Monica's Taqueria

Ms T and I have spent a considerable number of nights back in Muscatine lately and finally had a chance to eat at a few of the local restaurants that we had not been able to try before. I had three meals at El Olmito and found here an excellent homestyle taqueria. Muscatine has at least four credible restaurants; El Olmito, El Allende, Las Lomas and Guadalajara. I have tried them all and rank them in the order given, but all are OK. I have not tried Restaurant Izalco. El Olmito is the real deal. I ate lunch here twice and both times had tacos. The lengua is excellent. It is actually shredded, rather than the usual cubed. Twice I had chorizo and egg tacos. They have a little tomato and chile in the eggs. Perfect. I also had one barbacoa (cheek) and it was delicious, tender and flavorful. Top your tacos with one of two very good homemade sauces. The red version is dry toasted red chile and surprisingly is not vinegar based. The green has decent heat and consists of tomatillos and chiles jalapenos. Both are so good that I never know which to use on the tacos. I just wrote a less than glowing review for hugely popular and overrated Mission Taco Joint in St Louis. All I can say is, "They wish". Popularity and following the herd are no guarantee that you will find something good. For my one dinner here, I had a dinner of barbacoa (cheek). It is very rich and good but you can't let a little grease scare you. It came with shredded lettuce and rice. The serving was huge and I took a big serving home. So here is the deal on El Olmito. It is a little grocery with a few tables. Don't let any of that deter you. You won't get better, more honest and authentic tacos for hundreds of miles. This is comida casera. When we lived in Muscatine we bought groceries here and I don't think they had the menu and tables that they now have. We frequented El Zarape until Paul and Gloria sold it and then we were regulars at Imelda's. Both are long gone but we had a lot of good meals there with our kids. If I lived here again, I would be pretty happy with the selection of Mexican food and would try to rotate through El Allende, Las Lomas, Guadalajara and probably Izalco (Need to try it). I would reserve a special place on my lunch schedule to get tacos at El Olmito. I hope Muscatine appreciates these places. I am saying this place deserves one of the five star ratings that I reserve mostly for special little places.

Stopped in after bowling tournament and was impressed. We just returned from Mexico and wanted some authentic food here. My son devoured the queso saying it's the best he's had. Chimichanga was big! I had the tacos with birria and was in heaven. The staff were amazing and even made friends with my 3yr old which is a tough thing to do. Can't wait to come back for more greatness!

Absolutely amazing birria tacos!! If you haven't tried it you need to come here asap! Everything we tried was fabulous. Hospitality was beyond excellent.

Authentic Mexican food! The owners and employees are very nice and friendly! 10/10 would recommend Monica’s Taqueria!

Loved it. Great food. We had the quesobirria combo.

Went to go the the restaurant next door but they are closed on Tuesdays. And I’m glad they were! Had birria for the first time and I can’t tell you the last time food made me this happy! The service was amazing too. Don’t let it fool you if you’re passing through and aren’t familiar with the area this is a must try. Downtown Muscatine right next to an auto shop. You will not be disappointed.

The food was excellent, the service was swift, and the people were amazing. Our family felt welcomed and like we were in our own home! Would definitely recommend and encourage others to check this place out! *and DEFINITELY try the green sauce. Wow!

Great place for folks like me who travel a lot to have good quality authentic mexican food! The birrias were amazing!! So was the al pastor tacos!