This week for the Buford Highway Food Expedition, we circled back to that cash-only taqueria: Taqueria Michoacan. For those who may not know Michoacán, or Michoacán de Ocampo, is a Mexican state.

This place is in the same little strip area as La Pastorcita and 1st Wok – a very latino area. The first time we walked by, it seemed a little intimidating because there was someone inside glaring at us. However, he was a single client, so fuggedabout him. In reality, the service was very friendly and our waitress spoke English well.

Adam and I snuck in mid-afternoon, and the place kept steady business the whole time we were there. It’s a pretty dumpy joint, but they do make a half-hearted effort with some decorations and potted plants. They also have two TVs, on which we caught the tail-end of a spanish-dubbed Jurassic Park, and the beginning of a National Geographic special on arctic animals. There is also a loud jukebox that occasionally blurts out music in hopes of enticing someone to feed it dollars. I rather enjoyed the polar bear roars puncuating what seemed to be a rather doleful love song.

We ordered from the painstakingly edited menu: a seafood burrito ($9), and a taco barbacoa de borrego (mutton barbecue), taco de chorizo and taco de carne asada ($1.75 each).

Good salsa on the salsa caddy here.

This was a first time sheep-eating experience for both of us… very interesting. I’m not sure how I feel about mutton in general, but the taco was good. The other tacos were also good, as were the salsas from the salsa caddy. However, in the end, we couldn’t help but feel that they were pretty average.

Carne Asada

Chorizo

Barbacoa de borrego

Now, it’s time to discuss the burrito. The rice it came with was superb. The refried beans were also very good. We got a tomato end instead of a tomato slice, not as nice. The burrito itself was solid – I enjoyed the texture and flavors…. buuuuuuut. It was called “seafood burrito,” but it only contained shrimp. I expect multiple examples of seafood, or I expect it to be called a shrimp burrito instead. I was willing to pony up $9 for a multi-seafood experience, not $3 worth of shrimp. I could have gotten a gigantic and heart-stoppingly delicious burrito from Bone Garden Cantina, sat in an awesome atmosphere (or on a pleasant patio) and still had $2.65 leftover with which to order nopalitos. Or, I could have had an even more delicious shrimp burrito at Bell Street Burritos, with a $.50 upsell to have it delightfully grilled, and still had $2 leftover for a MexiCoke. Disappointment on the cost versus value scale.

This is when I remembered to photograph the burrito…. oops.

For your convenience, I have recreated the dish.

The one shining light was the horchata (it cost a buck or two). It was my first time, so I can’t judge it on a universal scale, but I enjoyed Taqueria Michoacan horchata quite a lot. It tasted exactly like liquid rice pudding – with all the associated flavors: cinnamon, vanilla, and a creamy rice-y-ness.

In the end, this place was average, verging on subpar. The people were nice and the food was good, so I really want to be clear about what has led us to give the score we are giving. It was very average, nice service and food – which would get a 3-star review. The atmosphere is a little crappy, but I probably wouldn’t subtract credit for that alone. However, the price vs. value balance just doesn’t compare, as explained above, so we took off points for that. And lastly, points off for the pricey and misleading seafood burrito. In summary, we give it 2.5 stars. Take a pass on this one, unless right there in front of the restaurant and too hungry and weak to walk 100 yards to La Pastorcita (or two other nearby taquerias we’ll be hitting up very shortly).

Taqueria Michoacan
3328 Buford Hwy NE
Atlanta, GA 30329