From Mexico with love: The secret ingredient to Maggie’s Mexican Food

If you’re a fan of cultural foods and the unique flavors that they bring to the table, the Blue Water Area has a variety of places for you to entertain your taste buds. Recently, a new restaurant opened in Fort Gratiot that is serving up authentic flavors from Mexico.

Owner of Maggie’s Mexican Food in Fort Gratiot, Maggie Goudie may be a newcomer to the restaurant business, but she is no newbie when it comes to Mexican cuisine. As a young girl, Goudie was honing the skills that would later lead to her opening her own restaurant and says for as long as she could remember she has been cooking for her loved ones.

“The first time I made flour tortillas from scratch I was 9 years old,” Goudie says with a chuckle. “They were in a star shape and not very round. My mom said they were very good though. The consistency was good, the flavor was good, but we just have to work on the shape. I was so proud that day.”

In 2000, Goudie moved from Mexico to Texas where she met her husband, Russell.

The asada cheesy quesadilla from Maggie's Mexican Food in Fort Gratiot.“When my husband and I met he didn’t speak Spanish and I didn’t speak English,” Goudie says. “People told me that I would never become a citizen or own a restaurant, because I didn’t speak English, but I said I’m going to learn and I’m going to do it.”

Now Port Huron residents, Goudie and her husband moved from Texas to Michigan around four years ago. Following her dream, Goudie opened Maggie’s Mexican Food which held a grand opening last month on Nov. 5.

“The first time I ever saw snow I knew I wanted to live here,” Goudie says.

Currently, Maggie’s Mexican Food is take-out only and has a limited menu as all items are made almost exclusively by Goudie.

“I don’t like anyone touching my food when I’m cooking,” she says. “I’m very jealous of my traditions and recipes. We are just starting simple and small at the moment. We only have around three items on the menu usually and we change them every week.”

The most popular item on the menu is the street tacos which consist of two tacos with double four-inch tortillas, carne asada beef, beans, and Oaxaca cheese. There are birria tacos, quesabirrias, tamales, enchiladas, and more.

Located at 3742 North River Rd., Maggie’s Mexican Food is open Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Breakfast is available on Saturdays from 8 a.m. to noon featuring menu items such as huevos rancheros and breakfast sandwiches.

Goudie is quite protective when it comes to sharing the ingredients for her recipes, but she did share one which she believes is one of the most important.

“It’s so exciting to be sharing my food with everyone, which was my dream,” she says. “I also put love into my food and I’m serious about that. If someone is helping me and they get in a bad mood or overwhelmed with something, I tell them to go outside and come back later. I am a true believer that food absorbs good and bad energy. I put a lot of love in my food and I want the customers to feel that.”