Casa Amado is chef Amado Lopez's own taqueria in Berkley. Lopez started in Charlie Trotter's Chicago kitchen, trained at the Culinary Institute of America, and worked for Shawn McClain at Spring, Green Zebra, and Custom House before turning toward Mexican cooking. That path led to Rick Bayless's Topolobampo and Xoco, where he managed kitchens, developed recipes, and traveled on culinary tours through Mexico, and later to Habanero, a taqueria he co-opened in downtown Chicago's financial district.
The menu runs on griddled tacos: chipotle chicken with creamy roasted green chile rajas, Sinaloan-style braised red-chile pork, and tomato-onion-jalapeno braised steak with a nopale and bell pepper slaw, alongside quesadillas, a Sonoran dog, and antojitos like chips with housemade roasted tomatillo and chipotle-arbol salsas. A cantina pours fresh margaritas, Mexican beers, and housemade aguas frescas.
Casa Amado made Eater Detroit's essential 38 list, and in January 2023 Lopez was named a James Beard Foundation semifinalist in the Emerging Chef category.
The menu runs on griddled tacos: chipotle chicken with creamy roasted green chile rajas, Sinaloan-style braised red-chile pork, and tomato-onion-jalapeno braised steak with a nopale and bell pepper slaw, alongside quesadillas, a Sonoran dog, and antojitos like chips with housemade roasted tomatillo and chipotle-arbol salsas. A cantina pours fresh margaritas, Mexican beers, and housemade aguas frescas.
Casa Amado made Eater Detroit's essential 38 list, and in January 2023 Lopez was named a James Beard Foundation semifinalist in the Emerging Chef category.