Taqueria Tour 2008: First Stop, Arandas

One Saturday afternoon
Three empty stomachs
Four taquerias in Detroit's Mexican Town

Ah, yes, it's the Taqueria Tour of 2008.

Most local Ann Arborites who have been to Detroit Mexican Town are familiar with what I think of as the "tourista" area on Bagely street, where you can find a mix of restaurants serving up Americanized fare with big margaritas and a few authentic places tucked inbetween, such as Taqueria Lupita, one of our favorite Mexican restaurants. But Mexican Town is far larger than just the short stretch on Bagley street, and it was time to branch out and try the other places we've seen up and down Vernor Hwy. Our first stop was Taqueria Arandas, located at what I think of as the far end of Mexican Town, at the intersection of Vernor and Livernois. We walked inside the door and after making our way past the grill, where the al pastor was on its spit, and were stunned to find a very very large sit down restaurant. (This place is bigger on the inside than it looks on the outside.) Arandas is a full service restaurant with an extensive menu. If you need to seat a large group, this is the place to go.

We were sticking with tacos, but the rest of the menu is definitely worth checking out. They have a variety of dinner plates and Mexican soups. Here's our rundown on the tacos we tried.

Winners:
pollo — very simple and surprisingly flavorful chicken, with nice lime notes
al pastor — quite nice, and made using a real trompo (the spit that you stack meat on and grill it). Joe like this version of pastor more than I did, but we both agree it's good.
goat — not bad

Not so great:
chorizo & egg — a bit bland to our tastes. I doused mine with salsa.

Taqueria Arandas
1807 Livernois Ave
Detroit, MI
(313) 297-7533

Comments

[Mandy]

Wow! Thank you so much. I am an Ann Arbor native who has lived in LA for the last 8 years. I come home a few times a year to see family, and will definitely be hitting these spots on my next visit. I'm subscribing to your blog right now! Cheers!

[kitchens]

hey, i've ate there and pollo is also my favourite.. cool