Monica's in Prospect Heights - LTH Taqueria Project

Monica's Mexican Food and Pizza
(847) 537-3360, 604 N Milwaukee Ave Prospect Heights, IL

"and Pizza?" you ask -- yes, they sell pizza, by the slice and whole pies, as I think they took over what was previously Monica's Pizza. Hey, they've got the ovens, they might as well use them.

I eat here frequently as it's in the same center as MrsF's office.
I've posted before, too, but here's a taco-specific post. Sorry, no pix today.

Tacos are served with a wedge of lime, and red and green salsa, neither of which are far out of the ordinary.

I ordered three of my favorite taco varieties:
1) Pastor: middling. Good flavors, nice portion size, but not from a spit, so it's a big notch down.
2) Chile Relleno: Ordinarily one of my faves from here, but this must have been a bad chile: It was tough and couldn't be bitten through, and was skimpy on the cheese. Tastes great, though. This one eschews the ordinary onions and cilantro for a bath of nicely lard-y beans and a sprinkling of rice. Very filling, a whole meal on a disc of masa.
3) Cecina (translated as "fine steak"): Large thin pieces of marinated steak topped with a generous dollop of guacamole and cilantro and onions. This is their masterpiece. Great guac, tasty beef.

They also offer pollo, steak, chorizo, and a couple others, priced $1.40 to $1.75.

Far better than other local options, we go back to Monica's regularly and not just for the convenience.

We dropped in here recently. My take on the al pastor mirrors JoelF's, but I loved the chile relleno. Chorizo was OK, nothing special, and the regular steak tacos were, in a word, nasty. Gristly, warmed over, I couldn't finish mine. I'm not crazy about the corn tortillas they use, either, which are clearly pre-packaged and seemed a bit stale.

We also had a shrimp cocktail full of sizeable whole shrimp and not too ketchupy, and nice guacamole. The service was friendly, if not always very good at understanding English.

I'd like to explore more of the menu here, and it's fine if you're in the area, but by no means a destination. Lots of better options in the northwest suburbs.

IMO they are one of the best mexican places in the area. The cecina tacos are great and they also have excellent daily specials..the goat is fantastic
for dessert head over th Bravo Bakery right across from them for a slice of tres leches
I really cant believe you guys got bad food there. i eat there once a week and its consistently good..maybe you pissed off the waitress with her english

Deke,
I didn't have bad food, merely a chewy pepper and mediocre al pastor. An off day.

I eat there regularly -- MrsF's office is above Bravo Bakery, and was just trying to broaden my experience beyond the tacos cecinas which, as I said above, is their masterpiece.

I like their sopes a lot, and their tortas are quite good, but not quite heavenly (search the board for "cemita" for an awesome picture).

Joel

JoelF wrote:Deke,
I didn't have bad food, merely a chewy pepper and mediocre al pastor. An off day.

I eat there regularly -- MrsF's office is above Bravo Bakery, and was just trying to broaden my experience beyond the tacos cecinas which, as I said above, is their masterpiece.

I like their sopes a lot, and their tortas are quite good, but not quite heavenly (search the board for "cemita" for an awesome picture).

Joel

i do like the tortas and burritos

I tried one thing I'd call bad, five that were OK to pretty good and one that I loved. I don't call that condemning the place, by any means. I would go there again. I just won't order the steak tacos.

We didn't have any altercations over language. It's just that two of us ordered the same thing, and only one order and an empty plate came out. "I'll have the same" apparently didn't translate.

never said you condemned it..as I prevously stated I was surprised you got some bad food..especially the steak tacos/burritos as they have been consistently good for me..you must have hit an off day I guess

I didn't have the cecina; these were the regular steak tacos. Also, it was late in the day.

I was surprised at how quickly our order came out, which seems to imply they didn't cook to order but just heated and assembled pre-cooked ingredients. That's fine for chorizo, not so good for steak.