Carnitas Carmelo

Carnitas Carmelo is one of the long-standing names on Quiroga's carnitas strip, cooking pork in copper cazos over wood fires directly on Avenida Vasco de Quiroga, the town's main street and the reason most travellers passing between Morelia and Pátzcuaro stop here at all. Orders are cut to weight at the counter rather than served from a fixed menu, giving buyers control over the mix of cuts, from lean maciza to fattier surtida, before the pork is handed over with hot handmade tortillas and salsa. The quarter-kilo order with tortillas is the standard way to eat here, while a full kilo of carnitas surtidas is aimed at groups or travellers stocking up before continuing their journey. There is no dining room in the conventional sense; seating, where available, is simple counter or bench-style rather than table service, and the operation runs entirely on the strength of the wood-fired cazo cooking rather than atmosphere. Prices are low for the portion sizes, 120-300 MXN per person, and no reservations are needed or accepted. It keeps daytime hours only, from 8AM to 6PM, closing before the evening crowd that some of Quiroga's other stands stay open for.