Monarca’s on the Beach

Not the Best It’s ok clean nice building They have Great Salsa & chips !!! The table side Guacamole kinda sucked they need to put maybe sour cream in it as well just tasted bland … The young waitress was very Slow not knowledgeable about some of the menu ordered a fajita Quesadilla and it did not come with the peppers and onions and she made it, oh I didn’t know that you wanted that next time let me know !!! Ok but on the menu it comes with it. So why would I have to let her know. Allso they do not have a liquor license so they only sell beer and wine margaritas with wine in them not good they need some tequila … Plenty of other great restaurants out at the beach to try if you just need a couple tacos to go different story

Cool décor, decent food and Mexican beer selection, great location across from the beach. The staff was very very friendly, so friendly that I am very temped to give Monarca’s one additional star, but I know that I will be back, so I will check for consistency in the service and food. My fiancée and I both got a chicken quesadilla. We were happy. We had a few beers and hours of great conversation with our friends. We pretty much closed the place out.
Parking could be a challenge, as other reviewers pointed out. The trick is to take a Lyft! Then you don’t have to worry about parking, and you can wander over to the beach (before or after) without worrying about parking.
Overall, they do not have mixed drinks and no one with us exclaimed that their food was super unique and/​or super exceptional. Not that the food was bad, it was good and seemed to be of quality, just nothing that really made me go WOW! I did have a really fun time here with my friends, so that has got to count for something. They could have told us to leave because I surely get loud when I get excited, but they all embraced us and our enthusiasm!

If I could give negative stars I would. This was without a doubt the worst food I have ever eaten in a restaurant. Tasteless, cold, chicken tasted & looked like it came out of a can. I should have just flushed my money down the toilet. Waitress asked if we needed to go boxes since only about 2 bites of food were taken. We explained it was so bad we couldn’t eat it. Her reply was, «Oh, sorry» and she handed me the check. Will trash it to anyone who asks & most definitely never going back.

Amazing Mexican food! Service is wonderful, our waitress Brittany, was very friendly. We ordered the guacamole and it’s made fresh at the table! Bottomless chips and salsa. Fajitas and big enough to share! Everything is HUGE portions. My favorite was the seafood enchiladas– served with a white sauce! It reminds me of a place back home and I have been searching for a restaurant that serves these. My husband had the Texas tacos, and they were amazing as well! Everyone in the family had to take home leftovers! If you are near the beach I would definitely recommend checking this place out!

Fish tacos are to die for! Fresh tortilla chips and salsa upon arrival and very friendly wait staff :)

Finding parking is the first challenge — it only has parking spaces for about half the number of people it could seat. Nearby lots have ominous warnings about being towed.
I was there with my wife and another couple. Ordered a marguerita, which was OK. Ordered carne asada, which was OK. The menu didn’t have a lot of variety — basically tacos, burritos, enchaladas, chimichangas and fajitas.
In my opinion, not worth the hassle of parking to eat mediocre mexican food.

Very disappointed! Far from clean restaurant, mirrors had a film on them I could see from over 10feet away, tables tacky/​dirty feeling, floor greasy feeling. Shocking for a place that’s only been open a few months. Says bar outside but the only «bar» was a beer cooler in the corner. Staff was to busy talking with each other, had to wait 3−5min for menus to be brought over. Older gentleman who was bus boy was the best, friendliest of all the people. In fact he was only one to greet us and wish us a good evening.
For the food, very plain and generic «Mexican» if can even call it that. Chicken in salad was pre cooked strips, salsa/​chips/​guacamole were all straight out of container, nothing fresh, authentic or homemade at all. Much better options (Agave up street) then this place.

We are food snobs and this place is by far the best mexican food we have ever had! Very authentic! Debbie was the best, never had my sangria refreshed before!

Loved it and food was delicious. Priced accordingly, staff was friendly. Also, the tableside guac was cool too. Some of the best mexican food I have tasted and I have lived in Southern California where mexican food was authentic. This matched that same taste and optio. If you are looking for a great place to eat, this is it. Enjoy.

Without a doubt one of the best Mexican dining out I’ve experienced. The food was great and the service was prefect.
This will be one of my regular stops for Mexican food.
The restaurant is comfortable and themed nicely.
Our server was helpful and attentive. She took time to reviewed the menu with us. The dishes were presented very professionally and the time from ordering to being served was perfect.
I will be back

I don’t understand the bad reviews. The food was very good — steak and chicken fajitas were good, meat was tender and flavorful. Nachos were huge and more than enough for an entrée. Great service. The frozen margaritas were pretty good, frozen was recommended by our waitress because they are wine based, so they aren’t very strong. They don’t have a full liquor license, but they have only been open a few months. They had a few different beers to choose from. We will go back again.

I’ve spent a great deal of time in California and Texas, so I am very particular about my Mexican food and Monarca just does not pass muster. The food is mediocre. It seemed liked it was prepared earlier and then microwaved. Honestly, Taco Bell would have been better. While the servers were very nice, they seemed confused and attentive at the wrong times. They do not have a full liquor license, so the margaritas they serve are made with wine or something and were just terrible.
I would avoid this place and go to Agave.

We stopped in on the way home from dinner just to check them out as we do like MEXICAN. Ordered a margarita which was horrible. Later found out it was made from some wine based product that in no way tasted like a margarita. They do not have a liquor license. If you have a Mexican Restaurant without a liquor license patrons should know up front and they need to offer the best sangria on the planet.
Doubt if we will be back.

ATE HERE in NOVEMBER 2015. They were opened for 3 days. The Food and Sevice was excellent. The Staff was sweet, attentive just plain lovely… ZACH was my Favorite. Hardworking, pleasant. just awesome.Can’t wait to get back there to eat.

Stopped in here on New Years Day for dinner and can’t say we were really impressed. We knew this place was new, but didn’t really hear much about it so I didn’t really have any expectations.
We were greeted and seated quickly and the hostess gave us some chips and salsa to start. There were only about 4 other tables dining when we were there. After munching and finishing all of our chips and salsa for a good 20 minutes the server came up to our table to greet us. We asked for a refill on the chips and salsa but were told they were running low on chips so they couldn’t. We then hesitated because we asked if we could still order the queso so apparently they had enough chips for that.
Not even looking at the menu I ordered a margarita. I wondered why it tasted a little funny. I never said anything to the server, but after reading the Unilocal reviews I found out they really don’t have a liquor license. So if you plan on drinking here just stick with the beer because the $ 6.50 pre-​mix margarita wasn’t really worth it.
For dinner I went ahead with the Quesadilla Supreme and my bf had the burrito. I normally don’t complain about price. but for a $ 16 quesadilla I was expecting it to be pretty damn good… but it wasn’t. I was just very underwhelmed and thought Qdoba had a better quesadilla for half the price.
I know this place is new so hopefully they are still in the the learning stage and can improve.

I should start by saying the owner was fantastic and did everything she could to make our experience better…
We had to ask our server several time for water refills and second drinks. After waiting for over an hour for food (without any explanation) our food arrived luke warm and taco shells damp. We brought this to the attention of our server who said she would grab her manager. The manager apologized, offered to remake anything we wanted and explained that our server should have warned us the wait was longer than normal (which wasn’t passed on to us). We refused (we had filled up on chips/​salsa, which btw if great) and asked for our check. Our entire meal was comped (we did not eat the food) however we offered to buy the drinks and chips/​salsa. The owner refused and provided a gift certificate and asked that we would come back and give them another try as this was not typical for them.
You couldn’t ask for any more from an owner/​manger, she did everything to make it right, which is beyond appreciated. For this, we will be back to give them a second try.

No light at tables! Very slow service ! Nowhere to go but up
Food decent but so many things lacking still
We wish them good luck… Perfect location
They need outside tables too!!!

Definitely take the time to try this place out. The service was outstanding. Zach made sure we were happy throughout our entire meal. Zach let us know he was new, but he did an awesome job and had a sense of urgency that is rare trait these days.
We started with chips and salsa and the Guacamole — which Zach prepared for us at our table. Excellent flavor and presentation.
My parents had the Mochahete — which came sizzling as it should. The flavor was on point and super spicy. I had the carne asada plate. The rice and beans were meh, but the meat was nice and tender.
Finally we ended with the Flan, mango guava cheesecake and fried ice cream drizzled with caramel instead of chocolate. Usually it comes with chocolate — but Zach suggested the caramel and it was delightful.
The only thing that was kind of lame — there’s no liquor. The margaritas are wine based. But beer was the next best thing. We’re locals, so we’ll definitely be back.

First time visit.
Great job on conversion of inside and outside of the building. Interior is very charming with Mexican made carved chairs, tables, and tin art.
Ate breakfast today and have to say everything was served as ordered and freshly prepared. The service was friendly as accommodating. The selection of breakfast items is vast and will have something for everyone; including Mexican items!
There are other reviews on this place that just aren’t fair so I can only assume that those people are competitors. Seriously, 2 stars because not enough Mexican breakfast items?!? I gave them 5 to makeup for the 2 «Mr. Mexican Breakfast» gave them.

Monarca’s just opened yesterday and I visited on the first night; Friday Nov 6^th. I’m just going to come out and say the huge issue the place has, and that’s the fact that they do not have a liquor license. I’m not saying that because I can’t live without liquor, I’m saying that because they serve «margaritas» that are not made with tequila. Their margaritas are prominently featured on the menu. Huh?! Turns out these are pre-​made «margarita» drinks that have a taste remotely like a margarita but fall under Florida’s beer & wine guidelines, allowing Monarca’s to serve them. The closest thing you could use for comparison are those horrible Budweiser lime-​a-​rita things. So, this is not a place you want to go if you want a real margarita or you want a liquor drink. The waitress we had said they were working on a liquor license, but I’ll be honest that I’m skeptical because they just completed construction and I saw nothing resembling a bar area, which you’d expect to see if they were going to get a liquor license. They do have beer and wine in addition to the ‘margaritas’ and the beer was priced reasonably.
Anyway, initial disappointment aside, everything else was a strong positive so I’m going with four stars. The service, even on opening night when you’d expect it to be horrible, was fantastic. Our server was nice, polite and attentive. She knew the menu and she even let us customize our order on what I’m sure was a very hectic night when they’d prefer every order stick to the menu description. Other servers would randomly ask if we needed anything, as would the managers. This is in stark contrast to St Pete Beach’s other Mexican restaurant Agave, where the staff are mostly horrible, but where they do have tequila.
Food-​wise, everything was great. I had their Enchiladas Monarcas but swapped out the poblano sauce with their salsa verde that I saw featured on other menu items. Turns out that was a great decision because they have one of the best salsa verdes I’ve had; I was very pleased with the meal, tasted excellent. My wife had their Texas Tacos which are three hard tacos (with chicken) wrapped in refried beans and soft taco shells; those were also great. Prices were average; not too high, but not low.
I’ve been back several times and food and service remain good. I’d go a lot more if they had real margaritas, but the place is packed several nights per week for several hours, so maybe as revenue continues to grow, they’ll buy the liquor license.