Los Altos
7056 W. Vernor Hwy.
Detroit
(313) 841-3109
Catering mostly to owner Adan Lopez’s fellow immigrants from Jalisco, which gave birth to tacos al pastor, Los Altos’ tacos al pastor are out of this world: filled to the brim with succulent, mellow chunks of pork leg marinated in an adobo mixture. A taco costs $1; $1.50 if you’re silly enough to ask for a flour tortilla. The English menu is careful to advise that chopped onion and cilantro are the traditional toppings on a taco. If you insist on adding cheese, you may, but it’ll cost you 50 cents. The restaurant's traditional dishes show off the cooks’ ability to use every last portion of an animal: Besides rib-eye (bistec tampiqueño), chorizo or pork loin (lomo), you can try cabeza (head), buche (pork maw), lengua (tongue) or tripas (beef tripe). A plato grande of four meats with salad, beans and rice is said to feed six, for $18. The small $4 birria soup, made with marinated goat, is a rich, tender meal in itself. Los Altos’ menu is long, including seafood dishes such as shrimp, tilapia, oysters and ceviche; tortas made with 13 kinds of meat or avocado; the usual chiles rellenos, burritos, enchiladas, flautas, quesadillas and even chimichangas. For dessert there’s flan, sopapillas or tres leches cake. Cash only, no bar.
