The inviting entrance to La Casa del Abuelo (Grandpa's House) in the Centro Histórico of Morelia, Michoacán, México. This tiny restaurant is the epitome of Mexico's "3 Bs": bueno, bonito, y barato (good, pretty, and inexpensive). We're very lucky: it's just a couple of blocks from our house and we eat there as often as possible.
Who among us is always on the lookout for a restaurant that serves delicious food, in a pretty atmosphere, without spending an arm and a leg (or as we say in Mexico, el ojo de la cara (the eye out of your face)? In mid-summer 2020, Luisa and I were walking the three or so blocks from our house to Avenida Madero (Morelia's main downtown street) and noticed a woman standing in the doorway of a restaurant we had often passed on our way to or from--somewhere. Karina Bonilla Pointelin--the woman in the doorway--waved to and grinned at Luisa, and it turned out that several years ago, she was a student in a class Luisa was teaching. It further turned out that the doorway she was standing in was the entrance to La Casa del Abuelo, a restaurant that she and her spouse, Ulises Ramos Estrada, had opened in December, 2018. And what? We hadn't been there yet? How embarrassing! We vowed to eat there as soon as possible.
The menu cover at La Casa del Abuelo. The drawing--made by a niece when she was only five years old--depicts the home of Ulises's father, the "Grandpa" in the restaurant's name. The extensive menu offering breakfast, comida, and supper, is also available using QR, that newish scanning technology for your cellular phone.
Available at all three mealtimes (or as a really hearty snack in between meals, if you're feeling peckish), carne en su jugo (meat in its juice) is one of my particular favorites at La Casa del Abuelo. The large peltre (enameled metal) bowl is served as you see it--filled to the rim with lots of long-simmered small pieces of beef, chopped onion, bacon, flavoring spices, frijoles de la olla (freshly cooked beans, straight from the pot) and beef broth. Topped with more chopped onion, freshly chopped cilantro, and jugo de limón (Key lime juice), this dish is topnotch old-school Mexican comfort food. We were there for breakfast the other day, and I'd been craving their carne en su jugo; I ordered it with a papaya/orange juice combination and a napkin full of hot tortillas. The meals at La Casa del Abuelo are always bien servidos--satisfying portions that fill you up. The carne en su jugo, as of this writing, is priced at 60 pesos, including tortillas. Click on any photo to enlarge it for a better view.
Creamy, foamy hot chocolate, in this case made with milk--Luisa's preference--and topped with multi-color miniature marshmallows.
Another terrific breakfast or anytime option are the chilaquiles, in this case, a mountain of house-fried tortillas topped with freshly made salsa roja (red sauce) and a tender fried egg. Luisa ordered them for breakfast, along with a big glass of freshly squeezed orange juice. How newly squeezed was the juice? I went to the kitchen and watched Ulises squeeze it!
Here's Ulises, squeezing our breakfast juice.
One corner of the main dining room. The restaurant is cozy and intimate, if you're going with a group of relatives or friends, it would be best to make a reservation in advance.
Ulises and Karina talked to me quite a bit about the philosophy of their cooking, service, and restaurant in general. They are strong fans of the international Slow Food movement and follow its precepts closely. Almost nothing on the restaurant menu is prepared in advance: for a salad like the one in the photo above, the greens and the additional vegetables are chopped when a customer orders a salad, the cheese is crumbled when your order is ready to eat, and nothing on the plate will have come from a bag of mixed salad ingredients.
Everything that arrives at your table is hand-chosen by Karina and Ulises--they go to the Morelia markets themselves (and have their favorite markets)--and everything is purchased not much prior to preparation. Nothing is comes frozen from a package. They are also firm believers in cooking and serving local foods and supporting local farmers. Service here takes a bit longer than you might be accustomed to--they only have one other occasional employee, but truly, it's worth the wait for your food. During the pandemic, all health requirements are met at the restaurant: use of masks required, temperature taken at the entrance, antibacterial gel required and provided.
Ulises created this appetizer plate, and we have loved sharing it with our table companions ever since. A bar of slightly softened cream cheese topped with bacon, chopped onion, pieces of toasted nuts, fried dried chile rings, a touch of maple syrup, rosemary, house-fried tortilla strips, and sesame seeds combine to make you want to eat the entire thing! The whole is truly greater than the sum of its parts, and we are always amazed to taste this dish.
Costra filled with grilled beef and chorizo. Costra simply means crust--and in this case, it's a crust made of crispy-grilled cheese. The dish is wonderful for a light supper!
In addition, the couple explained the name of the restaurant. Karina said, "There are several restaurants called variations on a 'Grandma's House' theme, so we didn't want to intrude on that idea. And we wanted to honor Ulises's father, who helped us get the restaurant going--we only had a month from the time we decided to open up, and finding the right place for the restaurant here in Morelia's downtown. He helped us so, so much. And Ulises himself is now a grandfather, so all of the pieces fell into place--La Casa del Abuelo was the right choice!"
A taquito (small rolled and fried taco) filled with jamaica flowers. Jamaica (in English, roselle) is a flower used to make agua de jamaica, a cold, red, slightly tangy agua fresca that is one of the most popular in Mexico. Once the flowers are used to make the "fresh water", they can be squeezed dry and used for other dishes, like this taquito. Like many of Ulises's dishes, this one is a mix of several different textures.
My favorite dessert on the menu: the buñuelos del abuelo--again, created by Ulises. Fried dough, coated with a piloncillo (Mexican raw brown sugar) syrup, crystals of sugar, fresh apple slices, and crushed nuts. A winner--it's very hard to resist ordering it, it's so delicious.
Ulises, Karina, and Mexico Cooks! pose for a photo during a December 2020 event at La Casa del Abuelo. We took new friends to enjoy the atmosphere and the food; it's such a pleasure to spread the word about this great place to eat.
La Casa del Abuelo Antojería
Calle Abasolo 186
Between Calles Corregidora y Allende
Centro Histórico
Morelia, Michoacán, Mexico
Reservations or questions: 011-52-443-312-1963 (from the USA and Canada)
Hours due to COVID-19:
Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday 10:00AM until 9:00PM. Post 9:00PM, call for takeout.
Thursday-Friday-Saturday 10:00AM until 7:00PM. Post 7:00PM, call for takeout.
Sunday CLOSED (or call for takeout)
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