Osteria 222 Earns Three Stars; Galindo’s Authentic Mexico City Fare Is A Winner

This week, The Detroit News’ Molly Abraham headed to Osteria 222, the Dearborn Italian spot formerly known as Bistro 222, and found plenty to love. In addition to raving about the restaurant’s hand-rolled fresh pasta and “pristinely fresh” produce, Abraham found delight in the simple things here – even a basic house salad and bread service.

Like everything else here, even the house salad, that often also-ran dish, is distinctive, a fresh mix of field greens, slim red onions and shaved Parmigiano-Reggiono cheese in balsamic vinaigrette served attractively on a square glass plate. The sturdy bread is from Cantoro Bakery, one of the few items not made in the kitchen here.

Three stars.

Elsewhere, The Metro Times’ Serena Maria Daniels scoped out Galindo’s, a Mexico City street food restaurant helmed by Chef Eric Galindo in Southgate. After noting the fact that some of the city’s Mexicantown restaurants leave diners “overwhelmed by the aged atmosphere of these places,” she points out exactly what makes Galindo’s so refreshing:

Take a look at the menu, and it's readily apparent that this food is "hecho en D.F." — made in Mexico City. At the heart of the menu is the torta — simplistically described as a Mexican sandwich. Take a bite of one of Galindo's monstrous creations, and you'll find that that description is a serious understatement. His are packed with a punch of flavor, all stuffed in bolillo rolls the size of a baseball mitt.

In her review, Daniels also notes that the restaurant proves that Detroit is “ready to depart from the the aging recipes that we flocked to growing up and are more open to diving into a little something new and interesting in Mexican cuisine.”