Restaurante Tierra Caliente — Restaurant in Los Angeles

UNESCO has recognized traditional Mexican cuisine as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity and the cuisine of Michoacán won Mexico this great distinction.

Michoacán was selected by Mexico to represent traditional cuisine - not Oaxaca or Puebla.

The best food in Michoacán is made by cooks in Tierra Caliente which is a region of Michoacán. This restaurant features food in the Tierra Caliente style!

I did not find our most famous dish Morisqueta here but I found Aporreado and Albondigas.

I ordered Albondigas which is a meatball soup. The meatballs are large and numerous and superbly condimented. They were incredibly delicious! The broth was slightly too salty and they do not use Yerba buena here which is spearmint. Still, I recommend the Albondigas! Regardless of the chayote squash. I don’t like it. It reminds me of being a kid and not wanting to eat it. Lol! You may enjoy it though! There’s also potatoes and carrots in the soup.

I took the Aporreado to go. It’s a red chile sauce with Serranos to spice it up. Here they make a Cecina “machaca” and cover it with the sauce. The Cecina is mixed into eggs. Cecina is a kind of jerky but it’s not smoked. It’s simply dried meat.

You get huge hand made tortillas with any dish!

Francisco is an incredibly well mannered server. So West Mexican in his etiquette!

You can eat inside or outside.

There’s free parking around...

My first visit at Tierra Caliente at Division Street.

Our server, Jesse, was very attentive and friendly. The food tasted awesome; home-cooked style; with generous portions. I had the chicken albondiga soup (4 big chicken meatballs)with 2 freshly hand-made corn tortillas, and a side of rice. My wife had the enchiladas combo plate (2 green chicken enchiladas & one red cheese enchilada). She is picky about her sauces and was very impressed with the red sauce, pan fried cheese enchilada- suggested by Jesse. We will definitely comeback to try other dishes. Note that while the prices were fair, the menu did not reflect the prices of each dish- we asked for prices beforehand. We felt very welcomed by the owner/chef, Laura, who walked to each table ensuring the guests were satisfied with their dishes. I highly recommend this...

DINING WHILE BLACK.

I would frequently eat here all the time when I worked in the area. So since I was in the area, I stopped in. I chose outside dining because it was a nice sunny day. I let the waiter know. After placing my order, I asked to be served chips and salsa due to being hungry and she replied back by telling me that I needed to wait for my food, really? So I waited to get the chips and salsa with my food that served to me in a styrofoam container, bit the chips were in a small bowl, the salsa were in little take out cups. I asked her why I was served like this, when other coutdoor customers next to me are eating from regular plates and utensils, she said sorry. That's it. Didn't try to correct it or anything. Plus, the portions were not properly distributed in the container at all.

I WILL NEVER EAT HERE...