Restaurants & Dining Experiences

At several points en route, you will wonder if you are lost. But hold steady. Chef Jorge León worked at Pujol, one of the best restaurants in North America, before returning home to Oaxaca to cook with his mother, Doña Elvia, in the courtyard of his childhood home. Show up for lunch and Doña Elvia will offer steaming guisos and hot tortillas off the comal. Book in advance for a five-course tasting menu based on whatever Jorge has found at the market that morning. One of the most singular dining experiences in Mexico. We highly recommend experiencing this while you are in the City.

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www.alfonsina.mx

There is nothing quite like this intimate 6-counter, certainly in Oaxaca and possibly beyond. Chef Ricardo Arellano has crafted a creative omakase that fuses Japanese flavours with local ingredients, nixtamalized papaya with kampachi, tuna seared with binchotan set in charred onion purée, eel handroll dressed in agave pulp. If you can not secure a spot then don't worry, Crudo offers two other ways to experience this: La Casa - a twelve-seat omakase bar where the kitchen team executes Ricardo's menu in a beautifully designed open space; and Bar Crucru - a walk-in à la carte bar. If you want to see what Oaxacan food might look like in the future, this is the place to start. Reserve the Private Counter in advance. Seatings at 5pm,7pm & 9pm

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Booking Info & Opentable

Criollo remains a place we feel we can confidently recommend to anyone. The breakfast and brunch a la carte menu is served in a large and pleasant hidden courtyard you'd never know even existed unless you visited in person. At lunch & dinner, a considered tasting menu showcases Oaxacan produce with quiet confidence. Book in advance.

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Opentable

Although you will be experiencing this during our celebrations, it is a must try. Located in the shadow of the Templo de Santo Domingo, Chef Alejandro Ruiz's two-story restaurant has been drawing attention from all corners of the world for more than two decades, and it still buzzes with the energy of a new opening. Mediterranean herbs meet Oaxacan ones, basil and rosemary alongside hoja santa and pitiona. While pomegranate, seafood, venison, and lamb alternate with chapulines, huitlacoche, and quesillo. Salsa made tableside, mezcalinis, excellent Mexican wines, its a great dining experience. 

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casaoaxacaelrestaurante.com

Chef Rodolfo Castellanos (winner of Top Chef Mexico and a native Oaxacan) built his career on a dialogue between the traditional techniques of his homeland and the contemporary skills he gathered in kitchens across Europe and San Francisco before returning home. He uses the word aoaxaqueñar to describe his cooking taking familiar dishes and threading them through with endemic Oaxacan ingredients that give them an entirely new identity. Book in advance.

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www.origenoaxaca.com

From the coast to the Sierra, a journey through the eight regions of Oaxaca, built entirely around fire. Copal's concept is wood-fired and grill-focused, so there is no moles, no tamales, the result; cooking that is clean, precise, and quietly thrilling. Bone marrow with shrimp, scallop ceviche, langoustines, the flavours are unique but balanced, and the softly lit courtyard makes the setting as memorable as the food. The cocktail and wine bar programme is exceptional. A genuine departure from traditional Oaxacan dining, and one of the most exciting newer restaurants in the city.

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Opentable

A Michelin star and a Michelin Green Star. Over 25 years on Alcalá. Chef Alex Burgos' kitchen runs on produce from the restaurant's own organic garden and a zero-waste philosophy, but none of that feels like a manifesto when you're working through the mole tasting - five sauces, each one a different argument for why Oaxaca is the food capital of Mexico.

C. Macedonio Alcalá #403-4, Centro, Oaxaca.

Tucked inside one of Oaxaca's most artistically curated boutique hotels - its suites designed by Francisco Toledo among others - Cocina Azul is a calm, beautifully executed counterpoint to the city's busier dining rooms. Traditional Oaxacan dishes are given a thoughtful modern lift, with the patio setting adding something money can't buy. The mole amarillo with local mushrooms is the dish that keeps guests coming back. C. Mariano Abasolo #313, Ruta Independencia, Centro, Oaxaca.

A wood-fired grill at its heart and a terrace overlooking the Baroque Church of San Agustín as its backdrop - Brío earns its place as one of Oaxaca's most consistently celebrated tables. The kitchen pays tribute to local ingredients through a Mediterranean lens, and the result is quietly brilliant. The bone-in pork chop with peanut mole is our order. Come at sunset and don't rush it. Armenta y López #300, Centro, Oaxaca.

A Michelin star and a Michelin Green Star. Over 25 years on Alcalá. Chef Alex Burgos' kitchen runs on produce from the restaurant's own organic garden and a zero-waste philosophy, but none of that feels like a manifesto when you're working through the mole tasting - five sauces, each one a different argument for why Oaxaca is the food capital of Mexico.

C. Macedonio Alcalá #403-4, Centro, Oaxaca.

Set in a building that once housed the old Cine Oaxaca, Nois is two restaurants in one depending on where you land. Downstairs: a chic lounge bar where the banana sour and mezcal cocktails are reason enough to linger. Upstairs, past a winding staircase, an open kitchen turns out one of the city's most narrative-driven tasting menus - nine courses that rotate across four seasonal themes throughout the year, from Comerse Oaxaca to Mictlán, each one a different lens on the region's identity. Michelin-listed and genuinely risk-taking, this is a kitchen that deploys hoja santa, chintextle, and Oaxacan cheese in ways you won't see coming. Come for the full tasting menu and let the team tell you the story. Av. José María Morelos #701, Centro, Oaxaca.