CloverEats: aromatic pulled pork at Frita Batidos
I did a quick Snapshot post on Frita Batidos back when I first came to Ann Arbor, but despite frequenting it quite often throughout the years I’ve lived here, I somehow never dedicated a full photo shoot to it. Feeling like this was much overdue, Kevin and I stopped by for a delicious lunch featuring their summer special, an aromatic pulled pork with tropical cole slaw and chili mayo. 
I love how the restaurant looks at nighttime. The whole shop has a glow to it, and their sign outside is all lit up. They have a great late night happy hour for the last hour before closing. The whole restaurant has a great texture, from its whitewashed brick walls to its wooden floors. There are dominoes at the table, with rules provided, but we often just resort to our childhood version of simply lining them up and knocking them down.
Frita Batidos is described as Cuban-inspired street food. Its chef, Eve Aronoff, of Top Chef fame and Le Cordon Bleu education, opened Frita Batidos after closing her Kerrytown restaurant, eve. Reading one of The Ulterior Epicure’s earliest posts praising the restaurant really makes me wish I had been in Ann Arbor just a little bit earlier, so that I too could have had the experience of dining at eve. Luckily, Frita Batidos never fails to disappoint.
The bar is fantastic, offering fresh mojitos and sangria, but my favorite drink to get is a passionfruit batido with a splash of dark rum. Their Facebook page often has photos of Fishbowl Friday, which looks fantastic!
Of course, the real star of a meal at Frita Batidos is the frita. Like a burger on steroids, these delicious, mouthwatering creations come backed with fries, eggs, and pretty much anything you could ever want on your burger. The meat is always bursting with flavor, and is locally sourced as well. Absolutely amazing! 
Here is the summer special. The first time I had this, I could not believe how soft and tender the pulled pork was. It melted in my mouth, leaving in its wake a flavor that washed over me, forever changing the way I look at pulled pork. The tropical slaw and sweet chili mayo provide the perfect complement to the meat. This is my new favorite!
There’s always room for dessert, especially when it is as wonderful as this. Frita Batidos’ churros are a whole different ball game from the thin churro sticks you might find elsewhere. They are fluffy, huge creatures, dusted with nutmeg and orange zest, crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. Plus, they come with a thick, rich chocolate for dipping. Not to be missed!
I hope I’ve sufficiently conveyed my love for Frita Batidos. Check them out on Yelp or at their website!
On the way home, we came across a tense battle of toy soldiers.
Clover Eats! 
Haven’t been there in a while, will have to change that. eve was good tho I had mixed feelings about it. Was definitely best around, but I had just moved here from Chicago and felt that it was a little dated and expensive compared to what I was used to.
I’m going to make sonethjng out if the cookbook for a party tonight.
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I used to frequent Fritas when I lived in Michigan I lived an hour away and drove it nearly everyday just for the food and OMG the coffee is amazing! Eve has this thing called a Cajeta its Cuban coffee with goats milk caramel in it and every morning (yes for a while there Fritas served an amazing breakfast and Sunday brunch. This was long before the liquor license which I am greatly saddened by because I would gladly die for a drop of Eve’s Sangria. I had the honor of meeting Eve and got to spend time in her company. She is one of those rare individuals blessed with a sharp mind, an impeccable palate, and amazing business acumen. Her food is amazing but her business model is even more impressive. She has created a menu that is inspired with fresh organic food that is grown local and sourced locally. In fact everything used in Frita’s is locally sourced, the produce, the meats, the cups, the utensils. Anything that can conceivably be locally sourced is. She has put a ton of money into the local economy simply by refusing to have made in china on everything in her store. Her business model is both economically and environmentally sustainable. Her menus change seasonally to reflect the bounty to be found at local farms and only the best ingredients make it in. She teaches her seasonal menu to her chefs and it comes out beautifully she uses the bounty of the area where the restaurant is based. She sources everything locally. Creating jobs in her wake. I miss Frita’s daily my kids wear Frita Batidos shirts to bed. Her pulled pork is to die for. I love her best snack ever. Coconut rice lime cilantro salsa tropical slaw cheese beans and for me I always had her add pulled pork or Cuban sloppy joe. I could live on her inspired Cuban and they used to be twice fried plantains (I think she changed the name on me) I am a much bigger fan of savory than I am of sweet but her Churro sundae and the brown sugar sauce on it made me reexamine that view. I am southern to my core (born and raised in SC, NC,and VA) my grandmother was from South Carolina and Eve’s key lime Batido is just as good if not better than my grandmothers key lime pie. I fell in love with her Conch fritters which I hadn’t been able to have those since the last time I was in Miami Fl. I loved her shrimp salad with pea shoots. Her flash fried smelt (okay being from the south I gotta tell ya I had no clue what the hell a smelt was) but the cornbread breading reminded me of home and it was amazing. I could go on for hours about the Fritas I had them all in different ways my favorite is the frita loco doesn’t matter which one they are all amazing. I miss that place with a passion. Every time I have a friend who comes down south I beg them to stop at Fritas first and bring me a laundry list of stuff from there. I can’t give people a high enough recommendation for Frita’s Eve’s vision is beautiful her food exemplary and her business model is amazing and worthy of note because it could be used in other places, other communities hit by recession. Michigan is one of the hardest hit states economically speaking, Frita’s by locally sourcing everything pumped much needed dollars into a struggling local economy those dollars earned by people filling those orders went right back into the local economy by those purchasing her food and shopping at the local shops in the downtown area. This could be modeled else where. I would be the first in line to start my own Frita’s franchise or whatever cuisine Eve wanted to do with this business model because I have seen people come out in a snowstorm from an hour away for her brunch and cajeta coffee, I know because I was one of them. I have seen folks stand in a line out the door in a Michigan winter just for a chance to sit and eat at what feels like a huge family dinner table. I wish I had the money to invest in one because I think my community would LOVE her food and I know that they would love the money she spends locally sourcing everything. Eve takes from the bounty of the community around her. Her seasonal menu’s are based upon what’s available locally that includes local hot house greenhouses. Eve is also a huge believer in the slow food movement and in organic food. She brings a lot of ethics as well as a huge array of best practices. I had never met anyone quite like Eve she is kind of like watching a humming bird. She goes from task to task making sure things get executed with precision and knowledge. Eve and Frita Batidos are amazing and I can’t recommend them high enough, these days it takes more than food to impress me. Her food leaves a hell of an impression, a great one, but, its the other side, the side that helps keep Ann Arbors heart beat pumping by keeping the jobs local that makes Fritas my first choice for any meal.
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Wow, this is such a kind and passionate comment!
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