Monarca
Address: 268 South State Street, Suite 110
Telephone: 801-214-0111
Website: monarcaut.com
District: Downtown
“When you do what you love, it’s no longer a job. This restaurant, this food, it’s my story, my memories, my family. Every dish has a piece of my past in it.”
Alfonso Brito grew up in Veracruz, Mexico, in a home where food was always at the center of life. His mother ran a restaurant, and from a young age, he saw firsthand the way food could bring people together. But his journey to becoming a restaurateur was not a direct one. At seventeen, his life took a sudden turn when his father passed away. “I was studying mechanical engineering, but when my dad died, I had to leave school and start working. I was the oldest, and my family needed me.”
Determined to support his mother and siblings, Alfonso took a government job with the National Institute of Geography while also helping at his mother’s restaurant. Though he worked hard, he dreamed of something bigger. “My father always talked about America. He was a pilot, spoke perfect English, and I grew up listening to his stories. I knew I wanted to come here one day.” That day came in 2000, when Alfonso was thirty years old and was offered a position at the Mexican Consulate in Salt Lake City. He arrived in Utah with no English, no money - just $20 in his pocket and a determination to build a future for his family.
For years, he worked multiple jobs, often managing restaurants, though his heart was always in the kitchen. “Every time I worked in a restaurant, I wanted to cook. But they kept making me a manager,” he laughed. “I didn’t want to manage, but I needed the money.” While juggling two or three jobs at a time, he steadily built a life in the U.S. In 2006, he and his wife Claudia, his childhood sweetheart, became permanent residents. “That was a big day for us,” he said, recalling how he pushed his reluctant son to wake up early for their citizenship appointment. “I told him, ‘This is going to change your life forever. You don’t understand it yet, but one day you will.’”
Despite working tirelessly, Alfonso was not afraid to take risks. His first business, a cleaning company, failed miserably. “I’ve started maybe ten businesses. Some failed really, really badly,” he admitted. “My credit score was so low at one point, my cholesterol was probably higher!” But he did not stop trying.
He eventually found success with a Liberty Tax Services franchise in 2014, where he learned the importance of systems, delegation, and planning. Then, by accident, he stumbled into the cell phone business. What started as a single cart inside a Rancho Market turned into a network of twenty MetroPCS stores across four states. “It grew so fast. At one point, we had so many customers that I told people it would take about three weeks to fix their phone - and they still said yes.”
Then came the tacos. After three years in the tax business, to attract more customers to his cell phone stores, Alfonso and Claudia set up a taco cart outside. It became so popular that the two turned it into a full-fledged food truck, then a restaurant - Santo Taco. The success was explosive. “We were featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives with Guy Fieri. After that, everything changed.” Though the pandemic forced him to close some locations, Santo Taco remains a beloved staple in Salt Lake.
By 2021, Alfonso was ready for a new challenge. Driving down the street one day, he and Claudia noticed a vacant restaurant space. “We stopped the car, walked in, and met with the building’s owner. One week later, we had the contract. Three months later, Monarca was open.” From the start, Monarca was designed to be different - an upscale Mexican restaurant that honored both Alfonso’s heritage and his experiences in the U.S. Just as the delicate yet resilient Monarch butterfly journeys thousands of miles from Mexico to the U.S., Alfonso and his family have made their own journey, bringing with them the rich flavors and traditions of their homeland to share with their new community.
The menu at Monarca is deeply personal. It is truly based on Alfonso's heritage. “I don’t just cook; I tell stories through food.” His Salmon Chorizo, for example, brings together flavors from his childhood: esquites (Mexican street corn), fresh seafood from his coastal hometown, and the chorizo his family ate several times a week. “And then I add popcorn, because when I was a kid, there were always children - "little vendors" - selling popcorn on the street. It’s a taste of my past.”
“The best asset we have are our people,” Alfonso declared. “We were able to hire an incredible team - bartenders, servers, chefs - all with experience, all passionate about hospitality. That’s why we’ve been successful from day one.” Alfonso’s dedication to his team and his customers has not gone unnoticed. Monarca was named the Best Restaurant Bar in Utah by the Utah Restaurant Association, and even more meaningfully, it was awarded Best Employer of the Year. “That one means the most to me. Food is important, but at the end of the day, restaurants are about people. You can have great food, but if you don’t have great service, people won’t come back.”
What makes Monarca even more special is that it is a true family business. Alfonso’s wife Claudia is by his side, and three of their four children - Stephanie, Diego, and Sebastián - work with him. “The only one who says she’s ‘normal’ is my youngest, Sofia. She’s studying to be a therapist. She tells us we’re crazy for working in restaurants,” he laughed. “She’s probably right.”
For Alfonso, Monarca is more than just a business. It is an extension of the values he grew up with in Mexico. “In my house, whenever someone visited, my mother or grandmother would always say, ‘Sit down and eat.’ There was no choice, no ‘Are you hungry?’ You just sat and shared a meal. That’s what I want here." And there is no doubt that when you walk through the doors of this welcoming restaurant, you cannot help but feel that you are in Alfonso's home. He and his wife greet all their guests, and in this "home," they share both their warm hospitality and Alfonso's delicious Mexican food. “This restaurant is my heart. It’s my family. And every plate that comes out of my kitchen carries a story. I just hope people taste it.”
