we decided to keep pulling out names!

Ten dollar gift cards will be mailed to the following 20 people:

Dee Atkinson, Savannah Shaw, Leigh Kawaguchi, Jill Crockett, Meredith Dodgen, Craig Oberg, Miguel Aguilar, Stacy Day, Becca Cannon, Sina Sharifan, Jon Robinson, Summer Hogge, Lindsay Rasmussen, Abby Beattie, Troy Pugmire, Nicole Burton, Debby Cannon, Elizabeth Adams, Shellie Stevens, Corey Paschal

Thanks for becoming Sonora Club Members and entering our contest!

It’s time for the Ogden Marathon- cancel your reservations at the Italian restaurant because Sonora Grill is where you want to come as a pre-race destination or a post-race celebration. Most athletes load up on carbohydrates before a race or competition. You can read more information from Runner’s World on carb-loading here.

As an official sponsor of the marathon, we have created two meals for athletes. Both have a 4:1 carbohydrate to protein ratio. Our Carb-Load Burrito ($11.95) will help you load up before the race and the Completion Combo ($11.95) will help your body recover. (We also have some incredible desserts to help you celebrate!)

Beans and rice are better than pasta because they offer slightly better carbohydrate properties and are packed full nutrition. Together they form a complete protein, providing all of the essential amino acids. If you’re watching salt intake, they’re a great dish because without the addition of salt during cooking, beans and rice contain no sodium. Beans and rice are an excellent source of iron (45 percent DV) and phosphorus (34 percent DV). They also supply 23 to 27 percent of the recommended daily value of potassium, magnesium, selenium and copper. Rice supplies 87 percent of the total selenium, and beans contribute between 60 to 86 percent of the remaining minerals. The rice and bean combination works so well for long-distance running because rice is a medium on the glycemic index for fast, but not too fast energy and beans are very low on the index, giving you energy longer into your race.

Did you know that Sonora Grill’s rice is vegetarian, vegan, and MSG-free? Most Mexican restaurants use chicken stock to make their rice, and most chicken stocks are heavily laden with toxic MSG. You can watch a cool video about MSG here. In addition to the problems and health risks shown in the video, my favorite statement is that you can make dirty taste good with MSG. Since Sonora Grill doesn’t use any MSG, you can be assured that our good is good . . . and good for you too!

Give your body what it needs and make your reservation now!

Laura Benson! Congratulations! Make us proud!

Sending you an email with more details.

Want to participate in the SOLD OUT Ogden Marathon on May 21?

We have an entry for a Relay Team and we are giving it away here TODAY.

Relay Teams may have 2 to 5 participants. Relay participants are allowed to continue running the next leg(s) with their team mate(s), so if you’re dying to run the whole 26.2 miles, you can!

For more information about the Relay Race, click here.

Giveaway Rules:

1. Leave a comment on this blog with the name of the person you vote should win. (Recruit your family and friends to comment and vote for you!)

2. One vote per person. Must be 18 years or older to enter giveaway.

3. The person with the most votes wins the Relay Team Entry and will act as team captain by forming the team.

4. Completed entry forms (one per person) must be turned into the GOAL Foundation (2491 Washington Blvd.) by Monday at 5:00 PM. (The $250 entry fee has been waived. This is a FREE ENTRY!)

5. Bonus: Each person may earn a second vote by adding Sonora Grill’s blog to your blogroll. (Private blogs excluded.) To have your second vote counted, post a second comment on this blog with the link to the blog that has added Sonora Grill to the blogroll AND the name of the person you are voting for.

6. Giveaway ends Friday, February 4 at 10:00 PM MST.

The snow trucks are busy getting piling snow ON the road for Winterfest, and we can’t wait.

You don’t want to miss family-friendly, mostly-FREE, activity packed winter weekend.

Here’s the schedule, with our favorite events in bold:

Friday, January 28

5:45 pm – 6:30 pm  Toboggan Parade (25th Street)

7:00 pm – 10:00 pm  Nordic Events, Rail Riding, Rail Jam (25th Street)

Saturday, January 29

8:00 am – 10:00 am  Firefighters Pancake Breakfast (Amphitheater, $2 per person)

9:00 am – 11:00 am  5K Race (Timbermine to Municipal Gardens, $15)

9:00 am – 4:00 pm  Tubing & Sledding (25th Street, tubes supplied by Recreation Outlet)

9:00 am – 5:30 pm  Snowmobile Races (25th Street)

10:00 am – 1:00 pm  Skijoring (Grant Avenue)

10:00 am – 4:00 pm  Kid’s Snow Play Area (Municipal Gardens)

10:00 am – 5:00 pm  X-Country Skiing and Snowshoeing (sponsored by WSU Campus Recreation)

10:00 am – 5:00 pm  Vendor Mall (Amphitheater)

11:00 am  Polar Bear Swim (Lorin Farr Park)

2:00 pm – 3:00 pm  Dog Costume Contest (Amphitheater)

2:00 pm – 5:00 pm  Human Dog Sled Races (Grant Avenue)

4:30 pm – 8:00 pm  Concert (Amphitheater)

6:00 pm – 6:30 pm  Awards Ceremony (Amphitheater)

To register for these events or to get more information go the Ogden City website.

This is a nice little article from the Deseret News about the Sundance Film Festival in Ogden:

Sundance 2011: The sun shines on Ogden

Bonus: A ticket stub from Tuesday evening’s film, The Music Never Stopped, gets you into the 1960s-themed  opening reception party at the Eccles Conference Center held just after the movie, complete with directors and actors from this year’s films.

Double Bonus: The article recommends eating at Union Grill or Bistro 258. We’d like to provide our own recommendation: Sonora Grill. And to sweeten the deal, we are offering a SUNDANCE SPECIAL:

Come to Sonora Grill before or after your movie and show us your ticket (or stub) for a FREE DESSERT. One free dessert per couple. Offer valid Sunday through Thursday.