A third location of El Charrito opens in Marina, offering the same signature tortillas.

What began as a humble market with a kitchen to make divinely buttery tortillas and a simple hot bar now has three fast-casual restaurants and one sit-down restaurant. 

A third generation in the Moncada family has held onto their grandmother, Teresa Moncada's recipes from when she first opened 44 years ago. But in the past decade, the original El Charrito location in Salinas has been spruced up with more space for hungry customers to wait in line and fewer shelves of groceries. The family opened a second location in Monterey, along with the higher-end Alejandro's, in 2022.

And now, starting on Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026, they've opened their third outpost in Marina. 

The spot on the Marina Promenade of the Dunes community is open daily from 7:30am-6pm, relying on the same house-made tortillas from the Salinas kitchen and the same recipes as the other locations. The menu is similar but slightly smaller, offering a variety of burritos, burrito bowls and taquitos. The menu appears on a shiny, white tile wall in a sparse location with just a handful of seats. 

"Day one is going awesome," says server Isaiah Edeza before lunchtime on a day with bursts of powerful rain. Despite the gloomy weather, he forecasts: "Business is going to be booming."

El Charrito Marina is located at 98 General Stilwell Drive, Suite 10, next door to a forthcoming location of Lalla Grill, which is still under construction.