A Local's Guide on Where to Eat in Oaxaca, Mexico
Given Oaxaca’s reputation for flavor and food, when I first visited I didn’t have an itinerary but a list of foods to try (thanks to recommendations from Eat Your World’s Oaxaca Food Guide). Tlayuda. Mole negro. Tetalas. Chapulines. Once there, Judith, a friend’s cousin and Oaxacan native met up for mezcal and margaritas, where she gave us the best possible souvenir: a list of her favorite places to eat in Oaxaca.
If you’re like us, this list of local-approved Oaxacan restaurants and foods to try will be the only guide you need to this flavor-filled Mexican city.
The Best Breakfast and Brunch in Oaxaca
Breakfast at Itanoni in Oaxaca, Mexico
While eating breakfast in Oaxaca usually means swinging by a street food stall or small cafe for a quick bite and coffee or hot chocolate, there are also opportunities to splurge on a leisurely sit-down brunch.
Fonda Florecita
Price: $
What to order: empanada, enmoladas, chilaquiles, tasajo
Fonda Florecita, a stall in the back of El Mercado de la Merced, near La Calzada de la Republica is well known among locals and tourists alike. But don’t let the throng of gringos scare you off — this family-run spot turns out delicious versions of almost every Oaxacan street food you’d want to try. Our friend recommended we try the empanadas, enmoladas, chilaquiles, or tasajo.
To drink, she said, ask for chocolate atole, champurrado, or a hot chocolate with pan de muerto (around day of the dead). Whatever you order, come hungry.
Itanoni
Price: $
What to order: tetelas, memelas, de ese
Located outside the historic center of Oaxaca, Itanoni is perhaps the perfect spot to sample Oaxaca’s love of corn and corn tortillas. Its menu features a wide variety of antojitos, or corn-tortilla snacks, made from several different types of corn (blue, yellow, white), and agua frescas to start your day with.
Owned by Amado Ramírez Leyva, the restaurant pays careful attention to quality, ingredients, and local culinary tradition — which is one of the many reasons why Alice Waters called it one of her favorite restaurants.
After starting the day off with some fresh blue- and yellow-corn memelas –– toasted corn tortillas topped with cheese and beans — and de ese, an Itanoni classic, it was one of our favorite spots too.
Casa Vertiz
Price: $$
What to order: chilaquiles, coffee
Although the centrally located Casa Vertiz is technically a hotel, the brunch crowd in their stylish garden patio leans more local than touristy.
With a tranquil atmosphere and unlimited, fresh coffee, it’s an ideal place to while away the morning over a good book. We went for the chilaquiles in salsa verde — thin strips of fried tortilla, simmered in red or green salsa, and topped with eggs, beans, cheese, or onions. And, of course, high-quality coffee—which is grown in Oaxaca but not always easy to find, since much of it is exported.
Mercado de 20 Noviembre
Price: $
What to get: chapulines, fruits, veggies, snacks
For a sampling of it all, head to Oaxaca’s Mercado de 20 Noviembre, for fresh fruits, vegetables, and mouth-watering Oaxacan street food. For those of you who had it on your list to try a handful of chapulines, fried grasshoppers, you can buy a bag full of this crispy treat topped with spices at Ocotlan.
Even if fried bugs aren’t your thing, Mercado de Ocotlan is a wonderful way to get a sense of regional produce and specialties and potentially discover something you’ve never seen or tasted before. If you go, go hungry and bring cash.
Where to Eat Lunch and Dinner in Oaxaca
Lunch and dinner in Oaxaca has something for every price range—from affordable street tlyaudas to fine dining with some of Mexico’s most acclaimed chefs.
La Olla
Price: $$$
What to get: The Menu del Dia (pre-fixe menu)
Situated in the historic center of Oaxaca, La Olla has an impressive cocktail menu and a unique, modern take on traditional Mexican food. Head to the top patio to grab a drink and snack (guacamole topped with chapulines, anyone?) while watching the sun set behind the nearby cathedrals. If you’re hungrier than that, stick around awhile and order their menú del día.
La Palapa de Raul Reforma
Price: $$
What to get: Mole and cocktails
This central restaurant with a colorful, airy dining area is a solid, moderately priced restaurant to try typical Oaxacan dishes, from soups and tlayudas to heavier dishes like moles. Also head here to grab a cocktail on a nice night with friends.
Casa Oaxaca
Price: $$$$
What to get: fish soup, duck tacos, ceviche
Don’t write off centrally-located, Casa Oaxaca’s hotel restaurant as touristy (our local friend certainly doesn’t). Created by acclaimed Mexican chef, Alejandro Ruiz, this award winning restaurant serves innovative Oaxacan dishes in an elegant atmosphere. Diners can choose to dine indoors or al fresco, on a terrace overlooking the romantic cobblestoned streets of central Oaxaca. If fine dining is out of reach in your travel budget, you can also head to the bar and treat yourself to a cocktail and snacks.
Since originally publishing this article, Alejandro Ruiz has also opened up a seafood and Mezcal focused spot, Oaxacacalifornia outside of the city center.
La Teca
Price: $$
What to get: One of everything. Seriously.
La Teca a small, family-owned restaurant featuring cuisine from Istmo, one of the eight regions in Oaxaca, is a down-to-earth, no frills place to eat lunch or dinner. It’s about as close as you can get to having dinner at abuela’s.
Of all the places we tried on the list, La Teca was hands down our favorite restaurant for its garnachas, platanos fritos, rich mole sauces, and welcoming staff. After all, you can’t go wrong with a place where, when asked “what do you recommend,” they say “how about we bring you a little of everything?”
Ask to sit in the back garden if possible and prepare to roll yourself back to your hotel with this one.
La Pitiona
Price: $$$
What to get: The tasting menu, or cocktails and snacks on their terrace
Similar to La Palapa de Raul and Casa Oaxaca, La Pitiona is yet another gastronomic project in Oaxaca’s historic district that seeks to create “100% Mexican food… like that our mothers and grandmothers would make.” Seafood makes a regular appearance there, which isn’t always that easy to find in Oaxaca City, as well as other Oaxacan classics.
For those on a budget, consider swinging by for a cocktail and snacks on their terrace to get a taste of their food, without blowing all of your pesos.
El Milenario (Tule)
Price: $$
What to get: tlyauda, mole
The cozy, designed-like-your-abuela’s-dining room, El Milenario is actually located just outside of Oaxaca City in Tule — a standard stop on most tours for its famous gigantic cypress tree. “Forget the tree, just go to El Milenario,” Judith said. Open from 9am to 8pm, this is a good spot for breakfast, brunch, lunch, or dinner.
Food Excursion for Lunch at Tlamanalli (Teotitlán del Valle)
Lunch at Tlamanalli in Teotitlán del Valle
Tlamanalli, highlighted in Anthony Bourdain’s episode of No Reservations in Mexico, was on our list long before we arrived in Oaxaca. Located outside of Oaxaca City in Teotitlán del Valle—a village known for its hand-woven rugs—eating here is a worthwhile excursion. Inside the restaurant feels like a time warp. Tlamanalli specializes in pre-hispanic food made in the Oaxacan region before the arrival of the Spanish, such as squash blossom soup.
Tlamanalli is only open for lunch from 1–4pm and closed on Mondays. Make a day trip out of it and explore the nearby hiking paths, or build up your appetite haggling for rugs.
Access All Of Our Recommendations at Your Fingertips
Take yourself on a DIY food tour of Oaxaca with this downloadable guide, complete with a Google Map list with all of our favorite spots that you can add to your phone.
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