OOF, I am full! Ben’s on the bed laying flat, and I’m propped up on my blogging chair, ’cause we’re stuffed to the gills! 
I rarely have a night when I don’t feel like cooking, as I do love it so, but tonight just happened to be one of them. A quick phone call to Ben at work had us meeting at our go-to Mexican joint, Monterrey, for dinner!
Monterrey’s been a staple since high school and is the only Mexican restaurant I’ll eat at in town.
Their service is lightening quick (we were in and out in 19 minutes once last month) and their food is flat out AMAZING.
Plus, like any good Mexican restaurant, they give you chips and salsa to start!
Monterrey’s salsa is super fresh & juicy, plus it has big chunks of fresh cilantro in it. I heart cilantro.
Here Ben shows us proper chomping technique:
I usually try to abide by my rules for dining out at Mexican restaurants, and get a small plate to put some chips on in order to not devour the whole basket, but today I just practiced self control. Pretty much. 
Time to decide what to order!
I like to pretend like I’m going to try something new every time I go to Monterrey. "Maybe I’ll get one of the house specialties!" I’ll exclaim.
Clearly it’s all for show because inevitably, when it comes time to order, I’ll find myself explaining to the waiter that I want Combo #1 with a bean & cheese enchilada and rice. Up.
While we waited I sipped on an aqua,
while Ben got zippy with a margarita. "They’re on special!" he proclaimed!
Honest to God, in the time it took to take this picture,
and count to uno, dos, tres – our food had arrived! I mean!
Ok, they say that brown food usually indicates that it’s not good for you. But come on, sometimes you gotta live. Sometimes you gotta go all out!
I went all out with a yummy ground beef taco,
ooooozy, cheeeeesy bean & cheese enchiladas,
(love that sauce!)
and the best rice on the planet! How do they make it so fluffy? And so, so, SO delicious?!
We drove home in a happy, cheesy coma and are going to take it easy for the rest of the night.
Hasta!
~~~~~
Do you have a go-to restaurant?
Yes, Panera Bread! I love their salads!!!!
I’m salivating and I’ve already had dinner! The secret to good mexican rice? Lots of oil! I’ve got a recipe that come pretty close to the real deal if you want it.
We don’t have many good restaurant options where we live… we’ll usually go to Panera for lunch, and don’t eat dinner out much.
Monterrey is the BEST! It’s our go to restaurant as well. One of those margaritas… and I don’t remember leaving …
I don’t know why, but Ben’s expression made me laugh. Dinner looks good though!
My go-to place is Hu Hot, hands down. I actually had it for dinner tonight with my mother – Yum!
Looks yummy! Go to place to eat: Los Cabos in West Glen, across from Super Target. I live nearly 30 second walk from their front door. Food comes out fast & tasting great! Ben would love the Margarita specials, so cheap!
i want to eat tacos now!!! everything looks so good! especially the rice!
i love monterrey and los cabos! i can never decide which is best…
for sure! a dive bar with upscale American comfort foods. go to food and go to drinks. your place looks yummy.
WOW, now that is cheap!!! out here in Cali, we have tons of good Mexican, but its never that cheap!!!!!!
I agree Stacy, but we do have good ones on EVERY corner! And we have THE.BEST Margs in the country… IMHO!
I’d have to say El Rodeo….
my go-to restaurant is also a mexican restaurant. yum!
Love Monterrey! It’s soo good!!
Prior to a move from IA — we had two “Go-Tos”:
1. Granite City
2. Los Agaves (local Mexican)
best mexican — b/c they have shrimp & crab enchiladas and quesadillas!
$6.99? I have to get off the East coast – you can barely get lunch around here for that!
We have several go-to places: a Thai place, a Mediterranean place, an Indian place (actually 2 depending on how far we want to go), a sushi place, and a Peruvian roast chicken place (they have this spicy sauce that is so good, we call it Crack Sauce, and the fried yucca – oh!) that we order on a regular basis. Though I think our most frequent go-to place is California Tortilla! Fresh, quick, counter service Tex-Mex, right down the street at our subway stop. It’s great!
Those places sound exactly like where I live out east. Sorry, I know that sounds freaky!
My go to places are an Indian place, Tandoori Nights, and a pizza place, Piola. When I am in Des Moines though, I love nothing more than La Hacienda. It is so hard to find good Mexican here!
Tandoori Nights? Are in DC?
oooh that all looks so good!
YUM!! Those sound fabulous!
We have 2 go-to restaurants–Guadalajara (excellent Mexican in South Dakota) & George’s Pizza (Pizza/Greek food).
this place called white diamond about 5 minutes from my hometown(in the same town where i went to high school). nothing about it is healthy and they got an ATM only this past year…but they’re open 24 hours and the burgers can’t be beat by any means. o love new jersey, LOL. <3
I used to be an El Rodeo girl just for the sake of convenience….I tried to ignore everyone telling me Monterrey is the schizz…..but it couldn’t last forever. I gave in and went there finally….so glad I did! It’s totally worth the drive!
YUM! We have a mexican restaurant right by my house called Los Rancheros that is definitely a go-to for my family…and its the same as Monterrey, in & out in no time at all!
Love them and their cheese enchiladas!
Depends on what we’re in the mood for…
Thai food: Taste of Thailand or Amazing Thailand
American: Chatterbox Pub
Mexican: El Norteno (this is REAL Mexican food and DE-licious!)
Last time we were in Des Moines, we went to Dos Rios and were pretty impressed, though it was definitely Americanized Mexican food. Next time, we’ll probably try something entirely different!
It all depends on what I want and where I am.
Mexican: El Fuente in Ames or Monterrey in WDM
Chinese: Tsing Tao
Americanish: Dublin Bay in Ames, Murphy’s in Urbandale, or The Windrow in Creston (best prime rib ever)
Pizza: Still trying to find a place.
Your dinner looks amazing. I’ll have to try that sometime instead of the Chicken Chimis
Try Great Plains Sauce & Dough in Ames sometime. Hausable.
–Cheech
Oooh! Monterrey! We love our Monterrey in Sioux City! And, you MUST try the Pollo Loco! It’s the BOMB!
I ALWAYS order the Pollo Loco @ Monterrey’s!
I miss Monterrey and always eat there at least once whenever I come back for a visit. How they can make such good food so cheap I have no idea!
My other go-to restaurant was Panera Bread. Love the baked potato soup!
Our go-to is a local barbecue joint. I get smoked turkey, cole slaw, and beans (if we’re there for lunch) or a smoked sweet potato (if we’re there for dinner). In fact, like you guys, that’s where we ended up last night!
For Mexican, I prefer to keep it light(er) with taquería style tacos—grilled chicken or fish on corn tortillas, piled with onion and cilantro. Then, I spoon on a little guacamole and either salsa or pico de gallo. I can get a yummy, authentic Mexican meal that’s not drowning in cheese and sour cream.
And for special occasions? Sushi! We’ve even gotten my dad happy to go with us to sushi places. He won’t touch the sushi—not even a vegetable roll!—but he loves fried shrimp tempura … and Asahi beer.
He spent time in Japan during his Navy days, so I think it brings back some memories for him.
No go-to restaurant here… but wow, that looks delish and cheap!!
Okay, I’m now craving a taco at 7 am. Everything looks so yummy!
Oh, how I miss Monterrey. Prior to children we lived in the DM area. YUMMMM. It was always fun watching them carry every plate possible to the table. And with elegance too!
OK Kristin now it’s only 7:51 and I’m thinking taco for breakfast is a good idea.
El Rodeo is my go to restaurant. I have never been to Monterrey, so I think my fiance and I should go now! It’s hard to not to resist after looking at those pics. Mexican food is my favorite food to eat and cook!!
BTW – It was nice meeting you this morning at Starbucks!!
I totally agree with Los Cabos in West Glen. That place is THE BEST! I also really love the mac & cheese at Z’Mariks, but that not very diet friendly!
Wow, I am SO JEALOUS! It’s probably a good thing I don’t have a place like that near where I live!
Mexican food is my hubby and mine’s favorite! Our go to place is a Mexican restaurant called Chevy’s, but there isn’t one within 90 miles of where we live. They have one in Sioux Falls and the twin cities. When we are in either area we have to eat there! Our son even likes Chevy’s because they make fresh tortillas and you can watch the machine make them and he loves tortillas! Thanks for sharing the DELCICIOUS pics of your supper, IGE!
Haha Monterrey is totally my go to! But I’m warming up to Los Cabos…very comparable!
BBQ – Jethro’s!
Italian – Mezzodi’s, Christopher’s, Johnny’s
Casey’s pizza!
It’s been five years since I lived in Des Moines and I still consider Monterrey legendary! But when I try to describe its epicness to people elsewhere, they just don’t get it. Sigh. I see the sign has changed. Did it’s used to be El Monterrey?
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Kristin, Alex Lauver and Alex Lauver, Kristin Lauver. Kristin Lauver said: If you're ever in #DesMoines craving Mexican food, hit up Monterrey: http://bit.ly/945cFk Thanks for the delicious reminder, @iowagirleats! [...]
I love Monterrey’s. It is, quite possibly, my favorite restaurant to dine at when I’m at home. In my opinion, it is untouchable.
All of them must look the same, though. I could have sworn those pictures were from Spencer’s Monterrey’s but noticed a few little differences. How funny!
[...] go-to Mexican [...]
[...] been celebrating this delicious & festive holiday…all day! My boss and I went to my go-to Mexican restaurant Monterrey for lunch, then I whipped up a big, bubbly dish of festive Vegetarian Enchiladas for [...]
I LOVE Monterrey (and Mazatlan…same owners, same menu, different name). While we have several good Mexican restaurants in the area, Monterrey is my fave by far!