Our Story: A Family Mexican Restaurant in Canton, MI

Once upon a time in 1962

Every family has a beginning. Ours started in 1962, when Sam and Frances Alvarado opened a small Mexican restaurant in Dearborn Heights. It wasn't much to look at — a modest room, a busy kitchen and two people who believed that good food, made honestly and served with warmth, would always bring people back.

They were right. Through long days and a lot of hard work, that little restaurant steadily grew — and so did the Alvarado family. Generation after generation, the dream Sam and Frances started became something the whole family carried forward together.

Home on Ford Road since 1989

In 1989, the family brought that same kitchen to Canton, opening Mexican Fiesta 2 on the corner of Ford Rd and Sheldon. For more than three decades since, it's been the place for first dates and family birthdays, office lunches and Friday-night margaritas — a neighborhood table where a lot of Canton families feel right at home.

What hasn't changed

Four generations and three locations later, we're still cooking the food so many people have grown to love. Our tamales are still made in house and steamed in corn husks and topped with chili con carne made from scratch. The botana still comes out piled high with chorizo beans, melted cheese and fresh toppings. And Big Sam's Original Mexican Sandwich — three layers of flour tortillas, rice and beans, topped with braised beef, pork or chicken — still carries Sam's name.

We're proud of our past and proud of our family, and we hope you can taste it in every plate and feel it in every visit. To everyone who has eaten with us over the last 64 years: thank you. You're the reason we're still here.

1. 1962Sam and Frances Alvarado open a small Mexican restaurant in Dearborn Heights.
2. 1989Mexican Fiesta 2 opens on Ford Rd at Sheldon in Canton.
3. TodayFour generations and three locations later, the family is still cooking the same food.