Ixtapa Restaurant

Absolutely amazing spot for Sunday brunch! Everything we ordered was on point. My wife had the…read morehuevos rancheros, perfectly balanced, flavorful, and cooked just right. I went with the machaca (tender shredded beef with eggs), and it was incredible, super tender, rich, and packed with flavor. We also shared the garlic parm wings, which were crispy and addictive, and the chips & guac were fresh and done right. Our kid had a quesadilla and loved it. One of the coolest touches was the kids menu! it's interactive and even teaches them how to count to 10 in Spanish, which is such a fun and thoughtful detail. Great food, welcoming vibe, and an awesome brunch experience all around. We'll definitely be back!

Monroe, Washington, April 2026…read more This colorful building is located on the main street in downtown Monroe. The minute you walk in you are greeted immediately. An older gentleman and a younger guy were quick to tell us we could sit wherever we wanted as it was a Sunday evening. Booths line the wall and there are about four tables in the middle of the restaurant. Very small, but very colorful and extremely friendly staff. We were quickly asked for a drink order and they brought chips and salsa. The chips were a perfect thin yet crunchy texture. The salsa was very flavorful. It had chunks of onions and lots of cilantro. However, I wish the salsa was spicier. We both ordered chicken and beef enchiladas à la crema. The presentation was nice and I'm so glad there was no lettuce decorating my plate. My whole beans came in a little tortilla cup but the rice lacked flavor. It taste more like a puréed risotto. The enchiladas were covered in the cream sauce that also had cheese. There was no flavor to the cream sauce and the chicken was extremely dry. I liked the flavor of the whole beans. They don't give you a full basket of chips when you sit down. So we asked for more as they were delicious. But then we received only a quarter of a basket this second time. They don't post prices of the soda or the drinks. When we inquired to see a bar menu, they said they had none that we could order anything we want. We asked the price of a particular drink and he said don't worry. When I receive my bill, my non alcoholic bottle of Heineken was $7.25. I think that is outrageous for a nonalcoholic beer. I will give this place three stars because the chicken was tough and dry. The cream sauce was boring and the salsa needs spice.

Dining room

Pork Carnitas

See all

Inside dining area

Taqueria El Rey

4.3(101 reviews)

0.1 mi

•$

Review update, still one of the only good restaurants in town. This is an amazing place. Very few…read moreMexican restaurants like this where you can tell someone that cares is making the food instead of just opening big cans of salty crap. Build a custom burrito, eat in the store so you can get the free chips and try their amazing salsa. You will thank me. P.S. Its like a small teriyaki place inside, so keep your expectations in check. Couple of tables, strip mall, you get it.

This place is decent. I had to stop by the Harbour Freight due to my local one in Everett not…read morehaving what I needed and I was in town long enough to eat so I first stopped at the Henrys' Donuts for a bacon maple bar and black coffee. As I was chilling and eating an impromptu breakfast I was looking at the strip mall style food area and Taqueria El Rey caught my eye. I love tacos. And they had the meat I almost judge very taqueria on heavily: Tripas. So I was still before opening time so I just let my quick breakfast marinate and digest and hung out in the parking lot for a bit. And as it hit closer to opening time I was a little nervous cuz I had yet to see any movement inside but sure enough close to five minutes before opening I saw a lady move around and then turned the sign on and opened the door. It was early but I had waited long enough lol. I got out and as solan as she turned around for the counter I was ready. I ordered two tripas, carne asada, carnitas and a buche. Water and a can of coke to wash it down with. It came with a side of chips and salad which was alright. The salsa was nothing special but I finished it with some chips left over. When the tacos came you could feel they just left the heat which is always a good sign. I doused them in a little salt and lime and I used the verse sauce. They hit the spot. The tripas had a good sheen of fat and gristle but weren't crispy like I really wanted but they sufficed. The carnitas were ok. Same it's the buche and asada. As hard as it is to find tripas and then have the tripas be stellar it's almost as hard to find good asada these days but nonetheless it was a good meal. The counter person was the same waitress. She was very nice and attentive enough. I finished my food and gave my customary thank you and have great day and she have the same sentiment of welcome and you too. If you're I town and feeling tacos give Taqueria El Rey a try.

Open daily

See all

Taqueria La Bamba

4.2(99 reviews)

0.4 mi

After an exhausting hike, my boyfriend and I were starving for some tacos on the way home. Taqueria…read moreLa Bamba was the only one still open around 7PM. We sat down and I ordered some lengua tacos while my boyfriend got some birria tacos. I would say compared to some other tacos places their tacos were lacking a bit in flavor. My boyfriend noticed his consome wasn't as rich as other places we've ordered at. The tacos were still pretty solid and filling but not excellent. If you're looking for a decent place to get your Mexican food fix Taqueria La Bamba is there but if you're looking for the best in Monroe it is not.

Really good food. The service was great. The beef in the enchiladas were tender and juicy!read more

Dedicated bar area - march 2024

Enchiladas Rojas

See all

Steak Burrito

El Paraiso Mexican Grill

4.1(137 reviews)

1.9 mi

I've been here a couple times before. And I wasn't…read moreimpressed. But somebody said, "Oh it's gotten better," so I went. Again I walked in with prejudice. There is parking, and they did seat this promptly. The server was kind, patient and thorough. And then the food got there, and that's when I really had to eat crow because the food was really good. Fajita burrito. I cleaned the plate. Puerto grande. I wasn't expecting it to be good. I was expecting to be, you know, lame. But it was good. It's the only large room in Monroe, and it's decorated in bright colors. Our table was right on the lake, which happened to be flooded that week also. All things considered, this place has worked their way up to a five-star review.

A group of us stopped here after a movie for Margaritas. It was the closest place that looked like…read moreit had great potential. The deck off the back of the restaurant was fantastic, I just wished anything would have matched that energy. We ordered 2 jalapeno Margaritas, and 2 "fresh natural" margaritas. They brought out chips and salsa and beans to us following our orders. The salsa I am not sure how it qualify as salsa. It was more like a can of stewed tomatoes. No spice, no flavor. The beans were the same. Plain, nothing to them. While fajitas had been walked by many times we opted not to get food. After letting the server know we were not ordering food, I believe the manager came over to ask if everything was ok. We were like yeah, we just came by for drinks. Both the server and the manager seemed annoyed after that. After receiving our drinks they were to be nice, just plain disappointing. Jalapeño margaritas are my drink of choice and this one fell well short of the mark. There were jalapeños in it, but there was zero spice and a very strong flavor of just the margarita mix. My wife enjoyed her fresh margarita, but upon receiving the bill the fresh margarita was a $4 add on for the fresh lime juice? $65 for 4 margaritas in pounder glasses. Maybe it's because they were not good that I find that as steep. Thanks Monroe El Paraiso, we won't be back. I wasn't going to bother to write a review, but when you get treated different for not ordering food, something is wrong with the establishment. Two stars just for the view

See all

Sunset margarita

Mi Tierra

3.9(248 reviews)

0.1 mi

Finding edible Mexican food in Washington State is usually a quest more difficult than finding a…read moredry sidewalk in November. Most of the time, you're just paying for a lukewarm tortilla and a dream. Then I found Mi Tierra, and hope finally returned. First off, the ambiance is so authentic that I halfway expected a relative I've never met to walk out of the kitchen and ask why I haven't called. The place is decorated like a true Hacienda, and honestly, the décor does some heavy lifting--it's like the stucco walls and rustic charm trick your taste buds into believing you've just crossed the border, even if it's actually 40 degrees and raining outside. As for the food: it's spectacular. In a land where "spicy" often just means either "we added an extra grain of black pepper," or "we added uranium", Mi Tierra serves actual, authentic flavor. Whether it's the rich sauces or the well seasoned meats, eating here feels like a victory over the bland Mexican-food desert we call the Pacific Northwest. Best of all, the prices are incredibly reasonable. You get a massive portion of "real-deal" food without having to sell a kidney or take out a second mortgage. If you want to stop eating "tacos" that taste like sadness and disappointment and start eating like you're on vacation, get yourself to Mi Tierra. You may want to check out their menu on the Mi Tierra Official Website to plan your escape from mediocre salsa and to avoid the feeling that you are sitting for a test that you havent studied for as the wait staff can be pretty fast to take your order

This ended up being kind of what we expected it to be. The decor and art was gorgeous. Lovely! They…read morehad a cool fire pit table in the middle that was cool. The service was fine. We were one of three tables and felt like the staff didn't really have eyes on us or the other tables. They came often enough but definitely on the slow side. It wasn't super clear to me what was gluten free since they had a lot of different sauces. My first few options didn't end up being gluten free, but I landed on spinach enchiladas. I found the enchiladas to be very odd. They had no cheese in them, just spinach mushroom onions. And barely any sauce. It was like a salad inside a tortilla. I wanted wayyy more cheese. My fiance got a burrito and it was half the size as the one at table next to us so he was bummed but said it was good. I would eat here in a pinch or if I was hungry coming back from the mountains, but I'm not rushing to go back.

Nachos

See all

Outside sign

Tacos Pihuamo Restaurant

4.3(6 reviews)

0.4 mi

Great new place opened just 11 days…read more Fresh. Clean family business. Destination eatery.

This is never open. Lived here for years and I never see an open sign. More of a remote taco truck…read moredown the street that has good reviews.

See all

Tijuana

4.0(99 reviews)

I came here for lunch, and it was a bit unassuming - there was nobody else eating. However, the…read morefood and service was way better than expected! The complimentary chips and salsa were really tasty - the chips were warm and crisp, the salsa was tasty, and they even gave refried beans as an extra dip. The refried beans were extremely good and worked better as a chip dip than I expected, and it made me think that other mexican restaurants should give beans as a chip dip! I got a 2 item combo - enchilada + burrito - and it was very good value too; much cheaper than some places in the Seattle area. It came with rice and a choice of beans, and I liked the beans they gave for dip so much I asked to get refried beans (normal side is pinto beans). Everything tasted great, and the benefit of being there when it was empty was that we got very attentive service. Something to note - the burrito was basically the same as the enchilada, except that it used a flour tortilla - I thought it would be more different but that's probably a me problem.

I come here for the tacos. Full of flavor and meaty. They do not hold back. Three tacos here is…read moreenough for me. Michelada was excellent as well. The opening salsa and chips and beans were very nice. I think the most important thing to add is that the tacos reminded me of being in TJ. None of the other tacos trucks or restaurants in the area do that. Coming back.

Combo: Chicken Tostada and a Chili Relleno

See all

Sign

HWY 2 Fusion Diner

4.3(299 reviews)

When you pull up it looks like you're going into a gas station but one side is a very nice American…read moreMexican Fusion restaurant. We decided to do brunch here. When we walked in we were greeted by a few people and our party of 5 seated quickly in a full restaurant. Our waitress was fantastic and brought the menus and water quickly and then checked at just the right time to take our order. We ordered a cinnamon roll French toast which my daughter said was great, my other daughter ordered a cheeseburger and fries which was cooked to her liking and it was good as well. My wife and daughter's husband ordered the eggs Benedict and I had the highway 2 ultimate omelet. It was all fantastic and there homemade salsa was great Overall a great experience

Great people and great service! We stopped by after a long tiring hike craving for some brunch food…read moreand this place did not disappoint. I had the chilaquiles with chorizo and my husband got the veggie Benedict. Everything was delicious and the eggs were cooked perfectly! We also finished with a short stack and the pancakes were nice and fluffy.

Veggie Omelette

See all

Antojitos La Poblanita

4.6(19 reviews)

The desserts were good, but we weren't expecting the one Nutella Fresas and 2 ice cream cones to be…read more$23. If I had noticed the prices before ordering and paying, I probably would have just ordered the cones and it would have been a $10 trip instead. The people were nice and service was prompt. The location is great being in downtown Monroe.

A quaint hole in a wall found in Monroe that offers various Mexican drinks and snacks! My go to are…read morealways a Tostiloco and a Raspasdo. This time around I got a Tostiloco and a Jamaica drink. Such a refreshing combo! This hidden gem is worth going to if you like spicy and tangy Mexican street snacks!