Last call for 'Birria Bar' at Frame restaurant, just in time for Cinco de Mayo

Sunday is Cinco de Mayo, and it's also your last chance to get into Frame in Hazel Park to try the cuisine of chef Eddie Vargas before his month-long residency there ends.

I highly recommend you do.

The star of the menu is birria, a meaty stew that is well-known in Mexico and has gained popularity in the United States during the last decade. Lucky us. At Frame, Vargas is serving his family's beef birria as a platter with cilantro, onions, salsa macha and corn tortillas, as a quesadilla with cheese, over corn sopes and as a massive sandwich (torta) on a bolillo bun. All the birria dishes are served with rich, flavor-packed consomme that you can dunk into or sip.

I've had Vargas' cuisine before. He helmed the now-closed Hubbard Richards restaurant Peso Bar and he's also worked with many southwest Detroit restaurants, such as Las Palapas and El Barzon. He knows his stuff when it comes to Jalisco cuisine and Mexican cocktails and this limited-time birria menu at Frame is some of his best work.

There are a lot of other items on the temporary menu to choose from aside from birria — including a few vegetarian and glunten-free options — but if you get anything else, I have to recommend the guacamole with chicken-skin chicharrons as chips ("aguacates de Mexico" on the menu). Dip a crispy, savory chicharron into the creamy avocado dip that's topped with tomato, two styles of onion, toasted pepitas and diced mango for a perfectly balanced bite like no other.

The gourmet guacamole also comes with a choice of plantain chips, pastor-style shrimp or crunchy chapulines (dried Mexican grasshoppers).

Frame's Adam Accivatti and Diego Aliste have crafted and collected a menu of cocktails and wines to get along with Vargas' menu, including some nonalcoholic options.

Reservations are available for the last few services of this menu at Frame, 23839 John R in Hazel Park. There's a $25 deposit per person to make a reservation online, which is then taken off your bill at the end. Walk-in guests can also be accommodated. Visit framehazelpark.com/experience/birriabar-at-framebar to reserve.

The whole concept at Frame is that things are always changing, so when Birria Bar is over, another theme will roll in. May's concept itself is a fluid format: a music-driven showcase of pop-up chefs that will change each week.

Host of WDET 101.9-FM’s “In the Groove” show Ryan Patrick Hooper curates the music and vibe, while a lineup of talented pop-up chefs take turns in the kitchen.

First up, chefs Jermond Booze and Amber Beckem of the Booze & Vinyl pop-up take the first week, serving a menu of American soul food starting May 8 and ending with a special Mother’s Day brunch service on May 12.

More:Review: Detroit's Vinyl Tasting pop-up chefs honor American music and ingredients

Popular modern Pakistani pop-up Khana and its chef Maryam Khan return to Frame for service May 15-19. Expect reservations to fill up quickly for Street Beet’s vegan week with chefs Meghan Shaw and Nina Paletta, who recently released their own cookbook. They cook a 100% plant-based “fish” fry menu at Frame May 22-24.

Detroit’s Pink Flamingo chef Meiko Krishok rounds out the Mix Tape Bar month with a Korean-Italian fusion menu May 29-June 2.

Reservations are open now for all of these events, and require a $25 deposit per person. Visit framehazelpark.com/experience/mixtapebar-at-framebar-24.

Melody Baetens is The Detroit News restaurant critic

mbaetens@detroitnews.com