Oaxaca restaurants - suggestions?

Old Nov 24th, 2017, 12:22 PM
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Oaxaca restaurants - suggestions?

Hello all,

We’re going to Oaxaca in February 2018 for four nights. We visited the city and the area a few years ago (Mitla, Monte Alban, Teotitlan, Yagul). This time we are not so much focused on visiting sites as relaxing, enjoying the beauty of the place…and food!

All suggestions welcome, from market vendors to high end restaurants. I’d particularly welcome any thoughts on the following places:

Casa Oaxaca
La Teca
Biznaga
Restaurante Catedral
Tierra del Sol
Los Danzantes
Itanoni
…and the food stalls of the Mercade 20 de Noviembre

Many thanks in advance!
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Old Nov 24th, 2017, 12:23 PM
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...correction..."Mercado"....
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Old Nov 24th, 2017, 12:33 PM
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My fav was Abuela's Cocina overlooking the main Plaza.
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Old Nov 24th, 2017, 04:30 PM
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From my trip report:

One meal was grilled food at the organic market. We had some qualms about the salads and raw tomatoes that often accompanied the dishes and tried to stay clear of them. We ate at the other markets, with the best market meal at the Mercado 20 de Noviembre. We entered the market on the cooking side which is line with half a dozen or so places that grill meat. There are seating areas nearby, and then the fun begins. One orders a basket of meat, and the garnishes and other items (beer, tortillas) come from other vendors. We ordered a bunch of green onions from one vendor which are then sent to the place grilling our meat so that they can grill the onions too. We never would have been able to manage this without our daughter-in-law’s fluent Spanish, and even she did not understand fully how the system worked. Food came, beer and other drinks came, and no one seemed to be anxious to collect payment. It all worked out at the end, and it was cheap. I think that the meat itself was 150 pesos and it was more than the four of us could consume. We shared the table with another family in the same predicament. The husband was Mexican but wife, baby, in-laws were Italian, and they were as clueless as we were. We shared some of our dishes: https://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca/16432854546

Itanoni (http://www.itanoni.com/ ) is an experience. It is a restaurant which specializes in corn dishes—mainly different types of tortillas (tacos, tostadas, memelitas, tetelas) which are made with different varieties of heritage maize. The restaurant is outside the centro historico, but for us, within walking distance of where we stayed.

Restaurante Catedral (http://www.restaurantecatedral.com.mx/# ) is absolutely worth it. It specializes in moles, but everything was good, service was excellent, the ambiance very pleasant with discreet live guitar music. The meal for four (appetizers, main dishes, desserts, drinks) came to 1878 pesos, about $125.

Los Danzantes (http://losdanzantes.com/category/oaxaca/ ) came highly recommended. The food and the ambiance are more inventive than at Catedral, but more uneven. The quality and the prices are similar, and we paid 1960 pesos (about $132) for a similar meal, but with a higher alcohol tab as we had a bottle plus a glass of wine instead of three beers. As a tourist I would choose Catedral, but if I lived in the city and wanted a higher end meal, I probably would choose Los Danzantes.

La Biznaga, near Santo Domingo, was much less expensive that these two (about $42) and very enjoyable.

Ou first evening meal was at the Casa de la Abuela (about $51), overlooking the zocalo and the square in front of the Cathedral. Definitely a tourist place. It was fine for our first meal, almost better as the return from a previous trip, and an obvious choice if looking for a restaurant in the zocalo area. La Biznaga was better.
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Old Nov 24th, 2017, 07:12 PM
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Biznaga is one of our favorites. We celebrated our 25th anniversary at Catedral, so I'm partial to that. But it was a group of 20, so we didn't get to try the entire menu, as I had ordered the same thing for everyone. Danzantes was a tad pricey, but consistent; we've been to their location in Coyoacan as well. I was disappointed with Casa De La Abuela. But then I found most of the places on the zocalo average. Cafe Terranova was our favorite for people watching.
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Old Nov 24th, 2017, 07:15 PM
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Should add that in the B Juarez market there is a great coffee vendor, Grano De Oro. He'll blend/grind some of Oaxaca' best coffee to your taste.
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Old Nov 25th, 2017, 02:18 AM
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Great information, thanks
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Old Nov 25th, 2017, 07:00 AM
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We enjoyed staying at Casa Oaxaca and the food there was very good. the restaurant, located in a different building, is also excellent but the price pointn is so much higher than most other eateries, I am not sure it is worth it unloess budget is not at all an issue for you.

La Teca is a very good experience for lunch, especially if someone in your party speaks Spanish. She offers coastal food from the area around Tehuantepec, so that is different from the highland dishes of the city. I enjoyed the place very much but again, prices are higher than many other places. You are actually eating in the garden of someone's home and it is lovely, as are the staff. I would keep iti on the list.

La Catedral is very good and patronized by locals as well as tourists.

I ate in the markekt with no hesitation. The more interesting, and much larger, market is the Abastos market on Saturdays. Do not miss if you are interested in local foods.

Another good eating place was Origen; we had two dinners there including a fabulous rodaballo (fish).

http://www.origenoaxaca.com/
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Old Nov 25th, 2017, 07:01 AM
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Here are some thoughts on my most recent trip to Oaxaca:

https://www.fodors.com/community/mex...bla-oaxaca.cfm
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Old Nov 27th, 2017, 04:04 AM
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michael and eks: thanks for the detailed information. I actually read both of your trip reports when I was drafting my list of restaurants. Casa Oaxaca looks like it's off the list for sure. There's no point paying inflated prices when one can find excellent food in so many places in the city.
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