E&L Supermercado

E&L Supermercado is Southwest Detroit royalty. This Mexicantown market has roots stretching back to the 1940s, and the meat counter is the main event: a massive full-service case, a 24-foot spread of house marinades with over twenty recipes, and prices that have kept families coming back for generations. Add a taqueria cranking out made-to-order tacos, tortas, and tamales that regulars swear by, and you've got a grocery store sitting on a 4.6 with more than three thousand Google reviews. As a market, it's the real deal.

Now, the restrooms. Nobody drives to Vernor Highway for the bathroom, and that's about the kindest way to put it. This is a hardworking, no-frills grocery that pours all its energy into carne asada and produce, not facilities. Reviewers rave about the marinades and the tamales; nobody's raving about the restroom situation. At a decades-old neighborhood market like this, don't expect more than the bare minimum — no extras, no comfort, strictly a get-in-and-get-out stop if you're lucky enough to get in at all.

Come hungry, leave with a trunk full of marinated meat — just handle your bathroom business before you show up. E&L Supermercado lands at a 3/10 on Shooki.