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View the
Los Chiles Locos Menu
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Los
Chiles Locos is at 121 W. Duarte Rd. in Monrovia |
Another angle of the storefront |
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The
taco and burrito combo |
The
tamale and chile relleno combo plate |
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The
taco and tostada combo plate |
There's a lot of carnitas on that tostada |
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DOT COM DINING
A Look At San
Gabriel Valley Restaurants by SanGabrielValleyMenus.com
Los Chiles Locos
For Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner or Late Night, Too
By Bill Coburn
Los
Chiles Locos, located at 121 W. Duarte Rd. in Monrovia (at the corner of Duarte
and Myrtle, (626) 359-9099) serves up some pretty tasty Mexican food. In
addition, their prices are quite good, the service is above average for a fast
food place, and they are easily accessible, being located within blocks of the
Myrtle Avenue exit of the 210 freeway. And they have the extra, added advantage
of being right next door to a car wash, so at the risk of sounding violent or
ticking off members of the Audobon Society, you can even kill two birds (let’s
hope that if they die, they’re at least carrying the West Nile Virus) with one
stone.
I stopped
by one morning on the way home from an appointment where I was the only one of
the two appointmentees to show up. So I was in kind of a bad mood when I got
there. But I got prompt service, ordered a sausage and egg burrito and a milk,
and when I got the burrito, was pleased to find out that they even carried
Tapatio. A lot of fast food places have their own “hot” salsa, or what they
call a hot sauce, that falls short. Others, that actually carry bottled hot
sauces, only offer “the best selling brand, Tabasco.” I like Tabasco in clam
chowder, where the cream cuts up the vinegar taste, but for me, Mexican food
requires either A) a really good homemade chef’s salsa/hot sauce, or B) a good
bottled sauce, such as Tapatio, Cholulla, or a less well known but quite good
sauce, Melinda’s. With my breakfast, I was happy to splash the Tapatio on a
burrito whose size belied its $2.50 price tag. As it turns out, Los Chiles Loco
also has option A, a good homemade hot salsa, which I discovered when I went
back for dinner there. But that morning, I saw the Tapatio bottle at the
window, and asked for that. The breakfast burrito was bigger than it should
have been for the price, tasted better than I’d have expected that size burrito
at that price to taste, and when I left with a satisfied stomach and a barely
depleted wallet, I was definitely in a better mood than I had arrived in.
Katie,
Keelan and I went in this week for dinner. We all ended up ordering two item
combos (believe it or not, two items, plus rice and beans is only $4.95, 3 items
is just $5.95); I had the taco and tostada combo, Katie had a tamale and chile
relleno combo, and Keelan had a taco and burrito combo. I ordered a fried taco
with shredded beef and no tomatoes, with carnitas on the tostada (which I also
ordered with no tomatoes). Keelan ordered the carne asada soft taco (meat and
cheese only), with a bean and cheese burrito, so we had a chance to try several
different menu items.
It amazes
me how much food we got for the price. I expected small portions based on the
price we were paying, and figured I’d order an extra taco or two a la carte if I
was still hungry when I was done. The tostada was on a smaller corn tortilla
than I’m used to seeing a tostada on, maybe a three inch? But the amount of
carnitas piled on this tostada would seem to me to have offset any savings they
may have made on the tortilla. I was a little bummed when it came out with
guacamole and sour cream on it, as I prefer my tostadas without them, and have
never gotten them on a basic tostada, but they scooped off quite easily, and I
enjoyed it. So remember, if you don’t want guac and sour cream, this tostada
comes with them, you have to request it without them.
Katie’s
tamale was “stuffed with meat” as she put it, and while she usually orders her
tamales with the sauce on the side, she forgot to here and felt that she got
just the right amount. She enjoyed it. She also said the chile relleno was
pretty good and was satisfied that she’d gotten enough to eat when we left as
well. Keelan’s bean and cheese burrito was hot and fresh, and I helped him
finish his carne asada soft taco, and again, for $4.95, he couldn’t finish all
he had, and the taco that I helped him with was quite tasty.
Los
Chiles Locos serves your choice of nearly a dozen burritos, all but one priced
under $4.00. They have a few special dinner plates, several sandwiches,
breakfast burritos and breakfast platters, and even some burgers if one of your
party isn’t keen on Mexican food. Yes, they do serve lengua, aka tongue. Their
complete menu, including their catering menu with party platters, can be found
by pointing your browser to
www.sangabrielvalleymenus.com/loschileslocos. FYI – If you happen to be in
the Monrovia area late nite, Los Chiles Locos offers fifty cent tacos from 10pm
to 2:30am Wednesday through Saturday nights. I’m pretty sure you’re not going
to find a deal like that anywhere else, but I’ll keep my eyes open and let you
know if I find one.
Beckham
Grill in Pasadena is going to have a special event on July 25th that
I thought I’d let you know about. Fans of bagpipes and Scottish drums will
enjoy the Misty Isle Pipe Band “Sendoff to Scotland” on that day, from 5pm to
9pm. Reservations are recommended, as this event is sure to result in a full
house, so call Beckham Grill at (626) 796-3399. The MIPB is heading off to
Scotland to compete in the World Bagpipe and Drum Competition in Glasgow,
Scotland, in August. MIPB has performed on Jay Leno’s Tonight Show, the opening
of the House of Blues, numerous Highland Games and Fairs, the Rotary
International Convention, and has received numerous awards for its work. You
can find out more about MIPB at
www.mistyislepb.com.
Bill Coburn is owner of SanGabrielValleyMenus.com, a
restaurant website featuring dozens of restaurant’s menus, as well as
downloadable coupons. He has nearly 20 years experience in the restaurant
business, and has been eating for much longer than that. |
