Troy, MI — The first Sunday of May was truly a special day. Many joyful and wholesome moments made the overall day emanate with excitement and peak adventure!

I had my first full-fledged restaurant shoot on Sunday since launching this website and food blog. Even though it’s been nearly a year since I last operated my food franchise at my last station in Phoenix, even for a food blogger, it is still like riding a bike sometimes!

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Two days prior, my colleagues and I helped welcome a husband and wife duo who own and operate a fantastic Mexican restaurant in the southwestern corner of Troy — Aldana’s Mexican Bar & Grill. Co-owner and Chef Maria Aldana and her husband, Nabil Ashi, joined our station for a Cinco de Mayo preview segment. I struck up a conversation with the pair before their segment and was intrigued after hearing the layout of their restaurant’s menu and vibe. After a mere few minutes, I knew Maria’s story needed to be shared. I’ve been eager to work on my first video project and definitely wanted the inaugural video to feature a truly remarkable place with a great story that mirrors it. Well, look no further than this vibrantly incredible Mexican restaurant with featured dishes from Guadalajara and Yucatán regions.

My colleague and fellow foodie-at-arms, Juan, whom you might recall from the Ninja Sushi endeavor, enlisted as my field producer for this adventure. We arranged with Maria and Nabil that we’d arrive at 1 p.m. at their restaurant, just a little after the lunch rush. I was in great spirits as I drove northbound on I-75 during the midday hustle and bustle. Aldana’s is located on Coolidge Highway, just north of Maple Road. Juan and I arrived around the same time, and as we walked toward the entrance, we were graciously greeted by Nabil at the door. Within seconds of walking into Aldana’s, I felt incredibly humble, knowing that I was about to become immersed and warmly welcomed into a new environment, culture, and world of cuisine by some of the most genuinely kindest folks you could ever meet. Believe me, when I say I was/am overjoyed to share the story of Aldana’s.

As Nabil led us into Aldana’s lobby, Juan and I immediately observed the vibrancy of interior colors, handcrafted artworks and figurines, unique tilework, and the family/home-like setting established by the ambiance. You know you’re in for a great experience and meal when the restaurant feels like an extension of home for the chef.

When a chef feels at home in their restaurant, you’re experiencing their life and their memories through their cooking. Whether it’s from generations-old recipes, new twists on old traditions, or an authentic creation spoken straight from the chef’s soul, it commands our respect and undivided attention.

RELATED: Video Projects

Juan and I began gathering the elements needed for the video project, with Juan tackling exterior shots as I gathered the interior b-roll. I met Ahmed and Omar Abdo, who help Maria and Nabil manage Aldana’s. Ahmed and Omar explained to me that much of what I saw within the interior was imported directly from Guadalajara and parts of Mexico. From the rustic floor tiles to the colorful and decorative chairs, handcrafted light fixtures, art pieces, and figurines, one cannot help but feel and breathe Guadalajara and Mexican culture and history. This dedication to authenticity and culture extends well beyond the décor; it lives and breathes through Aldana’s recipes, ingredients, cooking, memories, and caretakers.

There’s even a captivating and panoramic mural of Old Guadalajara and its iconic Plaza de Armas overseeing the dining area. After being seated, you can’t help but feel right at home, a part of the Aldana family. Every little bit of detail and aspect woven into this restaurant’s manifestation becomes part of the experience and cannot go unnoticed or be appreciated.

Juan and I worked diligently and reviewed our clips as Nabil and Maria delivered some of their establishment’s popular appetizers: their chips trio and loco fries. When it comes to fresh tableside chips, it’s easy for one’s hand to go into automatic pilot from basket to mouth without computing much thought into the taste since the corn tortilla chip is quite a familiar one for most. However, even with something as standard as the tortilla chip, Maria has a seasoning secret up her sleeve! A blend of several seasonings (a secret understandably guarded) adds a unique and noticeable spin to these chips, which only have their flavors further enhanced by the array of dips. The salsas are hearty, with the hot hitting a high note without being too overwhelming to manage, and the queso being an absolute favorite, with an almost hint of sweetness. And don’t sleep on that bean dip or guacamole; you’ll be begging for refills! The loco fries continue the flavor express train, topped with another delicious seasoning blend and pickled jalapeño queso, rounded out with pico and black beans. The fries maintained a crispy texture and were also seasoned heavenly. With a spicier queso drizzled across, only to be buried under more cheese, I couldn’t get enough! One could quickly fill up on these delicious appetizers, it’s a good thing Juan and I went into this shoot with empty stomachs!

As we chipped away at the appetizers, we chatted with Nabil and Maria, learning more about their restaurant and story. Maria and Nabil are incredibly kind and very hospitable, with Maria wearing her heart and passion for cooking on her sleeve. Maria’s restaurant endeavor began in 2006 when she opened her first quick and casual Las Cazeulas inside a gas station near downtown Detroit. After several years of success and the opening of two more locations, Maria and Nabil were ready to launch their modern fine-dining concept featuring those same authentic and traditional meals that brought Las Cazeulas to life. Fast forward to 2020, and Aldana’s Mexican Bar & Grill became a reality.

A few minutes passed, and then it became the defining moment for any foodie destination: the arrival of your entrée. The singular purpose of any restaurant endeavor shared by all when it comes time to satisfy those rumblings in your stomach. I knew I had to go big for this visit, so I went with traditional Yucatán-style slow-roasted barbecued pork: the cochinita pibil.

This dish is a personal favorite of mine from my foodie days back in Phoenix. When I first launched my food franchise at my previous station, I started with the barbecue series, where I learned a LOT about barbecue and explored whether Arizona had established its own style pulling from Southwestern influences. During these early adventures, I discovered and learned about cochinita pibil, which is considered by many to be the world’s oldest form of barbecue. Without going all out on the history, here’s a link to the Wiki page if you would like to learn more.

Where to begin with how vastly amazing this dish by Maria is, and should be considered a must-try for newcomers or regulars alike who have yet to experience cochinita pibil. The meat is so juicy and tender; you can honestly tell just by looking at the photo above. The meat fell and broke apart merely by poking or touching it with your fork. I didn’t mess about; I sampled a bite of the cochinita, then a bite with the cochinita with rice and beans, then formed as hefty of a taco as I could muster with all of the ingredients. Juan and I sat in silence for several minutes as we devoured our meals before us. The spices and flavors in this dish are unparalleled. The explosively phenomenal cochinita and its brine converge perfectly with the rice and beans, with the pickled onions giving that last extra bite of sweetness. Whether you’re just eating the cochinita or going all in on rolling up some tacos with the mix, you’re going to enjoy every bite from start to finish. Maria Aldana has got this dish down; the cochinita pibil alone is worth the visit!

Juan had been eyeing the Aldana signature burrito for his entrée but was quickly (and easily) swayed into the quesa-birria by Maria and Nabil. The quesa-birria is a three-corn birria quesadilla served with consommé, pickled onions, queso fresco, and radishes. When I hear the word ‘birria,’ I’m usually sold, regardless of how it’s served, so I obviously endorsed this decision. For those who have yet to encounter or experience birria, it is a dish that originated in the state of Jalisco (Guadalajara is the capital). It is traditionally served as a stew using goat meat. Sometimes lamb or beef is used, but either way, the meat is marinated into a mélange of spices and chiles, resulting in a delicious stew.

Birria tacos, which have become rather popular in recent years across the U.S. in both the food truck and restaurant scene, feature the rich and tender meat paired with the traditional onion/cilantro combo. And in this case, birria + quesadilla?! Sign me up! But don’t just take my word for it on this one; here’s what Juan had to say about the meal:

The Quesa-Birria was not initially my first choice dish, but it definitely was the best one I could have gone with. Crispy-fried outer shell, the meat’s explosive flavors — and the consommé to really add a kick of spice to every bite… I’m salivating just thinking about that dish…

Juan

When Maria inquired if we had room for dessert, Juan and I gave each other that look where we both were on the precipice of eagerly blurting out yes, but waited excruciatingly for the other to say it first so individually we wouldn’t have to. Luckily for us, Maria had already decided for us — probably by the looks on our obviously willing but comical faces! Maria returned a short time later with her tres leches cake and coco chimis. It took all my willpower to limit how many bites I allowed myself to enjoy of these two desserts because these two dishes were within a league of their own. Because of my weightlifting and (somewhat consistent) diet, I typically avoid sweets and desserts or anything high in sugar. But after one look at these desserts and tasking myself with providing as in-depth a report as possible, I knew I had to take a few bites from each to experience the full range of Maria’s cooking and recipes.

While I have only had tres leches cake several times in my lifetime, this was the best I’ve ever had, hands down. Through true mystical baking science, Maria’s tres leches have one of the most controlled balancing acts of sweet, spongy, and airy light cake I’ve ever had in such a form, and for anyone not restricting themselves from sweets, do yourself and anyone with you a favor and save some room for this dessert! The cherry and coco jam is an excellent finish, with a fresh fruit (see, you can have your cake and eat healthy too!) garnish for extra sweetness and presentation. The perfect finale for any dinner!

After our meal, Juan and I went outside to Aldana’s side patio to sit down with the owners to learn more about Maria’s story. Watch the interview with Maria and Nabil below:

As mentioned near the end of the interview with Maria, big things are on the horizon. It’s wonderful seeing the return on investments for Maria, who worked very hard along with her family and team at her side to reach this point. As discussed, Maria plans to open a churrería right next to her spot at Aldana’s! According to a quick, handy-dandy Google search, there are only two other listed churrerías in Metro Detroit. So, obviously, the more churros, the better, right?!

“This is something that I love.. we wanted to share with everybody; this is about memories. There is something very traditional in Mexico that everybody knows. I’m so proud; I’m very happy that when you say the name, everybody knows about churros!” Maria explained. “I really want to bring the feeling of being in a plaza in Mexico, just simply seeing how the churro’s made, how it comes out, how it gets touched, to how it gets the texture, the sugar, the cinnamon. And then right now, with the new trends of the food, obviously, it’s going to be garnished in different ways.”

Maria said her churro business will be called La Niña Churrería, honoring some of her earliest memories as a little girl selling her mom’s cookies and sweets on the street. I was beyond fortunate enough to sample one of Maria’s churros during her studio segment with my station several days prior. I can attest that Maria’s churrería is going to be a game-changer. Not only will it be right next door to Aldana’s, but with the quality of churros being churned out by Maria, you’re going to be hooked. And if the churro itself doesn’t somehow convince you enough with its sweet and cinnamon charm, the special chocolate and caramel sauces crafted by Maria will surely seal the deal!

Maria’s passion for cooking and honoring her family and culture through her restaurant and recipes could serve as an inspiration for everyone. It’s done with heart, love, and traditions of bringing people together and cooking. I’ve always believed that food is one of the few conduits that breaks all barriers and unites people through the shared joy of a meal and memories; Maria Aldana and her cooking represent that perfectly.

To learn more about Aldana’s Mexican Bar & Grill, click here.