Monte Rico

Amazing place. Been going here for months. Most authentic Mexican food you’ll have in the area. Haven’t had this good of tacos since I moved out of LA

The tacos were good, but the chicken taquitos were too heavy and left me feeling sort of sick.

Easily my favorite place for tacos in the PNW. Always fast and friendly service and the tacos just can’t be beat!

Anyway, this place is rad. You can probably tell by the scores and rates, but just in case there’s any mystery, here’s the cheat sheet:
Yep, strip mall. Yep, convenience store. You park in a windblown-​looking lot just up the hill from a couple gas stations and a big flowing river of freeway. You walk in through the doors of what looks like an ordinary convenience store stocked with the usual junk food. This is because they’re the doors of an ordinary convenience store stocked with the usual junk food. You stroll further past glass cases full of lighters, glass pipes, and bongs, among other oddities. If you choose to shop this convenience store while dining at Molte Rico, remember that they, like Molte Rico, do not take credit cards. Scurry back to that ATM by the door, young Paduan.
In back, past the pop coolers and the artisanal water pipes, is a gigantic pictographic menu, about a dozen dishes occupying about 20 square feet of wall space. Burritos, street tacos, rolled tacos, plates.
They DO have tamales. And these tamales are delicious tamales.
The staff here are super friendly and super nice. They speak at the pace of auctioneers with other spanish-​speakers, and at an unremarkable pace in English. If you happen to know any Spanish, they would probably think it was pretty cool if you use it to order your food. Here’s what we had:
Tamarind fruit juice. Kinda sweet, has good fruity flavor, but the sugar gets to be a bit much after a whole (huge) glass. You know that going in, though.
Pork tamal. Literally the very last of the tamales in the store. A bit salty on the meat, but great flavor, very tender, and the masa wasn’t just a mouthful of wet paper, like way too many places serve. It was awesome masa, in fact.
Carne Asada plate. Tender, moist, flavorful asada, with rich and flavorful rice and beans and some tasty vegetables and salsa, and an awesome grilled jalapeño. It was not the most-​generous $ 10 asada plate I have ever seen, but it tasted about as good as any I’ve had. It could take the Pepsi Challenge with Casa Guerrero’s asada any day of the week, and that’s about as high a compliment as I can pay here. I think I’d ask for extra grilled jalapenos next time. The tortillas were good, but I don’t think they were housemade (I’d be happy to be wrong about that though).
Rolled tacos (Taquitos Dorados, I think?). Nice almost-​crispy tortilla, amazingly juicy and flavorful carnitas inside. Perfect combination of textures and flavors in each bite. Perfectly designed and executed dish.
Carnitas taco. Juicy, flavorful, plenty of onion, cilantro, and radish. Nice chewy tortilla. Hot sauce on the table was good on this, good on everything else, too – creamy, lots of vegetable and herbaceous flavors to go with the bit of peppery heat.
Pickled vegetables. Lots of crunchy carrots and pink onions and jalapeño rings on the counter, tasted great on their own or on top of other things.
2 entrees, 2 app-​sized little things, and 2 drinks totaled about $ 26, plus tip. You don’t really come here because the food is amazingly cheap – it’s more like reasonable, where some taco trucks are amazingly cheap. But the food is designed and prepared so well here that you forget about cheapness.
People know it, too. There was a constant stream of to-​go orders during the entire wait for food and the entire time we ate. And you do wait a bit – they’re also not crazy fast here. It’s more like a restaurant than a taco truck in terms of price and pace. You can sit and eat the crazy-​best Mexican food you’ve had in a while, on a formica table, sitting on a vinyl chair under fluorescent lights, and be as happy an eater as you want to be.
Dude went into some length about how they cook 100 or so tamales a couple times a week, always pork and chicken. I could go for variety there, maybe some green chile-​onion-​cheese, for instance. But I bet I still come back here and clean him out of whatever’s left again, whether it’s 1 tamal or 25. Sometimes ya just have to shake your head and apologize to the hypothetical people who didn’t get there soon enough.

I’m an aficionado of «gas station mexican», and this is about as good as that gets. It has three things that are different from your typical tiny mexican place shoe-​horned into a gas station:
1) it’s spotless.
2) the staff was super-​friendly, and happy to customize your order however you’d like.
3) compared to most places, I’d say the food is milder. This isn’t good or bad, but you should know.

BEST Mexican food I’ve had since moving to Washington! My husband and I came here based on the good Unilocal reviews and we were not disappointed! It’s not the type of place where you want to sit and eat your food because it’s inside of a market but whatever, we just took it to go and ate our delicious tacos at Juanita Beach.

This place is the bomb. I go to night school and get out around 9:00 so I’m always hard pressed to find somewhere that’s open for dinner after that hour. The same guy has been there every time I’ve gone and he is always vey friendly and accommodating. The carne asada tacos that I always get are really good. I always judge a taco place by their hot sauce and in this case they have the good stuff. I usually like really spicy hot sauce so the first time I went I chose hot over mild sauce. Well unless you like your mouth to be a blazing inferno of a thousand suns I would recommend the «mild» sauce considering it’s still hotter than most hot sauces at other Mexican restaurants.

This is a little hidden charm, located inside a convenient store. The food was so good and cheap. We spent $ 14 for 2 meals. They are super friendly too and take cash only so be prepare.

Bomb tacos and really friendly guy! Cash only and can take some time, but I think it’s totally worth it.

I’ve come here for lunch a few times and every time I’ve ordered something different. The food is great, prices are good and the staff is friendly. Definitely recommend the fajitas tacos or carne Asada plate!

Hidden Gem, owner was so nice. He was running the stand alone so a bit of a wait, but definitely worth it.

I’ve eaten here for years now, and used to feel like this was the best gas station Mexican stall I have encountered in a while. But recently, especially with constant mess up of my order and poor run service, I don’t feel the same anymore.
What changed?
The service. It’s getting worse, now that the owner let’s his teenage daughter run as a cashier. It’s a cash only place, and I’ve seen her struggle with change and even give out wrong amounts to customers in front of me before.
They consistently take my order and deliver the wrong things. Just last night, I wanted pork tamales, came home to find pork tacos instead. I immediately called them twice, and no one ever answered.
They are never stocked with their food properly — many times I went in looking for pork tamales and they were out before closing hour. The last few times I got some, there was barely any meat inside. Their tacos used to be very good, and now the taco wraps are thicker, very little meat given and the ingredients on top that used to make it pop are not fresh or local anymore. Super disappointing.
I recommend you check your order thoroughly before going through the trouble of getting cash etc and going home only to realize it’s not what you wanted.
I’ve asked them many times for different shaped containers to take out their homemade pickled veggies in, and they always hand me a puny small sauce container that never fits anything.
I don’t recommend this business to people anymore, and have discovered other food trucks in Redmond and Seattle that’s better.

wow, I’ve been working in North creek park for years and never hear of this place, and i found it on Unilocal and holy crap it delisioso! i got the taco & taco doridos, so fricking good the ground beef was very well seasoned, and the sauce was perfect compliment to the beef, th burrito was also good. I want to come back and try them all!

It’s good. It’s not great. I say that as someone who grew up in Texas and has eaten the various kinds of Mexican food thousands (yeah, really) of times in the southwestern US, California, different parts of Mexico, and in the homes of countless Mexican friends.
The tacos are far too greasy. The tortillas look like they’ve peen pan fried in a good bit of grease. The other photos here don’t look like that, so maybe it’s something new they are doing. I’ll post a couple of photos.
Red sauce was killer. Good flavor and good kick.
Flavors were good. Prices are okay. High for a taco truck (which is basically what this is). Lower than most sit down restaurants.
The kitchen area and food display/​holding stations could also use a good scrubbing. Not dirty, but not exactly clean either.
Nice people, and it has a certain charm – of the good hole in the wall kind – even though inside a convenience store.
Not sure if I’ll return or not. I think the Taqueria Guadalajara truck on 148^th just off 520 in Bellevue is better, and the El Burrito Mojado truck on 116^th just off 124^th in Kirkland is at least this good and not as greasy. Maybe I’ll visit here again when it’s cold or rainy. Worth giving it another chance.

Seriously, coming from San Francisco, I thought I was going to have to fly back to get decent Mexican food. This is not a joke, I really considered it. However, after eating at this place, I think I’ve finally found the only good Mexican restaurant!
When I first walked into the place, I was wondering if I had gone to the right place. It’s inside a convenience store in the back and has two small but clean tables. Warning, Cash Only! But there’s an ATM inside the store. I had the steak burrito covered in red sauce. The meat was so flavorful and tender. Even my four year old ate it. The rice was also yummy, fluffy and soft. The sauce was on point too! There are two salsas on the table and they were not bad. Boyfriend wanted enchiladas but they were not on the menu. No worries! The chef made them anyways. He was so nice and accommodating. We will definitely come back. Our go to Mexican place for sure now. Also, their horchata was pretty good.

The only place outside of the mission in San Francisco that can make a truly legit torta. This place gets an F in ambiance but with food this good, they could serve out of a dumpster and I’d still give them 5 stars.

Great place! Who would think in a convenient store! But this place is dellliiiccciiiooouuus!!! They have tacos, burritos, tortas & more! Never have I had tacos like this in my life! Rich in flavor! Plus the food is made to the order. Pshhhh who doesn’t love fresh food! And homemade salsas.
Definitely gotta try this place! Best tacos and Mexican food in the northwest! Fresh food, clean environment and authentic. what else can you ask for. right? !

Best Mexican food since we left The Mexican Riviera! Not be discouraged by the convenient store shared by the restaurant. They cook their own tortilla chips. Make their own sauce. Takes a little long but worth the wait! Buy a beer from the convenient store and have it with your meal! Sweet…

Tucked away in the back of a mini mart lies a hidden gem. This is a stop and try type of place. I have tried many items from the menu and all have been excellent. It reminds me a lot of the taco trucks that I used to frequent in So Cal. The service is prompt and the prices are quite reasonable. I had a hard time making a decision to write a review and let everyone know or keep it to myself. You can see what choice won

**!! ATTENTION California Transplants !!**
Your seach is over. Your prayers answered. Your worries of never finding legit, authentic Mexican food like you grew up with will be no more.
My wife and I have been in the area for 6 years now and have tried many places, all over Washington. Monte Rico, blows away the competition. There are definitely a few gems to be found on the eastside and downtown Seattle. You will find them. You will enjoy them. But y’know that one place back home you ALWAYS go to, and you ALWAYS order the same thing and you craved it all the time? This could be that place for you. It just jumped into the #1 spot.
We ordered 2 of every taco. Beef, chicken, pork and fish. Yes, FISH! Not that crappy, bready fish taco you’ve had at other places, this is Baja style. The best! All tacos were very tasty, I will say my least favorite was the chicken, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t good.
Also ordered the #9, Chicken Dorado. This was probably the best part. I asked for steak instead, and the chef refused. He knew it would have been too dry and didn’t want to serve me something inedible. Much respect! While eating it, I didn’t even care they were chicken taquitos. It was sooooo good!
Finally, had rice, beans and chips n guac. I swear I make the best guac around at home, but their guac was definitely comparable. The rice and beans were just okay. I only had a few bites of it but they weren’t bad. I was just too giddy with everything else in front of me.
To finish this off, guess what. Their hot sauce? Is actually HOT! Can you believe that? I handled it fine, it has a kick, but my wife struggled in a «hurt so good» kind of way.
The place itself, inside a mini-​mart is a hidden gem. The mart had a really nice asian lady and then Monte Rico looks like it was a father and daughter behind the counter. Very friendly, communicated with me well on my order and questions I had. There was really nothing about this place I didn’t like.
We will be frequent visitors here. Give this place a shot if you’re looking for some amazing street tacos, fresh food (which does take some time, relax it’s worth it) and that authentic taste you miss from back home. You will find it hard to stop eating.
Forgot to mention **CASH ONLY**