Beth Skogen
Milanesa de pollo in a torta is a delicious deal.
I’d call La Rosita one of the best Mexican restaurants in the Madison area, except it’s not really a restaurant. It’s a grocery store.
The open kitchen is tucked in next to a massive meat counter in the back of the store, located on Monona Drive. Between an aisle of canned beans and the produce section are two rows of booths, a surprising amount of seating for the size of the store, yet spacious and uncrowded.
La Rosita offers no table service and no frills. Order and pick up your food at the counter. (Food is also available to go.) Want chips and salsa? Get a bag of chips and a tub of La Rosita’s homemade salsa from a nearby case. Grab juices or sodas from the cooler and settle up later.
Beth Skogen
Who needs frills when the food is so good? This is real Mexican food, akin to the glorious tacos, gorditas and tortas I’ve eaten on streets and in markets all over Mexico. Nothing comes with gobs of sour cream; there’s not a black olive in sight.
La Rosita relies upon high-quality, well-prepared and perfectly seasoned meats. Even with more than 10 meats to choose from, no two look or taste alike. There are four delivery methods from which to choose: taco, gordita, torta or burrito.
The chorizo is a wonderful surprise. Forget that greasy red stuff; La Rosita’s homemade chorizo is dry and sweet, in large crumbles with crispy edges. As a taco — served on two yellow corn El Milagro tortillas with a touch of onion and cilantro — it needs nothing added, though the housemade jalapeño-based red and green salsas won’t hurt.
Beef-lovers will appreciate the cecina, a specialty that can be hard to find. On the La Rosita menu, cecina is translated as “special style beef,” or rather, thinly sliced beef that’s salted and dried, traditionally in the sun. La Rosita’s cecina is a cross between a ridiculously thin steak and bacon, which means it’s totally delicious.
I’ve recently warmed up to tongue, and, if I hadn’t already, La Rosita’s lengua tacos would have opened my mind. Here, beef tongue is cut into half-inch cubes and served in an oniony sauce. The texture is smooth but not mushy, and the flavor is delicate. If you are a little freaked out by tongue (as I once was), La Rosita is the place to give it a try.
Less adventurous are the carnitas con chile. The shredded braised pork has crispy edges, and the red chiles give it a nice kick, taking this standard taco filling up a notch. No one else in Madison has carnitas that remotely compare.
An important note: On the weekends, La Rosita’s menu changes a bit. Tamales and menudo are available, and the spicy carnitas con chile are replaced by stewed, non-spicy carnitas that are also available by the pound. These weekend carnitas are a whole different experience, but tasty nonetheless.
Vegetarians aren’t neglected. The vegetarian taco is almost too big to eat, with well-seasoned beans, cheese, lettuce, tomato and fresh avocado. A gordita with nopales is also an excellent meatless option. A super-thick, freshly made tortilla is cut in half and stuffed with grilled, pickled cactus tossed with cooked tomatoes, onions and beans.
The immense tortas are only $5 to $6, and can easily feed two people. I highly recommend the milanesa de pollo. The chicken is pounded thin, lightly breaded and fried.
La Rosita now boasts an in-store ice cream shop, too, which just opened a few months ago. Paletas (popsicles) come in every imaginable flavor, from coconut and strawberry to piñon (pine nut) and rompope (sort of a rum raisin). My favorite treat is the mangonada, a frozen mango concoction drizzled with chamoy, that simultaneously sweet, salty and spicy syrup, and topped with a chile and tamarind dipped straw and fresh mango.
Surrounded by meat, beans and produce, it’s more like eating in a food stall in a Mexican market. And that’s part of its charm, in my book.
La Rosita: 6005 Monona Dr., Monona, 608-221-2203, Kitchen/ice cream counter open 11 am-7:30 pm daily, $2-$7
