Birriería Apatzingán

🇲🇽 MICHOACÁN, MÉXICO / The sixth largest city in Michoacán has a tiny home in Pacoima serving the specialties of this incredibly beautiful place.

🇲🇽 MÉXICO (Michoacán)
📍 10040 Laurel Canyon Blvd.,
Pacoima, San Fernando Valley
🅿️ Parking in small plaza
💲 Cash Only
🥤 No Alcohol

📸 All photos by Jared Cohee
for Eat the World Los Angeles

If you live in Pacoima and love birria or even just Mexican food in general, it is probably a good bet that you have already stopped by Birriería Apatzingán between five and five hundred times. The little orange shop always seems to have a fresh coat of paint applied and subtly hides behind the convenience store on the corner. Despite this, the hustle and bustle that emanates from its door would be hard not to notice on such a busy intersection.

It only takes six tables to fully occupy the restaurant so it can sometimes be hard to find a seat right away, but this does not stop many customers from ordering big bags of takeout and returning home. They do a good job getting meals ready quickly and turnover is not too long, so let them know you want to eat here and the women that run the floor will take care of you when it comes your turn.

Especially on weekends, the efficiency of the restaurant and the brilliance of its kitchen are in full view. If you do not already know what you want, the bowls of birria and menudo that swirl around you will quickly help make those decisions. It would of course be a mistake to come to a birriería and not enjoy the namesake dish, even if some of the other hyper-local platos estilo Michoacán end up being more memorable.

A big bowl of birria en caldo ($17.49, above) is the way to go and is served with their freshly patted out thick corn tortillas. These come to the table right off the plancha and are ready to scald your fingertips. If you do not appear to be from Michoacán yourself, they might offer a beef version, but goat is of course the way to go with birria from this part of México. Scrape in the cilantro and onions, squeeze all the lime, and do not be afraid to add some salt and some of their house red salsa to fortify the whole thing.

If you are from Michoacán or have traveled through its mountains and valleys, you will no doubt have memories of breakfasts consisting of aporreadillo ($14.99, above). This dish of scrambled eggs hides little chunks of cecina and is slathered with a spicy salsa. The hearty meal is eaten past noon in many places, so do not feel bad about ordering this for lunch. Throwing it and some of the beans into the homemade tortillas is just about perfect and could be considered the quintessential bite here at Birriería Apatzingán.

The menu also includes a surprising number of other dishes from this southwestern state of México. Local tamales called uchepos are made with sweet corn and served with crema. Enchiladas are served with large, chile-fried pieces of chicken and potatoes, a dish called pollo de la plaza in Morelia and quite an upgrade on a plate of simple enchiladas. One of the favorites seems to be morisqueta ($14.99, below), which lays tender pork ribs in a less-spicy tomatillo-based salsa over white rice and beans.