La Monarca Tacos and Ice Cream, located at 276 Linden Ave., is unassuming from the outside, but after the first step through the door, one can tell they are somewhere special.
The restaurant is a delight for the senses. Brightly-colored banners, a wide display case and a large dining area make the interior feel inviting–to say absolutely nothing of the incredible aromas that can be detected from the parking lot.
La Monarca is an example of a simple concept with great execution. True to their name, they specialize in Central American street food and a variety of crafted frozen treats.
The wide-ranging menu includes familiar comfort foods like fried chicken and loaded fries, as well as mash-ups like Doritos con Elote.
Using these basic building blocks, La Monarca’s staff takes obvious pride in every order. During our first visit, we tried two types of tacos: steak and QuesaBirria. These were all sweet and simple, with perfect flavor and crisp texture. Each of the tacos had the perfect (which, for me, means heavy) amount of cilantro and diced onions, and the birria dipping sauce was an authentic, crowd-pleasing recipe.
To accompany the main course, we had to try some of their desserts. One of La Monarca’s specialties is hyper-realistic fruit-shaped ice creams, along with a wide range of options available by the scoop.
We tried the Mangonada chamoyada, the Strawberries with Cream, and lime sorbet.
The Mangonada is stunning to look at, with real fruit blended with zesty chamoy (chili) seasoning. This gave it a sweet, spicy and overall addictive mix of flavor. The strawberries with cream was delicate, light and satisfying without tasting artificially sweet.
Every bite, sip and scoop at La Monarca feels authentic and is everything one hopes for in a family-run restaurant. They have already made repeat customers of my household and I can’t recommend supporting their creative endeavors highly enough.
Hannah Kichline, executive editor
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