2500 Nazareth RoadI ended up on the east side of town a couple of weeks ago just kind of driving aimlessly. I don’t get out to the Gull Road side of Kalamazoo very often and I’m always kind of surprised when I do. I end up stumbling on something new. I’m pretty in tune with new restaurants on the west side or in downtown Kalamazoo…and even in Portage…but when new places open on the east side, it takes me a little longer to find them.
I needed gas so I stopped at the Speedway at the corner of Gull Road and Nazareth. There’s a restaurant right behind this Speedway that I have stopped at a few times. It was a Chicken Coop for a while then it became Taste of Soul by Dips. I was surprised to see it has now become something else.
Panderia y Antojitos Guatemaltecos is in the old Chicken Coop building on Nazareth Road just south of the intersection with Gull Road. The building is now a shade of light blue which makes it pop from Gull Road. It’s hard to miss that building while you’re sitting at the light and not wonder what it is.
I stopped in about 1:00 on a Wednesday afternoon. The place didn’t look a whole lot different than what I remember it as the Chicken Coop (the inside didn’t seem to be open when I stopped there a few times when it was Taste of Soul by Dips).
There is an order counter right when you walk in the door. The name of the restaurant translates to English as Guatemalan Bakery and Snacks (at least according to Google Translate). Next to the order counter is a bakery case where fresh made pastries were being brought out and restocked as I was waiting for my order.
There are two seating areas in the rest of the restaurant. It’s a bi-level seating area with booths covered with a Latin American themed table cloth next to a wall painted with the colors of the Guatemalan flag. on the upper level even with the order area.
The lower level is an old sunroom type dining area popular in fast food places of the 90’s. This place always reminded me of the old Wendy’s design from when I was a kid but it seems to be a design the Chicken Coop incorporated in to their restaurants as well. While Wendy’s has updated over the year’s, some of thee old Chicken Coops have stayed frozen in time.
The menu is very small. There are only four options on the every day menu. On weekends they add some tamales to the list but during the week, it’s tacos, garnachas, panes shuco, and enchiladas.
I ordered the tacos but they weren’t the kind of tacos I was used to. There were no meat options other than shredded beef and they didn’t come with the usual cilantro and onion topping. The option for tacos was 3 for $10. I paid with cash and waited about ten minutes for my bag to be handed over.
Like I mentioned above, the tacos are a little different. There are two soft, warm corn tortilla shells filled with shredded beef but they’re topped with fried onions and shredded cabbage. I was hesitant because I don’t like onions and cabbage seemed weird but I decided to try it. The best I can tell, this is a type of Guatemalan street taco.
I couldn’t do the onions. I’m just not a big onion guy. I’ve just gotten to the point that I eat and enjoy raw diced onions on tacos. These are longer onion strips grilled on the flat top….that was good because it also made them easier to pull off. I left most of the cabbage on and added some of the red hot sauce that was included with the meal. Without the onions, these were really great tacos. The meat was tender and had a flavor that could carry the tacos on it’s own. The cabbage just added a little extra crunch and soaked up the meat juice and the hot sauce I put on top. I was actually a little surprised by how much I ended up liking these tacos. They’re different from what I’m used to but we all need different every now and then.
Panderia y Antojitos Guatemaltecos is different from the other Latin American places in town. Most of those are Mexican. This place will feel familiar to those who enjoy Mexican food but it offers up a different kind of Latin cuisine.