Mono Loco

the atmosphere is nice, and the food and drinks are decent. Not one of my favorite places, but I would go here again.

I’ve always enjoyed mono loco and usually ate group dinners where I was told what to contribute for the check. Looked at an itemized receipt for the first time at a dinner for two. $ 5 for chips, $ 5 for a thimble of guac. $ 75 with tip for one drink and a main each. Cmon…

Conducts business at the expense of their neighbors, blaring music until 2 in the morning.

I’d call Mono Loco more of «American» Mexican/​Latin American than true Mexican. I enjoy all of their different varieties of burritos just the same. My favorite isn’t on the regular menu, but has been a «special» every time I’ve been there. It’s called the Southern burrito and has pretty non-​traditional burrito ingredients stuffed inside. It contains some delicious fried chicken, pimento cheese and pickles… definitely worth trying!

Wouldn’t change a thing. Fantastic steak burrito. Friend had the southern (fried chicken) burrito — she loved it (and the moonshine margarita). Chips and salsa are not free, but they are so good you don’t mind paying for them. Server (Gregor) was terrific — brought out complimentary guacamole with the chips and salsa. We sat out on the covered patio — very festive with colored lights and decent music. If you are in the mood for «hole in the wall» Mexican, this is a great choice.

Went with some friends for dinner and we had awful service. My sister wanted cheese or bean enchiladas because she is vegetarian but they couldn’t accommodate that for some reason? They could only put mushrooms in it. We got the open faced quesadillas and they didn’t have a DROP of cheese.
I told the waiter twice that I wanted 3 tacos with my order and I only got 2. My boyfriend ordered nachos as his meal and asked for it to come out with everyone’s meal and it ended up coming way too early. Overall horrible experience, would never go back.

So, I am sitting in the resturant at this very moment. I have time to write this review because Mono Loco does not split checks. Even if you ask them to before you ordee.
For large groups they provide a bill with tax and tip included and expect you to calculate your own dollar amounts so you have to divide the tip, tax and bill depending on your order. Which sucks! Thus far it has taken 20 mins, our glasses are empty and it is really messing with our evening.
The food was good, I would come back alone or if one person was paying. However for groups the refusal to split checks just ruins and otherwise good experience.

My favorite place in town to grab tacos. Meat and/​or fish. Smaller venue but good amount of outdoor seating. Reasonable prices and really friendly staff as well

I’ve been a few times and have had consistently poor service. VERY slow and not very friendly.
It’s a shame because the food is good, albeit a bit overpriced in my opinion. They have a unique take on Mexican cuisine, and it is a neat atmosphere. The outdoor seating is festive. Some small details are disappointing as well — water is served in plastic tumblers reminiscent of what I bought for my college dorm room, and the water itself very much tastes like it’s out of a hose.

Hmm… a bit too dive-​bar-​ish for me. although there were plenty of families in the courtyard area. I had a margarita and left. The margarita was good.

I went for happy hour on Sunday and I am not too pleased with my experience. I went with a group of three others and they seated us in a round booth back by the bathrooms, all during the time we were there, people lined up near the table and we had to deal with everyone waiting for the bathroom. I also cannot agree with any Mexican place that charges for chips. It took our server 15 minutes to approach our table and we ordered some pretty awful margaritas. When the rest of my party arrived, it took another 15 minutes before we could get our server for their round. Once we needed the check, she again was MIA and we had to flag down another server. Overall, I thought it was terrible and I wouldn’t ever go back.

The food was very bland. Also, we spent almost 50 dollars on two taco entrees, two nonalcoholic beverages and chips and salsa and guacamole. The chips and dips cost more than our individual entrees. The service was slow and it smelled like crap because they had just put down mulch. Worst dining experience in Charlottesville.

I came here on a busy Friday night with a very large group, and really liked the bar area and the décor inside. The drink selection seemed great, and the menu very large with a nice side menu for seasonal selections. We started with the tater tot nachos which were very good. I got the pork tacos and enjoyed those as well. It was very crowded and the service had a hard time maintaining the crowd.

This place is overpriced considering the lackluster food and service received. They can’t split a check with a large group so don’t even ask. I will not be back during my time here. There are plenty of OTHER RESTAURANTS in this town who will treat me better while providing tasty food and professional/​courteous service. Establishments need to remember that they exist because of the CUSTOMER not the other way around.

Don’t go during the winter because you would have to sit inside. There were 7 of us and we called ahead. They put us in a round table that none of us could fit into comfortably and then pulled up a small table for the rest of our party. The dining room was cold.
The good points first: Those in our party that drink had fairly good margarita’s during happy hour and enjoyed them. Another good point was that the music wasn’t bad. Service wasn’t bad but seemed very short… perhaps because she was the only one and the very small dining room was half full.
The food came out cold and half of us had to send it back. The other half just ate it. The quality of the food was poor as some others have said. The chips were bland as was whatever they gave us that they called salsa. I had the classic chicken burrito (house special) and it was cold and bland although it was big enough to be a meal… so the portion size would have been worth the money if it had been better.
Next time in Charlottesville… I’ll skip this place.

Been there a few times and never really thought it was good. Quality of the food is poor. Service was good but got food poisoning from eating there last night. Don’t think I’ll be visiting it again

Plentiful and pleasant seating outdoors. Music seemed more Jamaican than Mexican but it added to the relaxed vibe. Chips were a combo of corn and flour tortillas which was a nice touch. Salsa was just ok. I didn’t try the guacamole but friends said it was wonderful.
I had veggie tacos which were tasty but I wish there had been more of the pickled veggies on the side (la scant 5 pieces? No me gusta.) the inside of the restaurant seemed quite small so you might have to wait for a table when weather isn’t nice enough for patio to be open. Service was quick and friendly, never overbearing. One friend got some sort of HUGE burrito with pimento cheese (!) and said it was great.
I just drank beer but some of the others ordered cocktails which seemed small for the price.

Worst dining experience in my life, period. Food was fine, however the service was completely audacious.
Drinks took over an hour to come out. Afterwards we found out a half hour after ordering that they were out of chicken and pork, which essentially meant that they were out of everything that we ordered. Food came out extremely staggered, with my food coming out 20 mins later than everyone else’s.
The kicker was when I complained the waitress talked back to me, and, at the conclusion of the meal, LOST MY CREDIT CARD. Do not eat here!

Great music, great outdoor area. That’s about it.
Plastic cups they serve water in tasted and smelled like plastic. Service was marginal at best and nonexistent at the worst.
Worst part? The food. Don’t mean to hurt the chef’s feelings, but sometimes it’s best to stick to traditional cuisine. If you’re a Mexican restaurant, focus on doing a few things really good. No twists necessary.
Seems like a good place for happy hour based on the crowd, but otherwise I came away wholly unimpressed, and fairly disgusted by the food. One star for the guacamole, which wasn’t terrible.

I love the beach bar atmosphere and the covered patio at Mono Loco. I arrived during a downpour, so I was completely drenched and didn’t want to sit outside, but it looked like a great place to sit.
I ordered a margarita with a salt rim, as well as a burrito bowl. The margarita was all-​around great and the burrito bowl was really flavorful– beans and cheese and rice and pork just go really well together. Mine was especially filling because I got the ranchero loco burrito, which came with two fried eggs (nom!). I drizzled some of the housemade hot sauce on top and I was blown away. The sauce is hot, but not so much so that the flavor is nonexistent, so it added some great taste to the burrito. Another high point was the bar nuts mix– they actually use miniature candy bars for their bridge mix. I certainly wasn’t complaining– Halloween came early and I got some free dessert out of it as well.
One final thing– they make their margaritas strong and the burritos are super-​filling. Definitely go here.