The Fold: Dos Hermanos Express
Our search for Ann Arbor's best taco starts on a commercial strip in Scio Township.
I have already written about Dos Hermanos Express. The profile we published last spring covered the Arreola brothers, the family history, the burritos, and the Jackson Industrial location that nobody finds by accident. This is not that piece. This is about the tacos.
Specifically, this is about whether the tacos at Dos Hermanos Express are good enough to anchor a series. After four visits in two months, the answer is yes.
The Al Pastor
The al pastor taco at Dos Hermanos is the reason I started The Fold. I mentioned in the original profile that I had ordered it four times without trying anything else on the taco menu. That number is now higher, and I have since forced myself to branch out, but the al pastor remains the benchmark.
The pork is marinated and cooked until the edges carry real caramelization. Not burnt, not dried out, but that specific char you get when sugar and fat and heat have time to do their work. The meat has depth. There is sweetness from the marinade, but it stays in the background. The pork tastes like pork first.
The tortilla underneath is house-made, pressed that day. It is soft, a little thick, with a corn flavor that you can actually taste. At most places, the tortilla is a structural afterthought. Here, it participates. You could eat it on its own and recognize it as food, which is a low bar that a surprising number of restaurants cannot clear.
The salsa verde on top is bright and sharp. It has heat, but the heat comes after the flavor. Tomatillo, cilantro, a clean acidity that cuts the richness of the pork. This is the kind of salsa where you start spooning extra onto the plate and then onto your second taco and then onto whatever else is in reach.
A single al pastor taco runs $3.50. For what you get, that is a steal.
The Carnitas
The carnitas taco is the al pastor's quieter sibling. The pork is braised low and slow, pulled into shreds with enough fat left in to keep everything moist. It is not the carnitas that falls apart into mush. The pieces have texture. You can feel the grain of the meat.
Topped with onion, cilantro, and a squeeze of lime, the carnitas taco is simpler than the al pastor. There is no salsa included by default. Ask for the red salsa on the side. It is smoky, made with dried chiles, and it transforms the taco from good to something you think about later.
At $3.50, the value is the same. The carnitas rewards patience. Eat it slowly.
The Carne Asada
The carne asada is the most direct of the three. Grilled beef, chopped, seasoned with salt and lime and not much else. It tastes like the grill. If the al pastor is about layered flavor and the carnitas is about tenderness, the carne asada is about the quality of the meat itself.
This is where Dos Hermanos separates from the pack. At a lot of taco shops in Ann Arbor, the carne asada is gray and steamed, cooked in batches that sat too long. Here, it shows up with sear marks and juice. It is not steak. It is taco meat. But it is taco meat that someone cooked with attention.
The carne asada taco also runs $3.50. At that price, order all three and do the comparison yourself.
What Makes a Great Taco
A great taco is not about any single thing. It is about three or four things happening at once and none of them getting in each other's way. The tortilla holds up. The meat is seasoned and cooked with care. The salsa adds something the taco does not already have. And the whole thing is priced so you can eat two or three without doing math.
Dos Hermanos gets this right across the board. The tortillas are made daily. The meats are prepped from scratch. The salsas are house-made and each one is different. The prices are under $4 a taco. We have eaten tacos at restaurants in Ann Arbor that charge twice as much and deliver half the flavor, because they are paying for a dining room and a liquor license instead of putting that money into the food.
This is not the only place in Ann Arbor making good tacos. But it is the right place to start a series, because it sets a standard built on fundamentals. Every taco I try from here on has to answer for these three.
This is part of our ongoing series. Read the full tracker: The Fold: Best Taco in Ann Arbor.
Dos Hermanos Express is at 25 Jackson Industrial Dr, Ann Arbor, MI 48103 (Scio Township). Mon-Thu 11 a.m.-8 p.m., Fri-Sat 11 a.m.-9 p.m., Sun 12-7 p.m.