Southwest and Mexicantown

History
Must-Sees

Why Visit?

Come for the food, stay for the culture. If you’ve got a craving for the most authentic Mexican food in Detroit, then there’s no better place to go than Mexicantown! The area is packed with family-run restaurants that have been community staples for generations.

Mexicantown is a small community within the wider Southwest Detroit neighborhood — which is also worth exploring at large if you love colorful murals, spacious parks, and unique grocery shops with hard-to-find ingredients.

The area especially comes alive in May, for the annual Cinco de Mayo parade, which is usually accompanied by live music, walking tours, restaurant crawls, traditional dancing, and a classic lowrider car show.

Outside of the beloved Cinco de Mayo celebrations, you can still find something to do in Southwest Detroit anytime of year. Clark Park is particularly worth visiting for walking trails, an outdoor ice rink, and its popular baseball diamond.

Featured Image
Credit: Charles Falsetti

History of the neighborhood

Just west of trendy Corktown and the impressive Michigan Central, you’ll find Southwest Detroit, and its enclave of Mexicantown.

Southwest Detroit’s history is complex and deeply rooted in its Mexican and Latino roots, as well as the other immigrant communities who shaped the neighborhood’s story over the years.

Mexican immigrants began moving into Southwest Detroit in the 1920s, and initially called the area La Bagley. Migration ramped up during World War II, when many Mexican farmworkers came to Detroit (and specifically, Southwest Detroit) to fulfill manual labor jobs that were left open by deployed soldiers.

Various immigration policy changes throughout the 1970s, 80s, and 90s led to further waves of Mexican and Central American immigrants, joining their families and neighbors in Southwest Detroit. This led to the area being dubbed Mexicantown in the late 1980s. The name stuck, and now many people use the labels Mexicantown and Southwest Detroit interchangeably, even though technically Mexicantown is a smaller subsection within Southwest Detroit.

Southwest Detroit is also home to other immigrant communities, notably Filipino and Vietnamese. Like other neighborhoods in Detroit, there are also European immigrant ties: Greek, Polish, Irish, Hungarian, Maltese, and more.

Neighborhood Must-sees

The diverse neighborhood of Southwest Detroit is reflected nowhere better than its food establishments, where you can rub shoulders with locals as well as other intrepid travelers. Some of the best things to do include:

  1. Eat Mexican food. Duh. It’s going to be hard to pick a favorite, so come hungry. You can’t go wrong with Mexican Village Restaurant (Detroit’s oldest Mexican restaurant), Tamaleria Nuevo Leon, Armando’s Mexican Restaurant, Xochimilco Restaurant, El Asador Steakhouse, Mexicantown Bakery, or El Barzon (Mexican-Italian fusion). Drop by Honey Bee Market to pick up Latin staples to cook at home (don’t sleep on their house-made chorizo!).
  2. Eat non-Mexican food. Yes, Southwest Detroit is a foodie’s heaven, and it’s not only Mexican cuisine that you’ll find here. Expand your palate and try Central American cuisine like Pupusería Y Restaurante Salvadoreño (for cheesy pupusas) and Antojitos el Catracho (for Honduran food). You’ll also find Detroit staples like Mike’s Famous Ham Place, Duly’s Place Coney Island, Motz’s Burgers, Flowers of Vietnam, and Pizzaplex.
  3. Explore colorful murals across Mexicantown and Southwest Detroit, with many of them located off Bagley Street or on restaurants and shopfronts. Some notable ones include “The Cornfield” by Vito Valdez, “City Spirit” by Martin Moreno and George Vargas, the Monterrey skyline mural by Elton Monroy Duran, Hubert Massey’s mosaic mural, and SW Freddy’s contemporary murals.

How Can I Get to Southwest Detroit?

You can reach Mexicantown and Southwest Detroit either by car, rideshare, or bus.

What is the best way to explore Southwest Detroit and Mexicantown?

You can explore Southwest Detroit either by car or walking. The more condensed area of Mexicantown, east of Clark Park, is worth exploring on foot so that you can easily pop into restaurants and shops. It’s useful to have a car to explore the wider Southwest Detroit neighborhood because it’s more spread out.

Where can I park?

There is plenty of street parking in Mexicantown. There’s a free lot along Bagley Street near Mexican Village, as well as other lots throughout the neighborhood. You can use the Park Detroit app to find available lots and metered parking.

Distance from DTW

Mexicantown is a 20 minute drive from Detroit Metro Airport (DTW), depending on traffic.

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