Enrique’s Mexican Cuisine & Cantina

Overview: serves a wide variety of delicious Mexican dishes in their downtown Monrovia establishment on the corner of Colorado and Ivy. Their Tuesday night special, which features 99 cent tacos and $3 dollar draft beers, margaritas, and sangria, is extremely popular.

Décor: The restaurant has two dining areas decorated with vibrant Mexican art. The front dining room features a large mural in rich brown, red, and golden hues depicting two women working in a traditional Mexican kitchen, while the back dining room has colorful murals and the bar. They also offer sidewalk seating under the awnings on Colorado and Ivy.

Drinks: They have a full bar, beer and wine. Their beers are $4-$5 and their wine and sangria ranges from $6/glass to $26/bottle. Their specialty drinks ($7-$9) include Mojitos and Margaritas in a wide variety of flavors, such as Watermelon, Prickly Pear, Tamarind, and Spicy Cucumber.

Appetizers, Soups & Salads: Appetizers range from $4 to $8. Blue Corn Taquitos (three chicken taquitos with guacamole) are very popular. Other appetizers include Sopes (fried masa with meat, refried beans, crema fresca , cheese, and pico de gallo), Ceviche de Pescado (fish ceviche), Ceviche de Camaron (shrimp ceviche), Beef Taquitos, Guacamole, Empanadas (turnovers stuffed with squash blossoms, roasted corn, poblano peppers, mexican cheese & sausage) Panuchos (two tortillas stuffed with black beans & topped with cochinita pibil, which is traditional Mexican slow-roasted pork), Cheese Crisps with jalapeno peppers, and Queso Fundido (melted cheese topped with chorizo).

Soups range from $3.25/cup to $9.95/bowl, including Cocido de Res (homemade beef soup), Chicken Tortilla Soup, Sopa de Lentejas (lentils cooked with fruits, onions, & bacon) and Albondiga Soup (beef meat balls with vegetables). Salads ($7-$9.95) include Blue Corn Chicken Toastada Salad, Chicken Salad, Caesar Salad, and Ensalada de Nopales (diced cactus mixed with tomatoes, cheese, jalapeños, onions and served with two homemade corn tortillas).

Entrees: House Specialties ($9.95-$15.95) are served with rice, beans, & tortillas. Cochinita Pibil (achiote marinated pork slow-roasted in banana leaf) is a favorite dish. They also serve Gaucho Steak (grilled ribeye, caramelized onion, roasted garlic, serrano chile, red chilaquiles & salad), Carne a la Tampiqueña (grilled steak, cheese enchilada & guacamole), Cuban Chicken (marinated roasted chicken, black beans, white rice, topped with almonds, raisins, tomatoes and served with plantains), Chile en Nogada (Poblano pepper stuffed with ground beef, dried fruits, nuts & topped with pecan sauce), Chuletas en Chile Pasilla (pork chops baked in pasilla chili sauce), Carnitas (slow-cooked pork, served with guacamole, pico de gallo & cilantro) Nopalitos con Carnitas (diced nopal cactus with slow-cooked pork) Steak Asado, Chicken Mole, Chile Relleno, Chile Verde (pork in a mild green chile sauce), Chile Colorado (beef in a mild red chile sauce), and Beef or Chicken Fajitas.

Seafood Plates ($8.95-$14.95) are served with rice, beans, & tortillas and include the ever popular Camarones a la Diabla (shrimp seasoned with peppers onions & habanero chile sauce). They also serve Shrimp Fajitas, Pescado Veracruzano (Mahi Mahi in white wine garlic butter broth & sautéed spinach), Camarones Rancheros (shrimp prepared w/peppers & ranchero sauce), Camarones al Mojo de Ajo, Chile Marinero (poblano pepper stuffed with chopped shrimp, almonds, pecans & tomato sauce, topped with creamy poblano pepper sauce & sour cream), Coctel de Camaron (Mexican shrimp cocktail, pico de gallo, clamato, tapatio sauce, & avocado) and Tostadas de Ceviche.

Burritos, Enchiladas, Tamales, Combo Plates: Burritos ($6.95-$8.95) are especially popular at lunch, and the Classic Burrito with Carne Asada is a favorite. They also offer a Fish Burrito, Chile Verde Burrito, Chile Colorado Burrito, Ground Beef Burrito and Burrito Salad on a bed of black beans & rice, romaine lettuce, and cheese with your choice of meat.

Enchiladas ($8.95-$12.95) are served with rice & beans and include Enchiladas de Camaron, Enchiladas Poblanas, Enchiladas de Mole, Enchiladas de Pollo al Chipotle, Enchiladas de Sonora, Enchiladas de Achiote, Enchiladas Suiza, Enchiladas Vegetarianas, and Enchiladas de Queso.

Enrique’s Tamales ($7.95) are served with rice & beans and include Tamale de Chile Rojo, Tamale de Chile Verde, and Tamale de Chile & Queso. A Sweet Tamale ($3 a la carte) with pineapple and cinnamon is also available.

Combo Plates ($10.95-$13.95) are served with rice & beans and include Tres Amigos (taco, enchilada & sope), Mariachi Combo (chile relleno & a taco), Chile Relleno & Tamale, Tamale & Enchilada, Taco & Enchilada, and Sope & Enchilada.

Taqueria, Tortas & Quesadillas: Enrique’s Taqueria menu ($1.50-$12.95) lists many different kinds of tacos, and the Taco de Nopales is a favorite. They also serve Shrimp Tacos, Carne Asada Tacos, Baja Fish Tacos, Volcano Tacos, Crispy Tacos, Tex Mex Chicken Tacos, Carnitas Tacos, Potato Rajas Tacos, Tacos de Cochinita, and a Small Taco (a la carte) with a choice of meat, onions, cilantro & salsa.

Tortas ($5.95) are Mexican sandwiches that come with your choice of meat, lettuce, mayo, onions, tomato & guacamole, and fries. Meat Choices for tortas include Carne Asada (Steak), Pollo (Chicken), Carnitas (Fried Pork), Pastor (BBQ Pork), Milanesa (breaded chicken or beef) and Ground Beef.

Quesadillas ($6.95-$10.95) include Steak or Chicken with melted cheese, onions, peppers, sour cream & guacamole, in addition to Cheese Quesaillas with sour cream & guacamole.

Kid’s Menu: Menu items range from $3.75-$5 and include Small Tacos with rice & beans, Chicken Strips with fries, Chicken Burrito, Chicken Enchilada, Cheese Enchilada, and Chicken or Cheese Quesadillitas.

Desserts: Empanada de Chocolate y Banana with vanilla ice cream is a favorite. Other desserts ($4-$5) include Molten Chocolate Cake with vanilla ice cream, Sopapillas drizzled with dulce de leche, Flan with caramel sauce, Churros and Chocolate, and Fried Vanilla Ice Cream.

Breakfast:  Breakfast ($5.75-$8.95) is served Monday-Friday from 9 am-11 am, and Saturday & Sunday from 9 am-2 pm. The menu includes a Chorizo Burrito, Potato Burrito, Machaca Burrito, Enrique’s Breakfast Torta (Mexican breakfast sandwich), Chilaquiles (scrambled eggs with corn tortillas, salsa, onions and peppers), Huevos a la Mexicana, Machaca con Huevos, Tamale a la Plancha, Huevos Rancheros, Pancakes with scrambled eggs and bacon, Spinach Omelette, Denver Omelette, Ham & Cheese Omelette, Mexican Omelette, Meat Lover Omelette, and Make Your Own Omelette. Menudo is served on Saturday and Sunday.

Service: A host will seat you.

Customers Say: John De Young of Monrovia praised their "huge" Chicken Quesadilla and said, "Service is awesome." He also recommended the Blue Corn Taquitos, the Cuban Chicken with plaintains, and the Mahi Mahi in wine sauce. "It’s really, really good. They have varied dishes. Try something that’s different," he said. He also mentioned that he loves their Mojitos.

Signature Dishes: Cochinita Pibil, Camarones a la Diabla, Blue Corn Taquitos

150 E Colorado Blvd 

Monrovia , CA 91016 

626-930-0973