Those who step into the new Mich Big Taco in downtown Aurora are stepping into the “soul of Mexico” — at least, that’s how the owners want people to feel.
The restaurant is located at 31 N. Broadway and offers Mexican fare from tacos to tortas and from breakfast plates to fajitas. Victor Alvarez, husband of owner Mercedes Alvarez, said the food is made from scratch using quality ingredients, including halal meat.
“It’s a little bit of more time to wait. We’re not fast food,” he said. “But the quality, you know, I think it’s worth the wait.”
Prices for most food items on the menu tend to be between $4 and $16, but there are some items that fall outside of that range.
Tacos are at the lower end of that scale, with $4.49 for a typical taco: choice of meat with cilantro and onion or lettuce, tomato and cheese. Tortas and burritos tend towards the middle at around $10, and entrees are at the higher end of the scale.
The most expensive item on the menu is the $20.99 mixed fajitas, which includes steak, chicken and shrimp.
Of course, as its name implies, the menu also features a “big taco” for $6.49. Cook Ismael Mata described the item as a homemade tortilla with “a lot of meat,” and the menu says it also includes cilantro and onion or lettuce, tomato and cheese. It’s like a little burrito, he said.
While they could have put more ingredients on it, they decided to just “keep it regular,” Mata said. That’s because sometimes when extras are added to something already made bigger, he said, it throws off the real meaning of the food.
In addition to the more regular tacos, the restaurant has a variety of other styles including “Campechano,” “Acorazado” and “Quesabirria,” which have different meats and toppings. And beyond food, the menu also shows drinks like aguas frescas, horchata, Mexican sodas and shakes.
Mata’s favorite item on the menu is the pozole verde, which is his mother’s recipe, he said. The menu describes it as a “traditional hominy soup with meat in a green sauce.”
Different states of Mexico have different ways of cooking, Mata said, but this restaurant is trying to put it all on one menu so “everybody can have a little bit of everything.” They don’t bring in their products directly from Mexico, but they do try to give their customers an authentic experience, he said.
In addition to providing food for the body, Mich Big Taco is also trying to provide food for the mind, said Victor Alvarez. Along the walls are write-ups on various elements of Mexican culture, from the story of the poinsettia flower to where the pinata comes from.
Everything has a meaning, according to Alvarez, and that extends to the restaurant’s logo, which is outstretched hands in a sign of prayer with a flaming taco between them. He said his wife’s idea for the restaurant was “cooked under the fire of prayer.”
Opening the restaurant was about more than just making money, Alvarez said. His wife wanted to welcome and serve people with her heart, he said.
Mercedes Alvarez’s grandmother started a popular restaurant in Mexico, where her mother also worked, according to Victor Alvarez. She was born in the midst of those ingredients and cuisine, he said.
Now that his wife has 35 years of experience in restaurants, she has her own, said Victor Alvarez. She also previously co-owned a restaurant in Elgin, he said.
It was a long process fixing up the historic building, Alvarez said, but now the restaurant has been open for about five months. He said that Mich Big Taco has received a “warm welcome” from the Aurora community.
As of Dec. 23, the restaurant had 4.8 out of five stars with 71 reviews on Google Maps. For more information, including a copy of the menu, go to: michbigtaco.com
rsmith@chicagotribune.com