Camarones con mofongo
The Brooklyn Centre business formerly known as Moncho’s is on borrowed time. Opened by Isabel Montoya and her family back in 2015, the popular Colombian eatery has been under new management since last year, when the owners of the Lakewood-based Mexican restaurant El Torito took over. That relationship will cease at the end of the month, says Montoya.

“The relationship did not work out, so we decided to end the lease,” she says. “We would have liked everything to work out, but it did not.”

Montoya says the family chose, instead, to sell the business to Dulce Hunt, who for the past seven years has operated Quisqueya La Bella (4616 Clark Ave., 216-651-3410). That restaurant specializes in Puerto Rican and Dominican dishes like sancocho, mondongo, empanadillas, alcapurrias, fried pork with plantains, camarones con mofongo, and beef stew with rice and beans.

Quisqueya will take over the old Moncho’s space on the first of November. When it does, the menu will largely be the same as that served at the original.

“I’m going to add a couple of dishes,” Hunt says.

As for the Clark-Fulton spot, Hunt says that she’ll keep it open for now and see how they work out together before making a decision on its future.

As for Moncho’s, Montoya said that fans shouldn’t be surprised to see a return sometime down the road.

This article appears in Oct 18-24, 2017.

For 25 years, Douglas Trattner has worked as a full-time freelance writer, editor and author. His work as co-author on Michael Symon's cookbooks have earned him four New York Times Best-Selling Author honors, while his longstanding role as Scene dining editor has garnered awards of its own.

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