Review: El Catrin - great Mexican food

Four and a Half out of Five Stars

By Abby Cowels
Associate Editor

El Catrin Tacos and More has been serving California-style burritos and tacos since last November in Lansing. The restaurant can be spotted at 1620 E. Michigan Ave. Look for the colorful sign out front; it’s hard to miss. 

My partner and I had been wanting to try the food there for some time. So, when we finally made it there. We made sure to get anything we wanted off the menu.

While we waited, we spoke with the cashier, who expressed her gratitude for having a job, even when she works late hours in order to serve overnight hospital workers from Sparrow.

The El Catrin staff works hard to serve, and it shows in the authenticity of the menu items. It was difficult to decide, but we finally landed on the nachos supremos, chicken fajita burrito and quesa birria tacos.

The nachos were your standard chips, cheese and a choice of meat with lettuce and other fixings. It was good, but not necessarily something I couldn’t order at any Mexican food restaurant.

What ended up selling us was when we got to the burrito and birria tacos. The burrito was huge and stuffed with perfectly seasoned pollo and rice. I could not even finish my half of it.

Now, the birria tacos were absolutely the star of the show. The crunchy yellow corn tortillas were filled with a slow cooked carne asada, melted cheese all fried together and served with consommé for dipping.

The consommé broth can make or break birria tacos in my opinion, but El Catrin does it so well. The broth had a little kick to it; it wasn’t too heavy on cinnamon or salt.

I did not even have a single bite of the tacos left and I still felt hesitant to just toss the rest, convincing myself that I would have some way to use it.

The service was great, and the food that followed did not disappoint. It was some of the best Mexican food I have had in town. Find the location and hours here.