Monica's Taco Shop ~ Colorado Springs, Colorado

First visit: Sep 2022 (Chapel Hills Mall area)

Colorado Springs has an inordinate amount of taco shops within its city limits. Despite the gringo name, they are really taquerias. And most are pretty gross to be honest. I like a dive, but not dirty places. The number #1 name in Taco Shops for The Springs is Monica's. And I'd never been, so I thought I should at least try it, though I had a feeling this wasn't going to be my place. And since there's a location up north not too far from where we reside, I thought maybe this would be an exception. Nope - might as well have been on South Academy. Now I fully admit to being rather guero when it comes to Mexican food in general. For example, I think Zapata's Taco Shop is great - just like Taco Fiesta in Baltimore. These places are more geared towards non-Hispanic Americans (and the decidedly Hispanic Mrs. RJG). What I refer to often as Tacos y Margaritas. That name, BTW, was created by me after having received a couple of complaints in DFW for using the term taqueria in places that weren't like Monica's.

For me, Monica's represents everything I don't like about our regional taquerias. Not very clean and the food preparation is perfunctory. Not meant to please but rather to fill you up. I tried 3 tacos: Ground Beef, Carne Asada, and Chicken (not "pollo").  The Carne Asada is no bueno. The meat is not charbroiled at all, and seems like it might be pan grilled (not fried - which would have been good too). They loaded it with a nasty pico de gallo and gooey avocado. Soft yellow corn tortilla. Better was the ground beef, which came in a crispy shell. It was loaded to the top, but the seasonings were bland. The chicken taco was presented similarly, and was the best of the lot. I was surprised some of it contained white meat and it was moist. But it had that orange grease that chicken tacos often come with. Sometimes the bottled sauces can save the day. Neither the medium green nor the hot red helped at all. Not much flavor or spice to be honest. Don't understand why this place is popular. Mr. Music is a better judge than I. If he was here, and had the time, I think he'd have a better understanding of the allure - or maybe not. Mrs. RJG does like hardcore interior dishes like Menudo, so we'd have to wait to see if she'll try it. Anyway... Monica's is not for me.

They have two other stores in the area.

9/2/22 (new entry)