Detroit: El Barzon
In 2007, Chef/Owner Noberto Garita, along with his mother and wife Silvia, opened what is probably the most unique restaurant in Southwest Detroit near Mexicantown: El Barzon Restaurante. What makes it unique is that is serves both traditional Mexican cuisine, as well as traditional Italian cuisine. Noberto migrated to the US and New York City when he was 16. He spent the early part of his life working on his parent’s farm in Puebla, Mexico.
In NYC, he cooked in Italian restaurants and fell in love with the cuisine. Noberto made his way to Detroit in the 1990’s and landed a job at Il Posto Ristorante Italiano in Southfield in 1997. It quickly became one of Detroit’s most popular Italian restaurants and Noberto was able to learn more about authentic Italian cooking. His passion for cooking and perseverance has paid off. If you remember, 2007 was not a great time to be opening a new restaurant with the crash of 2008 causing a lot of restaurant to call it quits.
Today El Barzon is one of the most popular restaurants in the city, even though it is not in the heart of downtown. Where else can you get traditional Italian and Traditional Mexican cuisine under one roof? To top it off, chef/owner Noberto Garita is a 2 time James Beard nominated chef. While he didn’t win, it is a great honor to be considered when going up against chefs form Michigan, Indiana, Ohio and Illinois.
The menu features Mexican dishes that pay homage to his homeland of Mexico, as well as an Italian side which feature many dishes from his days at Il Posto. The food is amazing, the service spot on and the atmosphere is fun and lively. You will see Noberto frequently walking the dining room conversing with patrons or serving guests his delicious alfredo out of the giant parmesan wheel of cheese. On top of the wonderful food, it is this personal touch that adds to the many reasons people come back time and again.
Back to their menu. As previously mentioned, it is a nice blend of both traditional Mexican and Italian dishes . . . while it does lean more toward the Italian side. While we can’t speak for everything on the menu, we can talk about what we had. There were 6 of us in our group, so we had the opportunity to experience a lot of what they had to offer.
We started with a couple bottles of wine and they had a bottle of 2021 Caymus Cabernet Sauvignon we had to order.
Then we had gorgeous Caprese Salad, that was drizzled with balsamic table side
I had the Tris De Pasta, loosely translated - trio of pasta. It came with Strozzapreti alla Norcina, Cavatelli alla Boscaiola and a Ricotta and mushroom ravioli with tomato sauce. All 3 were so rich and delicious. Of the 3, I think I liked the Cavatelli the best, the creamy mushroom sauce was just perfect.
Teresa had the Zuppa Di Pesce w/ Black Ink Linguini. This is a traditional seafood soup or stew which includes clams, mussels, shrimp, red snapper, scallops and salmon all served in a spicy tomato sauce over black ink linguini. The presentation was beautiful and flavors were off the charts DELICIOUS!
Others in our group had The Pollo Al Limone, aka Chicken Picata.
And the Cecina El Barzon, thinly sliced steak topped with Italian style arugula and tomato, or Mexican style grilled onions and jalapeno peppers.
They also offer to do it half & half so you can experience it both ways. We finished with some of their tiramisu and flan
Chef Noberto says he cooks “because he loves to see people happy” and it shows. You can add seasoning to food but “heart and soul” always makes things taste better. Norberto also makes his own Limoncello and imports his Tequilas directly form Mexico. The bottom line is El Barzon is the real deal, they aren’t just “going through the motions” Their passion for what they do shows in everything they do.
El Barzon is open Tuesday thru Thursday from 11 AM to 2:30 PM and then 5PM to 9 PM, Friday from 11 AM to 2:30 PM and then 5 PM to 10 PM and Sunday 5 PM to 8 PM
Until next time . . . live well, eat well and enjoy life!
-Keith & Teresa Becker