Archives March 2022

When you think of the best food cities in Mexico, Oaxaca is at the top of nearly everyone’s list. If not at the very top, then it’s right up there with cities like Puebla, Mexico City, Merida, and Guadalajara. Even people who’ve never been to Oaxaca have heard that Oaxaca City (and state) is home to some of the best food in Mexico.

It’s hard to find bad food in Oaxaca but it’s even harder to find the best. Discovering the best and most authentic local food is what we enjoy most about trips, so we scoured the internet, combed the city’s streets, and broke bread with opinionated locals to come up with this list of 15 of the best restaurants in Oaxaca.

If you’re visiting Oaxaca and have a taste for traditional Mexican cuisine, then this list will be very useful to you.

OAXACA RESTAURANTS QUICK LINKS

To help you with your Oaxaca trip planning, we’ve compiled links to popular hotels, tours, and other travel-related services here.

HOTELS

Top-rated hotels in Centro, one of the best areas to stay for people on their first trip to Oaxaca.

• Luxury: Pug Seal Oaxaca
• Midrange: NaNa Vida Hotel Oaxaca
• Budget: Casa Luna & Sol

TOURS

• Sightseeing Tour: Full-Day Tour of Oaxaca
• Food Tour: Night Street Food Tour with Transfers and Tastings
• Mezcal Tasting: Mezcal Tasting Session with Expert
• Cooking Classes: Oaxaca Cooking Classes
• Day Trip: Monte Alban Guided Archaeological Tour

OTHER SERVICES

• Travel Insurance (with COVID cover)
• Airport Transfer
• Mexico SIM Card

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WHAT FOOD IS OAXACA FAMOUS FOR?

Oaxaca is often referred to as the “foodie capital of Mexico”. It’s home to one of the richest pre-Hispanic culinary traditions in the country. Oaxaca’s unique climate and mix of indigenous cultures help make Oaxacan cuisine one of the most varied and interesting in Mexico.

Regional food prepared in the most traditional way is what interests us most about any destination. In this article, we feature some of the best restaurants in Oaxaca City to try regional dishes like mole negro, mole coloradito, caldo de piedra, and more.

This article focuses on restaurants but if you’d like to find the best places to try Oaxacan street food dishes like tlayuda and memela, then don’t forget to go through our Oaxacan street food guide as well.

It’s important to familiarize yourself with what to eat in Oaxaca before learning where to eat, so be sure to check out our guide on 25 must-try traditional dishes and drinks in Oaxaca.

THE BEST RESTAURANTS IN OAXACA CITY

1. La Casa de La Chef

We always come prepared so we arrived in Oaxaca with a food itinerary of at least fifty restaurants, markets, and roadside stalls. La Casa de La Chef wasn’t on it but we couldn’t ignore this quaint breakfast place after seeing it packed with locals at almost any time of the day.

La Casa de La Chef is a small traditional restaurant that serves all-day Mexican breakfast fare like chilaquiles, entomatadas, enfrijoladas, and huevos al gusto. They also offer daily specials (menu del dia), which is where I saw this delicious enmoladas con tasajo.

This equally delicious plate of huevos motuleños is a permanent fixture on their menu. Huevos motuleños is a Yucatecan dish (from the town of Motul) consisting of fried eggs served on a bed of fried tortillas and beans. It’s smothered in salsa roja (red sauce) with plantains, ham, queso fresco (fresh cheese), peas, and cream.

On another day, I had this tasty omelette filled with Oaxaca cheese and huitlacoche (corn smut).

Huitlacoche refers to a type of fungus that grows on corn. Similar in taste and texture to mushrooms, it’s a delicacy in Mexican cuisine and often used as a filling in omelettes, tacos, molotes, and quesadillas.

La Casa de La Chef is located along Calzada de la Republica, just outside the city center and south of Barrio de Jalatlaco. It’s about a 3-minute walk from Mercado de La Merced.

A restaurant teeming with locals is never a bad sign so be sure to check out La Casa de La Chef if you’re in the mood for good Mexican breakfast food.

La Casa de La Chef

Address: Calz. de la República 302, Centro, 68000 Oaxaca de Juárez, Oaxaca, Mexico
Operating Hours: 8:30AM-5:30PM, Sun-Fri (closed Saturdays)
What to Order: Chilaquiles, entomatadas, enfrijoladas, huevos

2. Amor de Cafe

Amor de Cafe is another good restaurant to visit in Oaxaca for coffee and traditional Mexican breakfast fare. They have a good selection of breakfast dishes, omelettes, sandwiches, and salads.

I was in the mood for an omelette today, but I didn’t want anything ordinary like ham, bacon, or mushroom. I wanted a filling that was more interesting and truly Oaxacan so I went with this omelette oaxaqueño. Keep scrolling to see what was in it.

The omelette oaxaqueño is filled with a generous amount of Oaxaca cheese and chapulines (grasshoppers). Seasoned with lime juice, garlic, chili, and salt, grasshoppers and other insects are a delicacy that’s been enjoyed in Oaxaca and in other parts of Mexico since pre-Hispanic times.

If you’d like an omelette that you probably can’t get where you’re from, then you may want to try this. Personally, we think chapulines are delicious and make for a great filling or topping.

Amor de Cafe is located in the tourist-friendly neighborhood of Barrio de Jalatlaco. Pay them a visit if you’re hankering for good Mexican breakfast food and other comforting dishes.

Amor de Cafe

Address: Blvrd del Panteón 113, Centro, 68000 Oaxaca de Juárez, Oaxaca, Mexico
Operating Hours: 8:30AM-5:30PM, Sun-Fri (closed Saturdays)
What to Order: Mexican breakfast, sandwiches

3. Pannela Panaderia del Barrio

If a western-style breakfast is more up your alley, then Pannela Panaderia de Barrio in Jalatlaco is one of the best places for you to go. This uber popular cafe and bakery opens at 7:15AM every morning and it doesn’t take long for customers to come streaming in as soon as they do.

With eye-catching breakfast dishes like this waffle with Nutella, bananas, and strawberries, how can they not? It’s just one of many beautiful breakfast dishes and sandwiches you’ll find at Pannela Panaderia de Barrio.

Judging by how busy this place is at all hours of the day, it has to be one of the best and most popular cafes in Oaxaca. This place serves amazing food, not to mention excellent pastries and desserts.

Pannela serves a few of these all-day croissant sandwiches. This one was the Pamplona – a croissant sandwich made with chorizo Pamplona, gouda cheese gratin, lettuce, tomato, avocado, and chintextle. Chintextle is a type of Oaxacan paste made with dried pasilla chili peppers as its main ingredient.

We had western-style dishes on every visit but Pannela offers many Mexican favorites as well like molletes, enfrijoladas, entomatadas, and chilaquiles. They also offer different types of sandwiches made with pan de yema, a Oaxacan version of brioche bread.

Aside from serving great Oaxacan coffee, Pannela also offers cups of chocolate Oaxaqueño. Chocolate has been an important ingredient and commodity in the Oaxacan region for thousands of years. It’s a daily staple and plays an important role in ceremonies and rituals like birth, weddings, and funerals.

You can enjoy chocolate Oaxaqueño in many traditional dishes and drinks but my hands down favorite is hot chocolate mixed with milk. The more traditional method is to drink it mixed with water but personally, I prefer it with milk.

On another day, I had the house specialty french toast topped with fresh berries. As you can see below, it was every bit as beautiful (and delicious) as the waffles.

Aside from western and Mexican breakfast dishes, Pannela offers a variety of sandwiches and pizza as well. We weren’t expecting much from this pepperoni pizza but it was surprisingly delicious. It tasted like good homemade pizza with a crisp but airy crust and stringy mozzarella cheese.

Pannela Panaderia de Barrio is a simple but pleasant cafe in Barrio de Jalatlaco with indoor seating and a couple of outdoor tables. It’s very popular with tourists so you’ll never see it empty no matter what time you go.

Aside from made-to-order dishes, Pannela offers many different types of breads, pastries, and desserts as well. Their croissants are delicious.

Pannela Panaderia del Barrio

Address: Aldama 322, Centro, 68080 Oaxaca de Juárez, Oaxaca, Mexico
Operating Hours: 7:15AM-9PM, daily
What to Order: Western and Mexican breakfast dishes, sandwiches, pastries, dessert

4. Casa Taviche

Casa Taviche is another great place to have a traditional Mexican breakfast in Oaxaca City. Like Casa de la Chef, they have a focused menu offering a few breakfast dishes like entomatadas, enfrijoladas, tostadas, and chilaqules.

Pictured below is my beautiful plate of entomatadas con tasajo (dried beef).

On this plate is another popular breakfast dish in Mexico – chilaquiles. Chilaquiles are basically fried tortillas that are bathed in a sauce and served for breakfast with other ingredients like queso fresco (fresh cheese), onions, salsa, and meat. This one was served with a side of tasajo.

A Tripadvisor favorite, Casa Taviche is a family-run restaurant located a few blocks east of the zocalo. Just look for this building painted in a bright and cheery Tiffany blue.

Casa Taviche’s dining room is as bright and cheery as its facade. It just felt good to be here. The family who owns and operates the restaurant is lovely as well.

Casa Taviche

Address: Miguel Hidalgo 1111, Centro, 68000 Oaxaca de Juárez, Oaxaca, Mexico
Operating Hours: 8AM-10PM, Thurs-Tue (closed Wednesdays)
What to Order: Mexican breakfast

5. Las Chilmoleras

As you can probably tell by now, cute breakfast restaurants are a thing in Oaxaca.

Like the previous restaurants, Las Chilmoleras offers a good selection of traditional Mexican breakfast dishes, some of which are artfully presented in these stone molcajetes. A molcajete and tejolote is the Mexican version of a mortar and pestle.

Isn’t this molcajete breakfast bowl pretty? You can’t really see it but this was one of their omelettes served with avocado and a variety of fresh vegetables and herbs.

Here’s a better shot of the molcajete. What a great idea to serve breakfast in these traditional stone bowls.

This arrachera or Mexican skirt steak with a side of french fries and salad was one of their daily specials.

I believe this lovely panna cotta with fresh strawberries was a daily special as well.

If you like smoothies, then you need to try this one. It’s made with carrots, papayas, and strawberries. It’s absolutely delicious.

Las Chilmoleras is located on the corner of busy Calzada de la Republica and Alianza Street in Barrio de Jalatlaco.

Las Chilmoleras

Address: Alianza 104-D, Barrio de Jalatlaco, 68000 Oaxaca de Juárez, Oaxaca, Mexico
Operating Hours: 8AM-5PM, Mon-Sat (closed Sundays)
What to Order: Mexican breakfast

6. onnno

onnno loncheria is one of those places in Oaxaca that you can walk by a hundred times without realizing what’s inside. They’re known for their sandwiches but they do offer salads and a few breakfast dishes as well.

We went to onnno for lunch and my better half ordered this hefty ensalada de la casa (house salad) made with grilled chicken, fresh vegetables, goat cheese, caramelized seeds, and olive oil.

I didn’t feel like having meat today so I went with this tasty champiñones (mushroom) sandwich. It was served on ciabatta bread with gouda, goat cheese, arugula, and salsa macha mayo.

Like Pannela, onnno serves freshly baked cookies and pastries as well.

There’s no obvious sign outside the restaurant so it’s easy to walk by onnno without noticing it. We were sitting by the window and got a kick out of people walking back and forth, trying to find the restaurant while navigating on their phone.

Just look for this clipboard hanging from a string. The entrance to the restaurant is through that doorway.

onnno loncheria has a simple but stylish interior. Aside from sandwiches and salads, it’s also a cafe so it’s a great place to work, but just not in this main dining room.

There are signs on the main dining room tables asking guests not to set up their laptops there. Instead, you’ll need to work in this garden seating area.

onnno looks to be popular with digital nomads as this seating area was full when we were there.

onnno

Address: Mártires de Tacubaya 308-Interior 1, RUTA INDEPENDENCIA, Centro, 68000 Oaxaca de Juárez, Oaxaca, Mexico
Operating Hours: 9AM-5PM, Mon-Sat/ 9AM-4PM, Sun
What to Order: Breakfast, sandwiches

7. Itanoni

Unlike the previous restaurants on this list, Itanoní won’t win any style points but it remains one of the best restaurants in Oaxaca to try traditional dishes and drinks like tetela, memela, pozole, and tascalate. They’re known for using different varieties of heirloom corn to produce most if not all the dishes on their menu.

The menu options at Itanoní are extensive and interesting. We went to a few restaurants in downtown Oaxaca that served what looked like fancified versions of traditional dishes, but at Itanoní, it felt like you were getting the real thing. It definitely felt like one of the most authentic traditional restaurants in Oaxaca.

We wanted to order more dishes at Itanoní but our server told us that this tetela, memela, and de ese were enough for two people.

Here’s an inside look at our tetela. A tetela is a pre-Hispanic dish made with a triangular pocket of fresh corn dough filled with a few simple ingredients like black beans, cheese, and cream. Ours was filled with chicharron, cream, and queso fresco (Antojadiza). The green sauce is a spicy salsa verde that they serve on the side.

Compared to memelas or tlayudas, tetelas aren’t as easy to find so I suggest trying it here at Itanoní. It’s probably one of the best versions of tetela you’ll find anywhere in Oaxaca.

This is an interesting dish that I can’t seem to find much information on. Listed on their menu as de ese, it’s basically a corn tortilla wrapped around a leaf of the hierba santa herb and simple fillings like beans, quesillo, and queso fresco. Hoja santa is a strong peppery herb that’s used in many Oaxacan dishes.

We got ours filled with beans and Oaxaca cheese. I’d love to learn more about this dish but nothing seems to come up when I search for “de ese oaxaca”. Does anyone know the history of this dish?

The third dish we ordered was this memela topped with asiento, refried beans, and fresh cheese. Unlike the other two dishes, it was served with a side of salsa rojo instead of salsa verde.

As good as all three dishes were, these servings of tascalate may have been the best thing we had at Itanoní.

Tascalate refers to a traditional drink made from chocolate, roasted maize, pine nuts, achiote, vanilla, and sugar. It can be enjoyed hot with milk or cold with water and ice. It’s a delicious drink that’s creamy, chocolate-y, and corn-like in flavor.

Itanoní is located in the residential Reforma area, about a 30-35 minute walk north of the zocalo. It’s a bit of a hike to get there but it’s absolutely worth it. It’s definitely one of the best restaurants in Oaxaca for simple and honest Oaxacan food.

Itanoni

Address: Av Belisario Domínguez 513, Reforma, 68050 Oaxaca de Juárez, Oaxaca, Mexico
Operating Hours: 7AM-4PM, Mon-Sat / 7AM-2PM, Sun
What to Order: Breakfast dishes, tetelas, memelas, quesadillas

8. Alfonsina

Simply put, you can’t have a conversation about the best restaurants in Oaxaca without mentioning Restaurante Alfonsina. Many people know about Casa Oaxaca and Los Danzantes but only the most food-obsessed travelers will make the trip to Alfonsina, which is a shame because it’s one of the most interesting Mexican restaurants in the region.

Helmed by Chef Jorge León, Alfonsina is located in San Juan Bautista la Raya, a small town about half an hour south of downtown Oaxaca. The restaurant doesn’t have an ala carte menu. Instead, they offer tasting menus consisting of at least five dishes made with fresh ingredients sourced from the market that morning.

Because of its organic nature and dependence on fresh market produce, Chef Jorge likes to call his cooking style cocina de mercado or “market kitchen”. The menu can change on a daily basis so you can think of it as an elevated menu del dia (menu of the day).

You can read more about Chef Jorge and his cocina de mercado cooking style in my article about Restaurante Alfonsina. Fans of Phil Rosenthal may remember it from the Oaxaca episode of Somebody Feed Phil.

Aside from being located in a small residential town half an hour south of Oaxaca City, what makes Alfonsina unique is the setting. The restaurant is located in Chef Jorge’s family home. When you eat there, it feels like you’ve been invited as a guest in the chef’s home.

All things considered, I think that Restaurante Alfonsina is one of the best restaurants in Oaxaca. Don’t miss it if you’re drawn to interesting food experiences like we are.

Alfonsina

Address: C. García Vigil 183, 71232 San Juan Bautista la Raya, Oaxaca, Mexico
Operating Hours: 1PM, 2PM, 6PM, 7PM, Wed-Mon (closed Tuesdays)
What to Order: Degustation menu

9. El Son Istmeño

El Son Istmeño is a hidden gem in the Barrio de Jalatlaco neighborhood. It’s perhaps one of the best restaurants in Oaxaca to try traditional food from the Isthmus of Tehuantepec.

Pictured below are garnachas istmeñas, one of the most well-known dishes from this part of Mexico. They’re small, bite-sized antojitos made with fried corn tortillas topped with shredded meat, pickled vegetables, salsa, and queso fresco.

It isn’t native to the Isthmus of Tehuantepec but El Son Istmeño is known for its gorditas as well. Meaning “chubby” in Spanish, gorditas consist of pockets of masa stuffed with a variety of fillings.

Gorditas are meant to be stuffed but the versions at El Son Istmeño were topped with the ingredients instead. We tried them topped with chapulines, quesillo, and cochinita pibil. Cochinita pibil is a Yucatecan dish made with pork marinated in strongly acidic citrus juices and annatto seeds.

For dessert, we had these molotes de platano, another dish that represents the Isthmus of Tehuantepec’s iconic regional Mexican flavors. They’re deep-fried, oval-shaped spheres of mashed plantain topped with cream and queso fresco.

El Son Istmeño is an al fresco restaurant set in a large, leafy green courtyard with succulents and gravel floors. We had an early dinner there and enjoyed a few beers while watching the waning light of sunset.

El Son Istmeño is an adorable restaurant tucked away in a corner of Barrio de Jalatlaco. We were staying at an Airbnb in the area but we never would have known about this place had we not read about it in an article on the best restaurants in Oaxaca. It’s hidden in a less-visited part of Jalatlaco.

El Son Istmeño

Address: Hidalgo 400, Barrio de Jalatlaco, 68080 De Jalatlaco, Oaxaca, Mexico
Operating Hours: 2-11PM, Mon-Sat (closed Sundays)
What to Order: Garnachas, gorditas, molotes de platano

10. Restaurant Coronita

Like tlayudas and memelas, you can’t leave Oaxaca without trying mole. It’s considered the pinnacle of traditional Oaxacan cuisine and Mexican gastronomy.

There are seven famous types of mole in Oaxaca – mole negro, mole coloradito, mole amarillo, mole rojo, mole verde, mole manchamanteles, and mole chichilo. The first three are easy to find but certain moles like manchamanteles and chichilo are less common.

You can try to find each mole separately but the easiest way to taste all seven is to go to a restaurant that serves mole degustation menus. Depending on the restaurant, you can expect to try four to seven of Oaxaca’s famous moles.

One of the best restaurants in Oaxaca to enjoy a mole tasting menu is Restaurante Coronita. At the time of our visit in March 2022, a 7-mole degustation cost just MXN 499 for two people.

Going clockwise from the bottom are mole chichilo, mole amarillo, mole verde, mole manchamanteles, mole coloradito, mole rojo, and mole negro. They’ll also give you a small bowl of rice, a basket of fresh tortillas, and a few garnishes.

I won’t describe each mole in this article but you can refer to our Oaxaca food guide for more information. They’re all interesting but personally, my favorites are mole coloradito, mole manchamanteles, and mole negro. According to our server, manchamanteles and chichilo are the hardest to come by.

Speaking of our server, he did a terrific job explaining the moles to us. Even though they’re all sauces, they’re not all meant to be eaten the same way. Mole negro and mole coloradito for example, are best paired with rice while mole amarillo is meant to be eaten with pickled vegetables.

Behold the mole tasting room. Restaurante Coronita isn’t the trendiest or most modern restaurant but they do offer an extensive menu of traditional Oaxacan dishes at fair prices. We looked at several restaurants and they were one of the few that offered all seven moles in their tasting menu.

Restaurante Coronita is located inside Hotel Valle de Oaxaca, about three blocks west of the zocalo.

Restaurant Coronita

Address: 68000, Díaz Ordaz 208, Centro, 68000 Oaxaca de Juárez, Oaxaca, Mexico
Operating Hours: 8:30AM-6PM, daily
What to Order: Mole degustation

11. Caldo de Piedra

Caldo de Piedra was one of my favorite restaurants in Oaxaca. I enjoyed this place immensely because they’re one of the best restaurants if not the ONLY restaurant that serves caldo de piedra, one of the most interesting traditional dishes in Oaxacan cuisine.

Meaning “stone soup” in Spanish, caldo de piedra is a pre-Hispanic soup made with fish, onions, chili peppers, tomatoes, cilantro, and epazote (Mexican tea leaf) served in a jícara. What makes it interesting and unique is how it’s prepared. A river stone is heated for over an hour under a wood fire and then dropped directly into the bowl to cook the soup.

They heat the river stones in this furnace. The restaurant is open from 9AM till 6PM so I assume they get it started close to dawn and keep it going throughout the day.

You can watch them prepare your soup. One guy drops the molten hot river stones into the gourd bowls while the other describes the history of the dish (in Spanish). The stones are so hot that the broth erupts like a geyser upon contact, cooking the fish and other ingredients instantly.

Aside from how it’s prepared, what makes caldo de piedra truly special is the story behind the dish. It’s a soup that’s prepared only by men to honor the women of the community. It’s a dish that’s as beautiful as it is delicious so be sure to check out our Oaxaca food guide for more information.

Caldo de piedra is traditionally made with fish but in some parts of Oaxaca, it can be made with shrimp as well. At the Caldo de Piedra restaurant, you can have one or the other or a mixture of both.

No, that’s not a portobello mushroom. What you’re looking at is the river stone sitting at the bottom of my bowl.

There are many delicious dishes in Oaxacan cuisine but the rarity and cultural significance behind caldo de piedra makes it one of the most fascinating. Not only does it give you an authentic taste of Oaxaca’s local cuisine, but it offers a glimpse into the local culture as well.

Caldo de piedra was given Intangible Cultural Heritage status by the state of Oaxaca in 2021. It truly felt like a privilege to eat this.

The Caldo de Piedra restaurant is located along the Carretera Internacional highway, a little over 10 km (6.2 miles) east of downtown Oaxaca. It isn’t the easiest Oaxaca restaurant to get to but it’s well worth the effort. If you value traditional culinary experiences, then you need to go to Caldo de Piedra and try this dish.

Caldo de Piedra

Address: Carretera internacional Cristobal Colón km 11.9, 68270 Tlalixtac de Cabrera, Oaxaca, Mexico
Operating Hours: 9AM-6PM, Tue-Sat / 12NN-6PM, Sun (closed Mondays)
What to Order: Caldo de piedra

12. Crudo

Like Alfonsina, Crudo was featured in the Oaxaca episode of Somebody Feed Phil. Not only is it one of the best restaurants in Oaxaca, but it’s also one of the most unique and interesting.

Crudo is a tiny 6-seater bar restaurant that serves Japanese-Oaxacan tasting menus. Chef Ricardo Arellano combines the flavors of Oaxacan cuisine with Japanese culinary techniques, so what you get is an 8-course omakase-style menu featuring dishes like chilacayote ramen and nori tacos.

Pictured below is an aburi-style seared seabass taco wrapped in nori with avocados, nopales, and Oaxacan herbs.

I won’t talk about it in too much detail here but you can check out my article on Crudo for more pictures and information. Needless to say, if you like Japanese food and Oaxacan cuisine, then you need to book a table at Crudo.

On a side note, if you’ve tried looking for sushi in Mexico, then you know how frustrating it can be to find good Japanese food in this country. Mexican people in general don’t like raw food and every sushi restaurant I’ve been to puts cream cheese in their sushi rolls. Yes, cream cheese. In EVERY roll.

Thankfully, you won’t find any of that here. Pictured below is ikura gunkan sushi combined with chepiche, a Mexican coriander-like herb.

We ate here in October 2022 but based on the latest pictures in their Google reviews, the restaurant appears to have expanded a bit. Crudo used to be located in this tiny space that contained just six bar seats, but it looks like they’ve since doubled their capacity.

Crudo

Address: Av Benito Juárez #309, Ruta Independencia, Centro, 68000 Oaxaca de Juárez, Oaxaca, Mexico
Operating Hours: 3PM, 5PM, 7PM, 9PM, Mon-Wed
What to Order: Tasting menu

13. Fagioli

Unless it’s something interesting like Crudo, I don’t usually feature restaurants serving non-local cuisine. But I couldn’t just leave off this hidden gem of an Italian restaurant that people were raving about. It’s fantastic and probably the best pizza restaurant in Oaxaca.

Fagioli is a Mexican-Italian restaurant that serves Mexican breakfast dishes like chilaquiles and enchiladas, but what they’re really known for are their pizzas and pasta dishes.

We started our three-course meal with this heaping plate of grilled chicken caesar salad.

Fagioli has a good selection of pasta dishes to choose from but we went with this Espaqueti Amalfitana. It’s a seafood pasta dish made with shrimp, mussels, and calamari served in a spicy tomato sauce.

The pasta dish was good, the caesar salad was better, but this pizza was easily the star of today’s meal. Capping off our three-course meal was this delicious San Daniele pizza topped with jamon serrano, arugula, and cheese.

We make our own Neapolitan-style pizzas from scratch and for me, this was the best pizza we’ve had anywhere in Mexico. Like authentic Indian food, well-made Neapolitan pizza is something I can never refuse.

Do you know what else I can’t refuse? A glass of clericot to wash all that pizza goodness down with.

I don’t know the neighborhood’s name but Fagioli is located in an area south of Barrio de Jalatlaco, just a short walk from Mercado de la Merced.

If you do decide to eat at Fagioli, then I suggest asking for a table in the garden area out back. It’s a leafy space with lots of trees and a trampoline that kids can use.

Fagioli

Address: Prolongación de la, Prolongacion Calzada de la Republica 216, 68103 Oaxaca de Juárez, Oaxaca, Mexico
Operating Hours: 9:30AM-11PM, Tue-Sat / 9:30AM-10PM, Sun / 2-11PM, Monday
What to Order: Pizza, pasta

14. La Terraza del Copal

Great rooftop bars are a dime a dozen in Oaxaca City. La Terraza del Copal is one such rooftop bar located in Barrio de Jalatlaco. The doorway that takes you up to the rooftop space is located right next to Amor de Cafe (#2).

We stayed at an Airbnb not too far from La Terraza del Copal so we’d often enjoy beers here at sunset. Aside from its proximity, what drew us to this rooftop restaurant and bar were the prices.

Rooftop bars near the zocalo can be a little expensive but we found the prices at La Terraza to be much more reasonable. Appetizers start at around MXN 55 while entrees are mostly in the MXN 115-155 range.

At the time of our visit in March 2022, domestic beers were just MXN 30 a bottle. Not bad at all.

This molcajete loaded with guacamole and tortilla chips was made with a special ingredient. Can you guess what?

We’re simple people. If we see the word “chapulines” on a Oaxaca restaurant’s menu, then chances are, we’ll order it. Eating grasshoppers may be odd to some but in Oaxacan cuisine, they’re an important ingredient. Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it!

Salty, crunchy, a little sour, and loaded with umami, chapulines are like little flavor bombs. It’s something curious eaters need to try when they visit Oaxaca. They make a great bar snack with mezcal as well.

La Terraza del Copal

Address: Callejon, Niños Heroes #312, Centro, 68080 Oaxaca de Juárez, Oaxaca, Mexico
Operating Hours: 9AM-10PM, Tue-Sun (closed Mondays)
What to Order: Antojitos

15. Terraza Istmo

Terraza Istmo is another great rooftop bar with reasonable prices in Oaxaca. After moving to the Centro area to be closer to the El Dia de los Muertos festivities, we spent every night enjoying drinks at this rooftop bar located just a couple of blocks east of Basilica de Nuestra Señora de la Soledad.

Like El Son Istmeño (#9), Terraza Istmo specializes in traditional Mexican dishes from the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, like these tasty garnachas.

I don’t know what this dish is called but the table next to us ordered it so I asked for it too. According to our server, it’s a type of Istmeño fish spread made with spices and other ingredients. Eaten with toasted tortillas, it’s absolutely delicious.

I don’t remember the exact prices but the beers and cocktails at Terraza Istmo are fairly priced as well.

What you’re looking at below is a michelada, a traditional Mexican drink made with beer, lime juice, chili peppers, and spices. One thing you’ll notice in Mexico is that they put lime juice on everything.

A michelada for me, a cocktail for the lady.

Terraza Istmo is located along Av. Jose Maria Morelos, not too far from Basílica de Nuestra Señora de la Soledad.

This is the view from Terraza Istmo. Many parades went through here during El Dia de los Muertos.

Terraza Istmo

Address: Av. José María Morelos 400, RUTA INDEPENDENCIA, Centro, 68000 Oaxaca de Juárez, Oaxaca, Mexico
Operating Hours: 1:30-10PM, Tue-Sun (closed Mondays)
What to Order: Garnachas, Istmeño dishes, cocktails

LOCATION MAP

To help you navigate to these restaurants in Oaxaca, I’ve pinned them all on the map below. Click on the link for a live version of the map.

FINAL THOUGHTS ON THE BEST RESTAURANTS IN OAXACA CITY

The traditional food in Oaxaca is some of the best in Mexico, but did you know that the state is celebrated for its coffee and mezcal as well? Oaxaca produces the counry’s best coffee beans and over 70% of its mezcal. You can order mezcal cocktails at any restaurant but I highly recommend doing mezcal tastings at a bar and/or joining a mezcal tour.

Restaurants like Casa Oaxaca, Alfonsina, and Tierra del Sol are great, but to reiterate and echo the sentiment of many Oaxaqueños and non-local foodies, you don’t need to go to fine dining restaurants to experience great food in Oaxaca.

In my opinion, the best restaurants in Oaxaca are run by Oaxacan women who’ve been making the same dish for decades. Making great food is in their genes.

One dining concept that looks super interesting but we haven’t done yet is La Cocina de Humo. Similar to Alfonsina, it’s basically a degustation experience with a menu that changes almost daily. Looking at the photos on the La Cocina de Humo website, the venue looks interesting as well so people looking for less traditional dining experiences may want to look into that.

Whatever your cup of tea may be – whether it be fondas, street food stalls, or gourmet restaurants – Oaxaca has you covered. With this list of the best restaurants in Oaxaca, I hope we do too.

Disclosure

Some of the links in this article on the best Oaxaca restaurants are affiliate links. What that means is that we’ll get a small commission if you make a booking at no additional cost to you. As always, we only recommend products and services that we use ourselves and firmly believe in. We really appreciate your support as this helps us make more of these free travel guides. ¡Muchisimas gracias!

EDITOR’S NOTE: This guide to the best rooftop restaurants in Downtown LA was written in partnership with airporttransfer.com.

Deluxe skyscrapers towering over the Los Angeles skyline are a sight to behold. They’re spectacular to look at, both from the street and from the rooftop bars and restaurants that grace their highest floors.

Thanks to its balmy weather and many high-rises, Downtown L.A. (DTLA) is a haven for outdoor dining spaces with lofty views. Many overlook some of LA’s most iconic neighborhoods like Santa Monica (and the Pacific Ocean) and West Hollywood. Climb up to the right rooftop restaurant and Beverly Hills will feel within reach.

Whether you’re looking for a Zen-like outdoor dining space or a rooftop bar buzzing with activity, LA has you covered. And so do we.

From rooftop restaurants with fire pits to elevated brunch spots offering globally-inspired cuisine, this list of sky-high restaurants will give you lots to look forward to on your next visit to LA.

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THE BEST ROOFTOP RESTAURANTS IN DOWNTOWN LA

1. Perch (Multi-Level Outdoor Dining)

For over ten years and counting, Perch has been one of the top rooftop restaurants in DTLA. Illuminated trees, an eclectic mish-mash of chairs, and patterned tile floors help make the rooftop experience at Perch even more magical.

Perch consists of two outdoor dining spaces decorated in the French style. The lower level is both a rooftop restaurant and bar while the top level is a terrace that functions solely as a bar. Great cocktails with sweeping views of the downtown skyline await you at Perch.

Location: 448 S Hill St, Los Angeles, CA 90013
Style: French, American, Bar
Price Range: $$-$$$

2. Broken Shaker (Most Fun Rooftop Bar!)

Freehand Hotel is home to one of DTLA’s coolest cocktail bars – Broken Shaker. Situated on the hotel’s rooftop next to its pool, this rooftop bar that arrived in L.A. via Miami sports a tropical but effortlessly chic aesthetic. With its lounge chairs and many potted plants, it’s quite literally an oasis in Downtown L.A.

Soak in the tropical vibes at Broken Shaker while sipping on classic cocktails like Litty City and Seaweed Papi. If you’re feeling a little hungry, then you can nibble on small bites like twice-fried chicken wings with spicy gochujang sauce or fried fish tacos with salsa roja. Globally-inspired comfort food is the norm here.

Unlike the other rooftop bars on this list, Broken Shaker has a casual vibe that’s hard to match in DTLA.

Location: 416 W 8th St, Los Angeles, CA 90014
Style: American, Latin, Bar
Price Range: $$-$$$

Cocktails by the pool. Photo by bogdan.hoda via Depositphotos.

3. LA Cha Cha Chá (Chic Mexican Rooftop Restaurant)

If tacos and tequila are your thing, then head on down to LA Cha Cha Chá, a Mexican rooftop restaurant and bar in the Arts District. Or should we say head on up?

Located in one of Downtown L.A.’s hottest neighborhoods, this modern cantina is effortlessly stylish and just flat-out beautiful. Exuding a modern Acapulco meets Palm Springs vibe, it’s the sister restaurant of Mexico City‘s Terraza Cha Cha Chá, a similarly chic space helmed by Mexican L.A.-raised chef Alejandro Guzman.

If botanas and antojitos like tacos dorados, mollete, and rajas con crema strike your fancy, then you need to cha cha cha to LA Cha Cha Chá pronto.

Location: 812 E 3rd St, Los Angeles, CA 90013
Style: Mexican, Bar
Price Range: $$

4. Takami Sushi & Robata

Takami Sushi & Robata isn’t a true rooftop restaurant in Los Angeles. It isn’t a dedicated outdoor dining space but they do offer open-air patio views 21 floors above DTLA’s financial district. Oh, and did we mention they serve high-quality…no, sky-high-quality sushi and Japanese cuisine?

Located on the penthouse floor of 811 Wilshire Boulevard, you can enjoy Tokyo-quality Japanese food with Takami’s extensive list of sake, wine, and handcrafted cocktails. It’s the perfect venue to dine on sushi and robatayaki while enjoying sunset views of Downtown L.A.

Location: 811 Wilshire Blvd #2100, Los Angeles, CA 90017
Style: Japanese, Sushi, Asian
Price Range: $$$

Photo by Aaron Thomas via Unsplash

5. The Rooftop at The Wayfarer

If weekend brunch is your thing, then look no further than The Rooftop at The Wayfarer. Featuring a 10-Course Exectuive Chef Brunch Menu, it’s where everyone’s rooftop brunch dreams come true.

Available on Saturdays and Sundays from 10AM till 3PM, Executive Chef Collin Smelser will take you on a gastronomic journey of ten dishes and drinks, featuring brunch favorites like Belgian waffles, salmon benedict, beignets, and prime New York steak. It’s the perfect brunch experience for diners looking for something a little beyond the ordinary.

Located on the 12th floor of The Wayfarer, right in the heart of the Broadway corridor on Flower Street, you can think of The Rooftop as your hidden oasis in Downtown L.A.

Location: 813 Flower St, Los Angeles, CA 90017
Style: American, Asian-inspired, Bar
Price Range: $$$

6. 71Above

Like Takami Sushi & Robata, 71Above isn’t your classic rooftop restaurant. It isn’t a true outdoor dining venue but what it is, is a visually stunning restaurant that’s about as impressive as any you’ll find in Downtown Los Angeles.

As its name suggests, 71Above is located on the 71st floor of the US Bank Tower. It features sweeping 360º views of the Los Angeles skyline, making it one of the most unique and striking restaurant venues in Downtown LA.

Helmed by Chef Vartan Abgaryan, standout dishes at 71Above include hamachi crudo, crispy octopus, grilled ribeye, and A5+ Japanese wagyu.

Location: 633 W 5th St 71st floor, Los Angeles, CA 90071
Style: American, Vegetarian-friendly, Vegan options
Price Range: $$$$

7. Upstairs at the Ace Hotel

Like Broken Shaker, Upstairs is a rooftop pool bar perched above the Gothic-inspired Ace Hotel in Downtown LA. Like every rooftop restaurant on this list, it offers magnificent views of the downtown skyline and its surroundings.

Upstairs is comprised of two parts – a tented bar section and an open pool lounge area. The aesthetic is relaxed and earthy, featuring tree trunk tables, vintage Mexican Equipale chairs, and Moroccan-style printed cushions. They offer an extensive cocktail menu and small bites that pair well with their drinks like tacos, ceviche, and housemade chips and salsa.

During the day, Upstairs has a relaxed vibe but come sundown, the place gets a dose of adrenaline with its nightly events featuring DJs, live bands, pop-ups, and other creative collaborations. If you’re looking for the perfect LA rooftop pool party, then Upstairs is where you’ll want to be.

Location: 929 S Broadway, Los Angeles, CA 90015
Style: Mexican, American, Bar
Price Range: $$

View of DTLA from Griffith Observatory. Photo by Joshua Case via Unsplash.

From LAX Airport to the Rooftop Restaurants in Downtown L.A.

After arriving at one of the busiest airports in the United States, many of you will undoubtedly be tired and a little hungry. Before your business meeting or city tour, how about taking a quick transfer from LAX Airport to any of the rooftop restaurants featured in this article?

airporttransfer.com is an online marketplace for some of the best private transfer providers in Downtown L.A. If you aren’t familiar with the city, then our experienced chauffeurs will be both your driver and guide. Different types of vehicles are available at airporttransfer.com – SUVs, sedans, executive cars, limousines, MPVs, minivans, and more.

Depending on your needs, you can benefit from additional services like child seats, elderly assistance, VIP meet and greet, roof racks, bicycle racks, and luggage assistance, all at a fixed price. Your security and peace of mind are our priority. We offer a 100% refund guarantee, free cancellation within 48 hours, and a fixed-price policy. 

Before you know it, you could find yourself sipping on classic cocktails at a rooftop restaurant in DTLA, thanks in part to airporttransfer.com’s hassle-free transfer.

Photo by motortion via Depositphotos

Disclosure

This article on the best rooftop restaurants in Downtown L.A. was written in partnership with airporttransfer.com. We haven’t personally used their services yet but we will on an upcoming trip. I’ll be sure to tell you about our experience when we do.

Cover image by Dave Lastovskiy via Unsplash

Oaxacan food is no secret. Even if you’ve never been to Mexico, you’ve probably heard that the food in Oaxaca (pronounced wa-ha-ka) represents some of the very best in traditional Mexican cuisine. Like Puebla, Mexico City, Guadalajara, and Merida, Oaxaca is one of the top food destinations in Mexico.

Together with the gastronomic meal of the French, traditional Mexican cuisine was the first to receive UNESCO culinary heritage status in 2010. What that means is that the culinary traditions of Mexican cuisine are worthy of preservation.

Mexican food is excellent throughout the country, but considering its reputation as the foodie capital of Mexico, I can’t help but think that the food in Oaxaca had a lot to do with that.

Oaxacan dishes like mole, tlayuda, and memela are among the many delicious reasons why food-obsessed travelers flock to Oaxaca City every year. If you’re one of those people and planning your first trip to Oaxaca, then you need to weave these 25 traditional dishes into your food itinerary.

OAXACAN CUISINE QUICK LINKS

To help you plan your trip to Oaxaca, we’ve compiled links to recommended hotels, tours, and other travel services here.

HOTELS

Top-rated hotels in Centro, one of the most convenient areas to stay for first-time visitors to Oaxaca.

• Luxury: Grand Fiesta Americana Oaxaca
• Midrange: AYOOK
• Budget: Hostal Nordés

TOURS

• Sightseeing Tour: Guided City Walking Tour
• Food Tour: Night Street Food Tour with Transfers and Tastings
• Mezcal Tour: Mezcal Adventure
• Cooking Classes: Oaxaca Cooking Classes
• Day Trip: Hierve el Agua Waterfalls and Mezcal Tasting

OTHER SERVICES

• Travel Insurance (with COVID cover)
• Airport Transfer
• Mexico SIM Card

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WHAT IS TRADITIONAL OAXACAN CUISINE?

We sat down for dinner with Cesar, a proud Oaxaqueño foodie, and I asked him this question – “Why is the food in Oaxaca so good?” He’s probably been asked that question many times over because it didn’t take long for him to answer! According to him, it has much to do with Oaxaca’s unique climate and mix of indigenous cultures.

Oaxaca City is located in the central portion of a valley surrounded by mountains in southern Mexico. Its many mountain ranges create multiple climates that help make Oaxacan cuisine one of the most varied in Mexico. The Central Valley area produces a wide variety of vegetables, the region near Veracruz grows an assortment of tropical fruits, while the state’s southern coastal areas produce a steady supply of fresh seafood.

Like the rest of Mexico, corn, beans, and chili peppers are staples in Oaxacan cooking, but the cuisine makes use of many other ingredients and preparations as well like quesillo (Oaxaca cheese), chocolate, chapulines (grasshoppers), and mezcal. Various chili peppers are used as flavoring agents with some of the most distinctive herbs being hoja santa (Mexican pepperleaf), epazote (Mexican tea), and pitonia (lemon verbena).

On top of its varied climates and ingredients, Oaxaca state is home to seventeen indigenous groups, each with its own cooking traditions. Notable examples include the dominant Zapotecs and Mixtecs. The Triqui group, an indigenous people in the western part of Oaxaca, is known for its pit-barbecuing methods.

Cesar added that Oaxaqueños are extremely proud of their cuisine. Oaxaca is home to one of the richest pre-Hispanic culinary traditions in Mexico. They do what they can to protect and preserve these traditions that go back thousands of years.

Enjoy mole at any market fonda (family-owned eatery) or indulge in nieves (ice cream) flavored with chapulines and you’ll know exactly what he means. Making good Oaxacan and Mexican food is in these people’s blood.

WHAT FOOD IS OAXACA KNOWN FOR?

As you can imagine, Oaxacan cuisine is known for its many delicious dishes and street food. You could spend weeks in Oaxaca City and not discover every dish that this city and state is known for. Dishes like tlayuda and memela are everywhere but more obscure regional specialties like caldo de piedra (stone soup) and pozontle are harder to find.

For your convenience, we’ve compiled this list of 25 traditional Oaxacan dishes and drinks to get you started before your next trip to central Mexico. Once you’ve familiarized yourself with what to eat in Oaxaca, then be sure to check our guide on where to eat in Oaxaca for a curated list of the city’s best restaurants, fondas, and roadside stalls.

¡Buen provecho!

1. Mole

When I think of Mexican food, the first dishes that come to mind are tacos and mole. Tacos are the ultimate street food while mole represents the pinnacle of traditional Mexican gastronomy.

Derived from the Nahuatl word mōlli meaning “sauce”, mole refers to a family of sauces used in Mexican cuisine. There are hundreds of mole recipes throughout Mexico. In Oaxaca alone, there are over 200 known mole preparations. Some are quite complicated and can be made with over two dozen ingredients like chili peppers, fruits, nuts, seeds, cacao beans, and spices.

With so many ingredients to work with, it’s no surprise that Oaxacan mole takes days to prepare. People use mole paste as a shortcut but according to Cesar, a proper mole takes about three days to make from scratch. It truly is a labor of love that’s usually reserved for special occasions.

When prepared traditionally, ingredients for Oaxacan mole are often toasted or fried before being ground on a metate (mealing stone). The ingredients are mixed together to form a thick paste which is then simmered for several hours with water or stock to make a sauce. When ready, the mole is typically served with rice and some type of meat – commonly chicken or pork – or used as a sauce in dishes like enmoladas.

Land of the Seven Moles

Of all the Oaxacan moles, seven are most notable. It’s for this reason why Oaxaca is often referred to (at least in western media) as the “land of the seven moles”.

Each of these seven moles is distinguished by its color or main ingredient used – mole negro (black), mole rojo (red), mole amarillo (yellow), mole verde (green), mole coloradito (reddish), mole manchamanteles (tablecloth stainer), and mole chichilo (made from chilhuacle chili peppers). I’ll give a brief description for each below.

Pictured here is mole negro, the most popular Oaxacan mole and the most difficult to prepare. Recipes vary but it typically contains 20-30+ ingredients, including six different types of chili peppers.

A signature dish in Oaxaca, mole negro is a hallmark of Oaxacan and Mexican food. It’s a rich and complex-tasting sauce known for its sweet and savory flavors.

Mole negro is the most popular but mole coloradito may have been my favorite. Meaning a “little red” or “reddish” in Spanish, coloradito refers to a reddish-brown sauce that’s slightly less sweet than mole negro. Some of its key ingredients include ancho chili peppers, tomatoes, garlic, almonds, sesame seeds, and spices.

If you’d like to try all seven Oaxacan moles, then I suggest looking for a restaurant that offers mole degustation menus. You can try all 7 moles in small amounts, just enough to get a taste of each one. Many of these moles are quite rich so getting a small portion of each is the best way to experience all seven.

We went to Restaurante Coronita, a highly-regarded restaurant in the Hotel Valle de Oaxaca. Their mole degustation is good for two people and served with a bowl of rice, freshly made corn tortillas, and pickled vegetables. Almost all of the moles are topped with pieces of shredded chicken.

After serving the moles to you, the server will quickly describe each one (in Spanish) and advise you on how best to enjoy them. Some are best paired with rice while others are delicious on their own.

Clockwise from the bottom: Mole chichilo, mole amarillo, mole verde, mole manchamanteles, mole coloradito, mole rojo, and mole negro

Mole recipes can vary greatly from cook to cook but I’ll do my best to describe each one below.

Mole Negro

As described, mole negro or black mole is the most common type of Oaxacan mole. It’s what you’d typically find at any market fonda. It’s very dark, almost black in color, and can be made with over thirty ingredients including chocolate, plantains, tomatillos, nuts, tortillas, dried fruit, and six different types of chili pepper.

A well-made mole negro is the perfect balance of savory and sweet. At fondas, it’s typically served with a piece of chicken and a side of rice. You can also enjoy it served over enchiladas in a dish called enmoladas.

Mole Rojo

Like mole negro, mole rojo or red mole is made with chocolate along with a laundry list of other ingredients like guajillo and pasilla chiles, tomatoes, almonds, peanuts, sesame seeds, and spices. It has a similar savory-sweet profile as mole negro so our server advised us to pair both with rice to help tone down their richness.

Many articles online claim that mole rojo is the same thing as mole poblano, which I find confusing. The red mole we had at Restaurante Coronita is clearly different from the mole poblano we enjoyed in Puebla. It’s redder and less dark in color and doesn’t taste nearly as rich as mole poblano.

In any case, I’ll do more digging and update this article when I learn more. Based on our experience, red mole and mole poblano seem like two different types of mole.

Mole Amarillo

Mole amarillo or yellow mole is much lighter than the previous two. It’s less thick and not nearly as rich. Typical ingredients in mole amarillo include green tomatoes, ancho and guajillo chili peppers, hoja santa, and spices. If I remember correctly, it was the only mole our server told us to pair with pickled vegetables.

Mole amarillo is the same sauce you’ll find in Oaxacan empanadas. Personally, this was my least favorite type of mole. It’s more raw in flavor compared to the richer moles, which is probably why it’s paired with pickled vegetables.

Mole Verde

Mole verde or green mole tastes exactly how it looks. Light and herbal in flavor, it’s even thinner than yellow mole and is the easiest of the seven moles to prepare because it doesn’t require the toasting and rehydration of chili peppers.

Typical ingredients in mole verde include green chili peppers, tomatillos, pepitas (pumpkin seeds), hoja santa, epazote, and parsley. Based on its ingredients, Oaxacan mole verde seems to be a type of pipían. Pipían refers to a family of Mexican sauces made with pumpkin seeds as the main ingredient.

Mole Coloradito

Mole coloradito is another common type of mole that’s often served at fondas. Some of the others are harder to find but practically every fonda we visited served mole negro and coloradito. Typical ingredients in coloradito include ancho chili peppers, garlic, tomatoes, sesame seeds, and spices.

Meaning “reddish” in Spanish, coloradito tastes similar to black mole but it’s less sweet and not quite as rich. It’s definitely something I could see myself eating everyday.

Mole Manchamanteles

According to our server, mole manchamanteles is one of the rarest of the seven moles. Not as many restaurants serve it so if you see it on a menu, then you should definitely order it. Not only is it harder to find, but it’s also delicious and perhaps the most interesting of the seven.

Manchamantel literally means “tablecloth staining” and refers to the staining effect of the bright red chorizo grease and ancho chili peppers used in the recipe. Get a drop of this red mole on white tablecloth and it’ll probably stain it for all eternity.

Other key ingredients in mole manchamanteles include tomatoes, onions, garlic, almonds, plantains, and fresh pineapple. The pineapple adds a hint of fruity tang and sweetness to the manchamanteles that you won’t find in the other moles. It’s delicious.

Mole Chichilo

Like mole manchamanteles, mole chichilo is a rarer type of mole that’s quite different from the others. Similar in color as black mole but not quite as thick, it’s the only mole among the seven that’s flavored with beef.

Mole chichilo is made using beef bones and gets its name and color from chilhuacle negro, a dark chili pepper endemic to Oaxaca. Other key ingredients in mole chichilo include pasilla and mulato chili peppers, tomatoes, avocado leaves, and spices.

BONUS: Mole Blanco

Mole blanco isn’t one of the seven but I thought I’d quickly mention it here. It’s interesting and delicious and something you should try if you ever spot it on a Oaxaca restaurant menu.

Mole blanco or white mole refers to a type of mole from the Mixteca region of Oaxaca. Commonly prepared for Easter or Christmas, it’s made with almonds, pine nuts, peanuts, sunflower seeds, white chocolate, milk, chili peppers, fruits, and spices. It’s a milder type of mole often paired with rabbit, poultry, or chiles rellenos.

Though it’s from Oaxaca, we were lucky to try mole blanco at the Casareyna restaurant in Puebla. It was part of a mole degustation platter with mole poblano, pipían verde, and pipían rojo.

2. Tlayuda

It’s only right for mole to lead any list of Oaxacan dishes. But when it comes to Oaxacan street food, nothing comes before tlayudas. Made with a large, partially fried or toasted tortilla slathered with refried beans, asiento (unrefined pork lard), Oaxacan cheese, and other ingredients, you can think of it as a type of Oaxacan pizza.

Tlayudas are a Oaxacan food favorite that’s every bit as iconic as mole. They’re native to the state of Oaxaca but they’re especially popular as street food in Oaxaca City.

To prepare, a large thin tortilla disc is either seared on a comal or charred on a grill before being smeared with refried beans and unrefined pork lard. It’s then topped with Oaxaca cheese, lettuce or cabbage, and slices of avocado before being served with different types of roasted meat, either on the side or as a topping. Common meats served with tlayudas include tasajo (dried beef), cecina (chili-powder-crusted pork), or chorizo (Mexican sausage).

Depending on the restaurant or stall, tlayuda can be served folded in half (see below) or open-faced, like a Mexican pizza. Some places may chop up the meat and incorporate it as a topping on the tlayuda, but most will serve it whole on the side.

PRO TIP: If you’re accustomed to eating American-style pizza, then you may be tempted to slice up the meats and evenly distribute them on the tlayuda. Don’t. They lose flavor if you do. Instead, take a bite from the meats after each bite of tlayuda. You’ll appreciate the flavors of the grilled meat much more that way.

Here’s an example of an open-faced tlayuda from a stall at Mercado 20 de Noviembre. The toppings are mostly the same from place to place but where tlayudas differ is in the texture of the tortilla. Some are chewier like a pizza while others, like this one, are thinner and crispier. We enjoyed both tremendously.

Tlayudas seem to be a popular drinking food in Oaxaca since most tlayuda specialty restaurants open only at night or sometime in the afternoon. At markets like Mercado 20 de Noviembre, you can have it at any time of the day.

3. Memela

Memela is another popular street food in Oaxaca. Much smaller than tlayudas, memelas consist of fried or toasted masa discs topped with various ingredients like refried beans, black beans, salsa, tinga (shredded chicken with tomatoes), guacamole, and queso fresco (fresh cheese).

Memelas are popular antojitos or snacks in other parts of Mexico as well like Guerrero and Puebla. Depending on where it’s from and what it’s topped with, I believe the same dish can go by different names like sope or huarache.

4. Empanada de Amarillo

Empanada de amarillo is another popular street food dish in Oaxaca City. Empanadas are enjoyed in many Latin American countries and can be made with different fillings, but Oaxacan empanadas are made with a specific set of ingredients – shredded chicken and mole amarillo.

To make Oaxacan empanadas, a large corn tortilla is topped with yellow mole sauce and shredded chicken before being folded in half and cooked on a comal. It’s a Oaxacan food favorite that’s often sold at the same stalls that sell memelas.

5. Enmoladas

As previously described, enmoladas are basically enchiladas drowned in mole negro. Popular throughout Mexico, enchiladas are tortillas wrapped around a variety of different fillings. They can be topped with any type of sauce but enmoladas are drenched in that deliciously dark mole sauce.

Enmoladas are a popular breakfast item and something you’d typically find at any market fonda in Oaxaca, together with entomatadas and enfrijoladas. Entomatadas are enchiladas covered in tomato sauce while enfrijoladas are topped in a black bean sauce.

Entomatadas and enfrijoladas can be found throughout Mexico while enmoladas are specific to Oaxaca. Pictured below is a version topped with tasajo and queso fresco (fresh cheese).

Here’s a picture of entomatadas topped with queso fresco and served with a side of chorizo.

6. Tetela

Tetelas are triangular pockets of corn masa filled with a few simple ingredients like black beans, crema (cream), and fresh cheese. It’s a pre-Hispanic dish that originates from the Mixtec region of Oaxaca.

To prepare, a large corn tortilla is filled with a seasoned paste made from mashed black beans or refried beans with onions. Depending on the cook, other ingredients can be added like crema, queso fresco, Oaxacan cheese, mushrooms, and hierba santa. The tortilla is then folded into a triangle and cooked on a comal.

We enjoyed tetelas from two different restaurants in Oaxaca. They seem to vary greatly in size. The first tetelas we had were about the size of samosas but this one, from popular restaurant Itanoni, was much bigger. It was about the size of a small flag.

Here’s an inside look at our tetela from Itanoni. Aside from the basic fillings, they offer tetelas stuffed with additional ingredients like chicharron, mushroom, and dogfish. The green sauce is a spicy salsa verde which they serve on the side.

Some websites describe tetela as a popular street food but we never saw it sold from any street food stands in Oaxaca. It doesn’t seem to be as common as tlayudas or memelas so you should definitely order it if you see it on a restaurant’s menu.

7. Garnachas Istmeñas

Garnachas istmeñas are a type of antojito originally from the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in Oaxaca. They’re small, bite-sized snacks made with fried corn tortillas topped with shredded meat, pickled vegetables, salsa, and fresh cheese. From what I understand, garnachas can be made in different ways depending on where they’re from, but the version from the Ishtmus of Tehuantepec is the most well-known.

We had garnachas twice in Oaxaca. We had it for the first time at Restaurante Catedral, one of the fanciest restaurants in Oaxaca City. Because they were so small – about the size of an Oreo cookie – I thought we were served gourmet versions of garnachas. As it turns out, they’re always this size.

8. Piedrazo

If you enjoy highly acidic and spicy foods, then you need to try piedrazos. Meaning “stones” in Spanish, it refers to an interesting Oaxacan street food dish made with dehydrated bread soaked in fruit vinegar and served with onions, carrots, potatoes, Oaxacan cheese, chili powder, and spicy salsas.

Piedrazo gets its name from the bread. Traditionally dried on the roofs of houses, the bread is hard as a rock before soaking in vinegar. The acidity of the vinegar may be too much for some people but pair each bite with the creamy Oaxaca cheese and it all comes together beautifully.

Like tlayuda, memela, and empanada de amarillo, piedrazo was one of the Oaxacan dishes featured in the Mexico episode of Street Food Latin America. I enjoyed it so much I wound up getting another order to go.

9. Caldo de Piedra

Caldo de piedra is a traditional Oaxacan dish that’s every bit as beautiful as it is delicious. Meaning “stone soup” in Spanish, caldo de piedra is a type of pre-Hispanic seafood soup made with fish, tomatoes, onions, chili peppers, epazote, and cilantro served in a jícara or gourd bowl. What makes it special is that a heated river stone is dropped directly into the bowl to cook the soup.

Centuries ago, caldo de piedra was reserved only for people of the highest status but today, it’s made to honor the women of Oaxaca and the alliance between the region’s inhabitants.

Interestingly, caldo de piedra is prepared only by the men of the community. One group would go fishing, another would prepare the ingredients, while others would gather, clean, and heat river stones for up to three hours. Dropping the blazing hot stones into the bowl causes the broth to sizzle and boil, cooking the ingredients instantly.

When ready, the men would then bring the bowls of stone soup to their wives, mothers, grandmothers, sisters, and daughters. Traditionally, caldo de piedra is made with fish but in some parts of Oaxaca, it can be made with shrimp as well. I enjoyed mine with both fish and shrimp.

Caldo de piedra isn’t easy to find. I could only find one restaurant that serves it and it’s located along the Carretera Internacional highway, about 9 km east of Oaxaca City. It isn’t the easiest place to get to but it’s definitely worth the effort.

At the restaurant, you can watch as they prepare the soup. They keep a wood fire going throughout the day to have stones ready as customers order the soup. The stones are so hot that the broth literally erupts like a small volcano when the stones are dropped into the soup.

Here’s a picture of the river stone inside the bowl of soup. Caldo de piedra was awarded Intangible Cultural Heritage status by the state of Oaxaca in 2021. It’s a beautiful and interesting dish that you cannot miss while in Oaxaca.

10. Tamales Oaxaqueños

The tamal is a pre-Hispanic dish that’s popular throughout Mexico and Latin America. What makes tamales Oaxaqueños different is that they’re enriched with mole and wrapped in banana leaves instead of the usual corn husk.

There are several types of tamales Oaxaqueños but the most common variety is made with masa, shredded chicken, and mole negro. It’s an inexpensive and tasty snack that’s widely available at local markets and from street food vendors.

If you see an abuela (grandmother) sitting on a street corner with a big bucket or basket next to her, then chances are, it’s filled with delicious Oaxacan tamales.

11-13. Carnes Asadas (Tasajo, Cecina, Chorizo)

I’m lumping these next three Oaxacan dishes under one entry because you always see them together. Like tamales, carne asada (roast meat) is available throughout Mexico and beyond but these three types of roasted meat are specific to Oaxaca.

As previously described, tlayudas are mainly served with three types of meat – tasajo, cecina, and chorizo. If you visit pasillo de carnes asadas at Mercado 20 de Noviembre (where this picture was taken), then you’ll find all three types of meat being roasted by every vendor at the market.

Clockwise from bottom: Cecina, tasajo, chorizo Oaxaqueño

Tasajo

Tasajo refers to a thin cut of grilled dried beef commonly consumed in the Central Valley of Oaxaca. It’s typically made with flank or skirt steak that’s cured in salt before being partially sun-dried and then grilled. It’s often served as a side dish with tlayudas, enmoladas, or chilaquiles.

Cecina

In Mexico, cecina refers to thin sheets of salted and partially dried beef or pork. But since thin sheets of dried beef are called tasajo in Oaxaca, the word cecina is never used for beef. It refers only to thin sheets of semi-dried pork coated with chili pepper.

Chorizo Oaxaqueño

Chorizo Oaxaqueño is a type of Oaxacan sausage made with a mixture of pork, vinegar, pasilla chili peppers, cloves, cinnamon, oregano, bay leaves, thyme, and marjoram. Like tasajo and cecina, it’s often served as a side dish or filling for tlayudas, chilaquiles, quesadillas, or memelas.

14. Quesillo (Oaxacan Cheese)

Quesillo or Oaxacan cheese is a white, semi-hard cheese that’s similar in texture to mozzarella. It’s a popular Oaxacan food that’s used as a topping or filling in many dishes like tlayudas, memelas, tostadas, and quesadillas.

Quesillo is made using the same string cheese process used to make mozzarella. Originally from Italy, the process was brought to Mexico by Dominican friars who settled in Oaxaca. Buffalo milk wasn’t available at the time so they used cow’s milk instead.

Pictured below is a tostada topped with refried beans, Oaxaca cheese, tomato, and avocado.

Here’s a picture of a partially eaten tlayuda with quesillo and tasajo. Oaxaca cheese is absolutely delicious and something you’ll be eating very often in Oaxaca.

We enjoyed quesillo many times in Puebla as well. It’s a key ingredient in cemitas or Poblano sandwiches.

15. Chapulines

Chapulines or grasshoppers are one of the most interesting dishes on this list. Like quesillo, it’s a popular Oaxacan food that you’ll often find on restaurant menus and local Oaxaca markets like Mercado 20 de Noviembre.

Grasshoppers have been consumed in Mexico since pre-Hispanic times. They’re harvested only at certain times of the year and are usually seasoned with garlic, lime juice, chili, and salt before being toasted on a comal. They’re crunchy, salty, and can be a little sour or even spicy, depending on the seasoning.

You can munch on chapulines as a street food snack or enjoy them as an ingredient in dishes like tlayudas and tostadas. If you plan on going mezcal tasting in Oaxaca, then I highly recommend picking up a bag and bringing it with you to the mezcaleria. They’re the perfect dish to snack on with mezcal.

Pictured below are chapulines and quesillo used as toppings on a tostada. Grasshoppers (and other insects) are commonly consumed in central Mexico but none more widely than in Oaxaca.

Here’s an omelette filled with quesillo and chapulines. These two ingredients are often used together in Oaxaca. The saltiness of the grasshoppers goes so well with the creaminess of the cheese.

This was, without question, the most interesting use of chapulines we had in Oaxaca. What you’re looking at is nieves or Mexican ice cream flavored with chapulines.

When we ordered this, I assumed they’d sprinkle the ice cream with chapulines but they actually grind them into the nieves. You can’t see the grasshoppers at all but you can definitely taste them. The ice cream is sweet, salty, tangy, savory, and spicy all at once. It’s strange but it works!

16. Nicuatole

Nicuatole is a pre-Hispanic dessert made from ground corn, milk, sugar (or piloncillo), and cinnamon. Originally from the town of San Agustín Yatareni in Oaxaca, it has a gelatinous flan-like texture and is typically sold cut into blocks or squares at local markets and street food stalls.

Nicuatole is usually whitish in color with a bright red outer layer (from red sugar). Corn, milk, sugar, and cinnamon form the basic set of ingredients though it can be enriched with additional flavorings as well like orange and lemon leaves, almonds, prickly pear, egg yolks, or grated coconut.

17. Molotes de Platano

In Puebla, we enjoyed a delicious street food called molotes. Shaped like an empanada, it was made with corn masa and flour (or mashed potatoes) filled with a variety of savory ingredients like tinga (shredded chicken), mushrooms, black beans, and huitlacoche (corn fungus).

You can find molotes in Oaxaca as well though they’re made a little differently. Instead of the empanada-like half-moon shape, they resemble ovals or footballs. They’re typically made with corn masa but the version we tried, called molotes de platano, were made with mashed plantains instead.

I did some digging and it seems like this version of molotes is originally from the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. Enjoyed as a snack or dessert, the ovals aren’t filled but topped with a generous helping of cream and fresh cheese after frying.

18. Pan de Yema

Visit Mercado 20 de Noviembre and you’ll find over a dozen stalls selling pan de yema in different sizes. They make them in standard bread roll sizes to giant loaves that look like small boulders.

Pan de yama is a traditional sweet bread from Oaxaca. It’s a light and airy bread made with egg yolks, hence its yellowish interior. It’s basically the Oaxacan version of brioche.

Order a cup of cafe or chocolate de olla for breakfast and it’ll always be served with a roll of pan de yema. The bread is perfect for dipping in the coffee or hot chocolate.

19. Oaxacan Hot Chocolate

Chocolate has been an important commodity in the Oaxaca region for thousands of years. It was first cultivated by the Olmecs followed by the Mayans and Aztecs who not only used it as food and drink, but also for trading and currency. So revered was the cacao tree that its scientific name – Theobroma cacao – translates to “food of the gods”.

Today, not only is chocolate a daily staple in Oaxaca, it plays an important role in rituals and ceremonies like births, weddings, and funerals. Nowhere else in Mexico is chocolate more prevalent than in Oaxaca City.

Ironically, cacao trees aren’t cultivated in Oaxaca – they’re grown in Chiapas and Tabasco – but the city’s location on an ancient trade route made it an important center for chocolate production in Mexico. In Oaxaca City, you can enjoy chocolate in a number of dishes and drinks like mole, tejate, pozontle, and tascalate. Personally, my favorite is hot chocolate.

Chocolate Oaxaqueño is made with cacao beans, sugar, almonds, and cinnamon dissolved in either water or milk. Traditionally, it’s prepared with water but I personally prefer it with milk and a dash of chili.

Pictured below is my deliciously frothy pot of chocolate amargo (bitter) with milk and chili. Oaxacan hot chocolate is traditionally served in a clay pot (olla de barro) and whisked using a wooden molinillo to make it frothy.

20. Oaxacan Coffee

I was chatting with a barista while enjoying my coffee in San Miguel de Allende and he told me that most of the coffee beans in Mexico are grown in Oaxaca, Veracruz, and Chiapas. According to him, Oaxacan coffee is the best so he prices it accordingly. At his shop, they’re about twice the price of beans grown in the other two states.

Coffee produced in Oaxaca and Chiapas is known as Altura, meaning “high grown”. when it comes to coffee production, higher altitudes will almost always lead to better results. It’s for this reason why Altura coffee beans are considered some of the very best in the Americas.

I’m no connoisseur but I was a bit disappointed with the coffee in Mexico. The barista explained that Mexicans aren’t big coffee drinkers and are usually satisfied with a cup of Nescafe. I like my coffee robust and found much of the coffee in Mexico – including San Miguel de Allende – to be a little weak and overly acidic. Not so in Oaxaca.

There’s a strong coffee culture in Oaxaca and rightfully so, because their coffee is delicious. It’s full-bodied and balanced and will give you a satisfying jolt every time.

21. Pozontle

When we showed our Oaxaca food itinerary to Cesar, he gave us a thumbs up and told us we weren’t missing anything. He was particularly impressed that we had tried pozontle, a ceremonial drink from the Sierra Norte region of Oaxaca.

According to Cesar, pozontle is common in the mountains but hard to find in Oaxaca City. He asked us where we found it, presumably so he could go there himself! We didn’t fully appreciate how lucky we were to try pozontle until that dinner with Cesar.

Similar to tejate, pozontle is a light and refreshing drink made with corn, cacao, cocolmecatl (soured vine), panela, and water. It’s prepared in a jícara and made frothy using a molinillo.

22. Tejate

Tejate is the much more common cousin of pozontle. You can find it pretty much anywhere in Oaxaca City – at local markets, street food stalls, and restaurants.

Like pozontle, tejate is a pre-Hispanic drink made with toasted corn, fermented cacao beans, toasted mamey pits (pixtle), and flor de cacao. The ingredients are finely ground into a paste and then mixed with water to make the drink.

The white curd-like substance on top is flor de cacao. It rises to the top and forms a thick, pasty foam.

23. Agua de Chilacayota

Aguas frescas are among my favorite drinks in Mexico. Literally meaning “fresh waters”, it refers to a family of non-alcoholic drinks made from a variety of fruits, flowers, seeds, and cereals blended with sugar and water. Among the most common are jamaica (hibiscus), horchata (seeds, nuts, or grains), and tamarindo (tamarind).

In Oaxaca, one of the most traditional flavors of aguas frescas is agua de chilacayota. It’s a delicious and refreshing drink made with chilacayote squash (fig leaf gourd), piloncillo, cinnamon, and water.

24. Agua de Horchata con Tuna

Like agua de chilacayota, agua de horchata con tuna is a flavor of agua fresca that’s native to Oaxaca. Don’t worry, it’s a lot more appealing than it sounds. Tuna doesn’t refer to the fish, but to the sweet fruit of the prickly pear cactus.

You can find agua de horchata everywhere in Mexico but agua de horchata con tuna is a variety that’s especially popular in Oaxaca. It’s basically a version of horchata made with the addition of prickly pear fruit that turns the normally milky white drink, pink.

25. Mezcal

Last on this list but certainly not least is mezcal, a distilled alcoholic beverage made from the maguey (agave) plant. It’s known for its deep smokey flavor derived from the cooking of the maguey before distillation.

Mezcal can be made in a handful of Mexican states but over 70% is produced in Oaxaca. It’s not to be mistaken with tequila, another iconic Mexican spirit. While tequila is made exclusively with blue agave, mezcal can be made from any type of maguey.

Mezcal is served at nearly every bar or restaurant in Oaxaca. We highly recommend going to a mezcaleria that offers mezcal tastings. The bartenders are highly knowledgeable and will give you a crash course on all things mezcal.

If you’d like to take your mezcal experience further, then you may be interested in joining a Oaxaca mezcal tour.

OAXACAN FOOD TOURS

Simply put, no one knows the food in Oaxaca better than a local, which is why I was so happy to break bread with Cesar. He assured me that we had done our homework and weren’t missing anything important in Oaxaca.

If you don’t know any locals to show you around in Oaxaca, then you may want to join a guided tour. Not only will a knowledgeable local take you to Oaxaca’s best markets, restaurants, and street food stalls, but they’ll be able to explain all the dishes to you in more detail. Check out Get Your Guide for a list of food tours in Oaxaca.

OAXACAN COOKING CLASSES

Eating the food in Oaxaca is one thing, but learning how to make them yourself is another. You can pick up a lot from joining a food tour, but you can learn even more by taking a cooking class. Working with the various ingredients and learning the different techniques is like looking under the cuisine’s hood. Check out Cookly for a list of cooking classes in Oaxaca.

FINAL THOUGHTS ON OAXACAN CUISINE

I’ve written many of these articles but this Oaxaca food guide was especially difficult to write. It was challenging because there is so much to the Oaxaca food tradition that I didn’t want to leave anything out. The moles alone required a few hours of research.

Being less than thorough would have been a disservice to this city and state that produces some of the best food in Mexico. This Oaxaca food guide isn’t perfect (yet) but I hope I’ve done an adequate job.

I hope you enjoyed reading this article as much as I enjoyed writing and doing research for it. As always, it’s a perennial work-in-progress that will continue to grow and improve after every return visit to Oaxaca City. With so many more dishes to discover, I have a feeling those trips will be quite frequent.

Thanks for reading and I hope this guide gives you lots to look forward to when you visit Oaxaca!

Disclosure

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EDITOR’S NOTE: Traveleater Madeline Miller shares with us twelve traditional dishes to try on your next visit to Scotland.

There are so many reasons why you’d want to travel to Scotland. There’s the stunning landscapes and amazing cultural heritage, but one thing you must visit for is the food. There’s so much that you must try while you’re there, where do you even start?

Here are the top fifteen must-try foods in Scotland. What will be your favorite?

SCOTTISH FOOD QUICK LINKS

If you’re planning on visiting Scotland and want to learn more about Scottish cuisine, then you may be interested in joining a food tour.

• Food Tours: Food and Drinking Tours in Scotland

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WHAT IS TRADITIONAL SCOTTISH FOOD?

Traditional Scottish cuisine is simple and uses relatively few spices. Locally produced fruits, vegetables, and oats feature prominently in Scottish cooking while the country’s abundance of seafood and game has sustained its population for thousands of years.

In medieval times, meat and spices were expensive commodities and reserved only for the wealthy. Rather than feasting on the animals themselves, most people found sustenance in their milk. Dairy and eggs became an important part of the Scottish medieval diet, a practice that still carries on to this day.

Before the potato was introduced to the British Isles, bread was the main source of carbohydrates. Scotland’s damp climate made it difficult to grow wheat so bread was made from oats or barley.

Early Scottish society was largely pastoral so people needed food that wouldn’t spoil quickly. It was common to carry a bag of oatmeal that could easily be transformed into a basic meal of porridge or oatcakes.

Its exact origins are unclear but it’s believed that haggis, Scotland’s national dish, may have originated in this way. When cattle drivers left the Highlands to bring their cattle to market, the women would prepare for them a simple meal of offal or low-quality meat wrapped in the simplest bag available – a sheep or pig’s stomach.

THE BEST TRADITIONAL SCOTTISH DISHES

1. Cullen Skink (Smoked Haddock Chowder)

What’s a Cullen Skink? If you’ve ever had an American chowder or French bisque, then you’ll have an idea. A Cullen Skink is a thick Scottish soup, comprising of smoked haddock, potatoes, and onions. The dish originally came from the Moray area, but now is popular all over the country.

Many describe this traditional Scottish dish as smokier than a chowder, but heartier than bisque. Many have come to consider it as comfort food in Scotland. It’s just the thing to try on a cold and windy day, as it’s guaranteed to warm you up.

Photo by RubinowaDama

2. Scottish Porridge

Oats have been a staple in the crofter’s diet (Scottish farmers) since medieval times so it’s no surprise that porridge is synonymous with traditional Scottish food. At the time, there was no way of preserving the oats so they were often made into a thick paste to extend their shelf life.

Early versions of Scottish porridge bore little resemblance to the porridge we know today. To prepare, oats were cooked into a paste with water and a little salt. It was then left to cool in a wooden porridge drawer where it would be stored and eaten over several days.

When cold, the porridge would become thicker in consistency and more solid, allowing it to be cut into slices and eaten for breakfast or lunch.

Photo by VladislavNosick

3. Haggis

Who hasn’t heard of haggis? An important dish in Scottish culture, it’s the national food of Scotland.

Haggis is a dish that was created to use every part of the animal. It’s made from “sheep’s pluck” – that is, the chopped liver, heart and lungs of a sheep, mixed with oatmeal, suet, and seasonings, all stuffed into a lining. Traditionally, this can be the sheep’s intestines, although artificial casings are often used too.

Yes, it sounds bizarre, but you’ve got to try it at least once. You’ll soon find out why the dish has endured through the ages. Try it with neeps and tatties (turnips and potatoes) for the traditional experience.

Photo by food-exclusives

4. Scotch Pie

Scotch pie is a type of double-crust meat pie. About the size of an ice hockey puck, it’s traditionally filled with spiced mutton though it can be made with haggis and other types of meat as well.

Scotch pies are originally from Scotland but they’re readily available in other parts of the United Kingdom. They’re a staple snack at Scottish football matches and traditionally enjoyed with a spicy meat-flavored broth known as Bovril, hence the alternate name “football pie”.

Photo by mcdowalljh

5. Black Pudding

If you’ve heard of haggis, then you may have already heard of black pudding. They’re both Scottish delicacies that seem so strange at first glance, but once you try them you’ll see they’re one of the tastiest things out there.

Typically, black pudding is made with pork blood, mixed with pork fat or beef suet, and a cereal. This can be oatmeal, oat groats, or barley groats. The fact that black pudding has such a high cereal content, as well as the use of spices such as pennyroyal, sets them apart from blood sausages that you’ll find elsewhere in the world.

They often go well with a full Scottish breakfast, so that’s the best time to try them. Most cafes in Scotland will serve them, so you won’t have to go too far to find them. You should give them a try, you’ll be amazed at how good they taste.

Photo by robynmac

6. Full Scottish Breakfast

Hearty breakfast lovers won’t need much coaxing to get up and greet the day with a full Scottish breakfast. It’s similar to a full English breakfast but with a few notable additions.

On top of the usual components like link sausages, bacon, fried eggs, fried tomatoes, mushrooms, baked beans, and buttered toast, a full Scottish breakfast will also typically include black pudding, lorne sausages (square sausages), and tattie scones (potato griddle scones).

Some cafes may even serve them with haggis, white pudding, oatcakes, porridge, or Arbroath Smokies. It’s a heavy meal that Scots typically reserve for weekends and holidays.

Photo by dnaumoid

7. Bangers and Mash

Bangers and mash is a Scottish staple, another comfort food that you’re going to find all over the country. Whether you’re in a cafe or a pub with a roaring fire, these are bound to be on the menu.

The typical bangers and mash will use locally sourced sausages, as well as mashed potatoes mixed with milk and butter to make them fluffier. Plus, you can find other variants such as apple or venison sausages, too.

Photo by lenyvavsha

8. Cured Meat and Cheese

This Scottish appetizer will be sure to show up on many menus as you travel around the country. It doesn’t sound all that exciting at first glance, but you’ll want to consider the meats and cheeses being used in it.

You can try some amazing venison and sausages in this dish for example, as well as Mull cheddar cheese. This cheese is made from the milk of cows from the Isle of Mull, where they’re fed fermented grain from the Tobermory Whisky Distillery. This gives the cheddar a fruity tang you can’t get elsewhere.

You can make your own authentic cured meat and cheese by checking out the markets in Stockbridge. There’s a great range here, and you’ll be able to whip it up in minutes if you so wish.

Photo by studioM

9. Scottish Salmon

When it comes to salmon, you already know that Scottish salmon is the best. That’s why it’s the most prized in any supermarket or grocer’s shop. Scotland offers some of the freshest waters, making it a prime breeding ground for salmon. As such, some of the best salmon is caught here.

As you’re in Scotland, you can try the salmon as it’s freshly caught. Being able to taste the fish without it having to travel is something you don’t always get to do, so make sure you try it while you’re there.

Photo by Panmaule

10. Fish Supper

A fish supper is what fish and chips are referred to in Scotland. They’re typically sold from fish and chip shops called Scottish chippies, and are commonly made with haddock deep-fried in batter. People who don’t want chips can ask for a “single”, while customers looking for a larger portion of fish can ask for a “muckle”.

Depending on where you are in Scotland, a fish supper can be served with salt and sauce (brown sauce thinned with vinegar and water) or salt and vinegar. When in Glasgow, be sure to enjoy it with a bottle of ginger (carbonated drink) like Irn-Bru.

Photo by neillangan

11. Arbroath Smokies

Even if you’ve had haddock before, you haven’t had it quite like this. The process of creating Arbroath Smokies was created way back in the 1800s, and the method is still used to this day. The haddock is firstly salted overnight in order to preserve them, and then they’re cooked for an hour on a hot, humid, smoky fire.

The process requires you to use a hot fire and thick smoke, as that allows you to cook and smoke the haddock without burning it. It gives the fish a unique taste and smell that you won’t get anywhere else. It’s a dish that you’ve got to try at least once while you’re in the area.

Photo by fanfon

12. Hand-Dived West Coast Scallops

These are such a popular delicacy now, especially as people are more thoughtful about how their food is sourced. Scallops can certainly be trawled up by dredgers, but these are causing damage to the ecosystem off the coast of Scotland. As such, more and more people are looking for hand-dived West Coast scallops.

As the scallops are fetched by hand, this is a much more sustainable way of obtaining them. Of course, as there’s more work involved, the price is a lot higher than regular scallops. However, it’s very much worth it as they’re delicious, and you know you’re doing your part to protect the coastlines.

Photo by ildi_papp

13. Shortbread

Shortbread biscuits are a simple buttery biscuit that has been around since at least the 1700s and are a staple in Scotland. You can get a huge variety of traditional Scottish treat, so there’s a shortbread for everyone.

For example, you can try out chocolate, caramel, and even rosewater shortbreads. You’ll be able to buy shortbread pretty much anywhere you go, so you can test them out on your travels.

Shortbread is typically given as a gift at Hogmanay or Christmas, so you’ll see even more of it if you’re traveling during this time. Pair it with a tea or coffee at the end of a meal for the full experience.

Photo by agcreations

14. Sticky Toffee Pudding

If you have a sweet tooth and you’ve never tried sticky toffee pudding before, then don’t leave Scotland without giving this traditional Scottish dessert a try. The pudding is made up of a moist sponge cake, along with dates, toffee sauce, and either vanilla custard or ice cream. That’s a good excuse to try it twice, one with each.

Typically you’ll find this being served in most Scottish pubs. You’re almost bound to find yourself in one at some point during your travels, so make sure you order one after your dinner. You’ll soon see why it’s such a British classic.

Photo by monkeybusiness

15. Scotch Whisky

What better way to end the day in Scotland than with a glass of Scotch whisky? Produced by over 100 distilleries in five distinct Scottish whisky regions, this amber-hued liquid is the national drink of Scotland.

Scotch whisky, or simply Scotch, can be divided into five categories – single malt, single grain, blended malt, blended grain, and blended. It’s typically served neat, without ice, along with a small pitcher of water that’s meant to cleanse the palate between sips.

Pro tip, try adding a few drops of water to your whisky. This can really open up its flavors.

Photo by krasyuk

SCOTTISH FOOD TOURS

Bottom line, no one knows Scottish food better than a local, so what better way to experience it than by going on a food tour? Not only can a food-obsessed guide take you to the city’s best restaurants, cafes, and markets, but they’ll be able to explain all the dishes to you in more detail. Check out Get Your Guide for a list of food tours in Scotland.

FINAL THOUGHTS ON SCOTTISH CUISINE

These are fifteen of the best dishes and drinks that you’ll find when you’re in Scotland. Make sure you try them all out, and see which ones are your favorites. There’s so much to explore when it comes to cuisine in the country, that’s for sure.

About the Author

Madeline Miller is a writer at College Paper and Academic Writing Service. She covers international food, and is also a blogger for Dissertation Writing service.

Disclosure

Some of the links in this Scottish food guide are affiliate links. If you make a booking or reservation, then we’ll earn a small commission at no added cost to you. As always, we only recommend products and services that we use ourselves and firmly believe in. We really appreciate your support as it helps us make more of these free travel and food guides. Thank you!

Cover photo by food-exclusives. Stock images via Depositphotos.

When it comes to the most delicious food in Mexico, a shortlist of destinations instantly springs to mind – Oaxaca, Mexico City, Guadalajara, and Puebla. Each city has its own unique culinary character and a few dishes worth flying for, but in the opinion of many (including ours), the Mexican cuisine in Puebla and Oaxaca is among the richest and most interesting in Mexico.

Being so close to Mexico City (just two hours by bus), many travelers treat Puebla City as a quick day trip from Mexico’s capital. But if you fly for food like we do, then you’ll know that Puebla deserves much more than that.

Aside from its many delicious antojitos and moles, Puebla is home to over 300 candy delicacies. With so many sweets like camotes, borrachitos, and tortitas to try, the confections in Puebla alone are worth a few days’ stay!

Food is a big part of the Mexico experience so if you plan on visiting Puebla, then be sure to visit these restaurants to find some of the best examples of regional specialties like mole poblano, chiles en nogada, tacos árabes, and cemitas.

DINING IN PUEBLA QUICK LINKS

To help you plan your trip to Puebla, we’ve compiled links to popular hotels, tours, and other travel services here.

HOTELS

Top-rated hotels in Centro Historico, one of the best areas to stay for first-time visitors to Puebla City.

• Luxury: Casona de los Sapos Hotel Boutique
• Midrange: L Hotel Perla Boutique
• Budget: Hotel Escala Puebla Centro

TOURS

• Sightseeing Tour: Puebla Sightseeing Tour by Double-Decker Tram
• Food Tour: 5-Hour Culinary Tour with Tastings
• Cooking Classes: Puebla Cooking Classes
• Day Trip: Full-Day City Sightseeing Tour with Visit to Cholula

OTHER SERVICES

• Travel Insurance (with COVID cover)
• Mexico SIM Card

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WHAT FOOD IS PUEBLA KNOWN FOR?

Puebla is home to some of the most delicious food in Mexico so you’ll find quite a few regional specialties here. Aside from finding the best restaurants, it’s important to know what dishes to look for so be sure to read our guide on what to eat in Puebla.

It lists and gives a detailed description of the most important and delicious dishes to look for so you might want to read that article first before continuing with this one.

THE BEST PUEBLA RESTAURANTS

Finding great local food is important to us so we scoured the internet and asked the opinions of locals to come up with this list of must-visit restaurants in Puebla. If you already know what Pueblan dish(es) you want to try, then click on the links below to jump to any section of the guide.

Mole Poblano: Comal | Restaurante Casareyna

Chilen en Nogada: La Antigua China Poblana

Tacos Arabes: Tacos Arabes Bagdad | Tacos Beyrut | Tacos Tony

Chalupas: Restaurante Casareyna | Anotjitos Las Güeras

Cemitas: Super Cemitas El As de Oros | Cemitas La Colonial | La Antigua China Poblana

Pelonas: Comal | Anotjitos Acapulco

Chanclas: Comal

Molotes: Molotes La Ventanita | Anotjitos Acapulco

Dulces Tipicos de Puebla: La Gran Fama

Pasita: La Pasita

1. Tacos Árabes Bagdad

If you love tacos as much as we do, then tacos árabes should be tops on your list. Puebla is the birthplace of this dish, the very dish that inspired what many believe to be Mexico’s undisputed king of tacos – tacos al pastor.

Bagdad is one of the best places to try tacos árabes in Puebla. It’s the restaurant that was featured on the taco episode of Ugly Delicious with Chef David Chang. They flew to Mexico to tell the story of tacos and Tacos Árabes Bagdad was the restaurant they visited to try this important crossover dish.

Bagdad offers tacos made with both árabe and al pastor meat. You can get them as ala carte tacos or tortas but we recommend availing of one of the restaurant’s promos. For just MXN 60, you can get a quarter kilo (0.55 lbs) of meat with a few pieces of pan árabe and corn tortilla and a small jug of agua de sabor (flavored water). This is enough for one big eater or two people with modest appetites.

For more flavor, we ordered a side of jocoque which is a fermented milk product similar to sour cream. We suggest doing the same if you want more zing in your tacos.

Put them all together and voila! You have your own DIY taco árabe. Pan árabe really works best for this type of meat. I’ll explain more below.

If trying tacos árabes is important to you, then Bagdad is a must-stop in Puebla. There’s a reason why the Ugly Delicious producers featured this restaurant on their show.

Tacos Árabes Bagdad

Address: Av 2 Pte 311, Centro, 72000 Puebla, Pue.
Operating Hours: 11AM-8PM, daily
What to Order: Tacos árabes

2. Tacos Beyrut

Located a few blocks from Tacos Árabes Bagdad is Tacos Beyrut, a similar but smaller taqueria with a more focused menu. They basically have just two things on their menu – árabes and falafel. I suggest trying both.

In the picture below, you can see the difference between taco árabe and taco oriental. They’re both made with árabe meat but the former is served in pita bread while the latter is wrapped in a smaller corn tortilla. Corn tortillas are great with al pastor but in my opinion, the chewiness and fluffiness of pan árabe works so much better with árabe meat.

I recommend getting the falafel as well. If you’ve never had it, it refers to a popular Middle Eastern dish consisting of deep-fried patties of ground chickpeas wrapped in pita bread with salads, pickled vegetables, and tahini-based (sesame) sauces. Tacos Beyrut makes theirs with beets.

Beyrut’s falafel is delicious but be careful not to get any of that purplish beet juice on your clothes!

This has to be the most beautiful meat spit I’ve ever seen. Unlike most spits, Tacos Beyrut intersperses the layers of pork with onions and herbs.

I was watching them grill this and the cook was carefully shaving meat off the corners first. I didn’t stick around long enough but I assumed he did this until he wound up with a perfect cylinder. The shape of the spit is another difference you’ll notice between árabe and al pastor.

If you like restaurants with highly focused menus, then you need to enjoy a meal at Tacos Beyrut. It’s tough to pick but this may be my favorite tacos arabes place in Puebla so far.

Tacos Beyrut

Address: Av 5 Pte 718-A, Centro histórico de Puebla, 72000 Puebla, Pue.
Operating Hours: 5:30-10PM, Mon-Sat (closed Sundays)
What to Order: Tacos árabes

3. Tacos Tony

Tacos Tony is another great place to try tacos árabes in Puebla. They have a wider menu that also features cemitas, falafel, quesadillas, queso fundido, and alambre.

Pictured below are two tacos árabes and a taco oriental. I recommend trying both, just to taste the difference, but árabe meat really does work best with chewier pita bread. It’s the closest thing to shawarma you’ll find in Mexican cuisine.

You can better understand the difference between árabe and al pastor meat in this picture.

Al pastor spits (leftmost) are much more orange in color due to the annatto seeds used in the marinade. They’re also shaped like a top, which is why al pastor meat spits are referred to as trompo (spinning top) in Mexico. Árabe meat spits are typically cylindrical in shape.

Don’t mind the size difference between the meat spits in this picture because this is an atypically small al pastor trompo. They’re usually much bigger, about the same size as an árabe meat spit.

Tacos Tony is located just a block away from the zocalo (main public square) so it’s a convenient place to visit for people wanting to try tacos arabes.

Tacos Tony

Address: Av 3 Pte 149, Centro histórico de Puebla, 72000 Puebla, Pue.
Operating Hours: 10AM-8:30PM, Mon-Sat / 10AM-7PM, Sun
What to Order: Tacos árabes

4. El Patio y Las Ranas

El Patio y Las Ranas is another highly-regarded taqueria in Puebla, arguably the most popular on this list. However, they don’t seem to offer tacos árabes. Instead, they specialize in árabe’s cousin and Mexico’s most iconic taco – the al pastor.

El Patio y Las Ranas gives you the option of enjoying their al pastor meat in pita bread, flour or corn tortillas, or in sandwiches. They offer other types of meat as well like chuleta (pork chop), bistec (beef steak), chorizo (sausage), and cochinita pibil (pit-roasted pork).

Al pastor meat works very well in pan árabe as well. Corn tortillas are great but if you like the chewiness of pita bread, then I suggest trying this.

We absolutely love quesillo (Mexican cheese). It’s creamy and gooey and has a taste and texture similar to mozzarella.

If you love cheese, then we highly recommend trying queso fundido. It literally means “melted cheese” and refers to a bowl of melted gooey cheese served with flour tortillas. It can be served with just cheese or with some type of meat like chorizo mixed in. It’s sooo delicious!

Check out that cheese pull! As described, quesillo is very similar to mozzarella.

To eat, you take a generous helping of queso fundido and stuff it into a flour tortilla. Top it with one or two salsas and a spritz of lime juice and you’re good to go! You can think of it as a DIY version of a quesadilla.

Trying tacos arabes and tacos al pastor in Puebla is interesting because you can see how it evolved from a Lebanese dish into the Mexican favorite that it is today. By many accounts, El Patio y Las Ranas is one of the best places to enjoy tacos al pastor in Puebla.

El Patio y Las Ranas

Address: Av 2 Pte 105, Centro, 72000 Puebla, Pue.
Operating Hours: 12NN-8PM, Mon-Sat / 2-8PM, Sun
What to Order: Tacos al pastor in pan árabe

5. Don Pastor

We’re partial to small, family-owned restaurants or street stalls and rarely go to chains. However, Don Pastor was one chain that we couldn’t pass up. You’ll see why below.

Don Pastor is a chain of taquerias with about five branches in Puebla. They have an extensive menu featuring typical taqueria offerings like tacos al pastor, árabes, carne asada, alambres, and queso fundido.

On the plate below are two examples of their signature dish – tacos al pastor. We usually keep our expectations to a minimum when it comes to cookie-cutter chains but these tacos were surprisingly delicious.

These carne asada tacos were fantastic as well. Carne Asada is traditionally made with grilled skirt or flank steak. Don Pastor smothers theirs in guacamole.

At El Patio y Las Ranas, we enjoyed queso fundido with chorizo. At Don Pastor, you can get it mixed with a generous amount of their tasty al pastor meat.

Gotta love that cheese pull! My god was this good.

Queso fundido has quickly become one of our favorite Mexican dishes. It’s seriously delicious no matter what type of meat it’s made with.

Don Pastor’s branding game is strong. They have their own line of branded salsas as well, all of which are absolutely delicious!

Don Pastor wasn’t on our list but we were so taken by their branding and decor that we decided to give them a try on our last day in Puebla. This has to be the most well-branded restaurant we’ve seen thus far in Mexico. Thankfully, we enjoyed their food as much as their branding.

We walked by three Don Pastor branches in Puebla but the one right next to Catedral de Puebla, just off the zocalo, is the biggest and most fun. I recommend going to that one.

Pictures don’t do it justice but Don Pastor’s interiors are so much fun. They’re colorful and rife with detail. It has the same visual appeal as a luchador’s mask and costume.

Here’s another reason why you should eat at the Catedral branch. As far as we know, it’s the only outlet that has this seating area made to look like a subway car. Isn’t this cool?

We wanted to sit here but unfortunately, so did everyone else. Boo! Next time then.

Don Pastor

Address: C. 16 de Septiembre 203, Centro histórico de Puebla, 72000 Puebla, Pue.
Operating Hours: 11AM-11:30PM, daily
What to Order: Tacos al pastor, tacos árabes, carne asada

6. Antojitos Las Güeras

Compared to Mexico City or Guadalajara, true street vendors – the ones that specialize in just one or two dishes – don’t seem to be as common in Puebla, at least not in its historical center. For the best street food, you need to walk away from the zocalo.

About 8-10 blocks from Puebla’s zocalo is Las Güeras, a small easy-to-miss stall in a frenzied market area. It’s a great place to try chalupas, which are fried discs of masa topped with shredded meat and other ingredients. It’s one of the most popular snacks or antojitos in Puebla. Be sure to try it topped with both red and green salsa.

The masa dough in a chalupa is shallow-fried but it isn’t crunchy. It’s soft and mostly takes the flavor of the sauce it’s topped with. It’s tasty and makes for a great appetizer or mid-afternoon snack.

We almost missed Antojitos Las Güeras because the pin (and name) in Google Maps is a little off. Incorrectly listed as “Chalupas Las Güeras”, it’s on the right block but located on the other side of the street. I pinned a more correct approximation of its location on the map at the bottom of this post. Just look for the tiny shop with the orange awning below.

Las Güeras is best known for its chalupas but they serve other anotojos as well like pelonas and tostadas. They make their pelonas stuffed with, you guessed it, chalupas. It’s a great place for tasty cheap eats in Puebla.

Antojitos Las Güeras

Address: Calle 5 Nte. 1003, Centro histórico de Puebla, 72000 Puebla, Pue.
Operating Hours: 11AM-8PM, daily
What to Order: Chalupas

7. Restaurante Casareyna

Casareyna is arguably the best restaurant on this list. It’s the upscale restaurant of the 4-star hotel of the same name.

Google “best restaurants in puebla” and the highly-regarded El Mural de Los Poblanos will top nearly every list. We make room for one fancy restaurant on every trip so we considered going to El Mural de Los Poblanos, but our AirBnB host recommended Casareyna instead. He called it one of his favorite restaurants in Puebla.

Casareyna offers an extensive menu of Pueblan, Mexican, and international dishes. We came here specifically for their mole degustation but we decided to try their chalupas as well. As you can see below, their chalupas are less oily and more refined in presentation than the more humble offerings at Las Güeras.

What you’re looking at is one order of chalupas (four pieces) split onto two plates. They’re topped with red and green salsa, chopped onions, and pulled pork.

We tried their chalupas de mole poblano as well. Rich and deeply chocolatey, the discs of fried masa are topped with mole, shredded chicken, and sesame seeds.

This is what we came here for. We wanted to have a mole degustation and Casareyna is known for being one of the best places to try it in Puebla. Casareyna’s tasting menu consists of four different moles – mole poblano, pipian verde, pipian rojo, and mole blanco. They’re each made with chicken or pork and served with corn tortillas, rice, and purple yam puree.

Mole poblano is the quintessential mole in Puebla. It’s an incredibly rich and chocolatey mole made with over twenty ingredients. Pipian refers to sauces made with pepitas (pumpkin seeds) as its main ingredient, the most common being pipian verde and pipian rojo. Tomatillos and green chili peppers give color to pipian verde while pipian rojo gets its reddish-orange hue from red chilis and tomatoes.

Mole blanco refers to a Oaxacan mole made with peanuts, almonds, pine nuts, sunflower seeds, and white corn tortillas. They’re lightly roasted and ground before being mixed with other ingredients like bananas, apples, golden raisins, chilis, milk, white chocolate, and spices.

All four moles are delicious but mole poblano is the most memorable and unique-tasting of the bunch. A true Pueblan dish, it’s extremely rich and chocolatey and probably unlike any sauce you’ve ever tasted.

Like many dishes in Mexico, mole in Puebla is eaten with corn tortillas. You can either break pieces off the tortilla and dip them in the mole or eat all the components together like a taco.

The Casareyna Hotel is about a 10-15 minute walk east of the zocalo. It’s in a quieter part of town just south of Paseo de San Francisco and Barrio del Alto.

Casareyna may look a bit intimidating but you can walk in without reservations. We did.

Restaurante Casareyna is an upscale restaurant with excellent service and reasonable pricing. At the time of our visit, the mole degustation cost just MXN 245. With appetizers, it’s good enough for two people.

Restaurante Casareyna

Address: Privada 2 Ote. 1007, Centro histórico de Puebla, 72000 Puebla, Pue.
Operating Hours: 8AM-10:30PM, daily
What to Order: Plato de degustación de moles

8. Comal (Fantastic Mole Poblano!)

Comal may be the best restaurant we visited near the zocalo. It’s a local favorite that serves many Pueblan dishes like mole, cemitas, chalupas, pelonas, and chanclas. They serve great food in a casual setting with excellent views of the Puebla Cathedral.

We enjoyed three Pueblan specialties at Comal, starting with this beautiful mole poblano. Compared to other dishes like cemitas or chalupas, mole poblano can vary greatly from restaurant to restaurant.

For your first taste, I suggest trying it at a highly-regarded restaurant like Comal. Mole is such a complex dish that it’s best to try it at a place that really knows what it’s doing. We had it at some random restaurant on our first day in Puebla and it tasted a bit bitter and unbalanced. This one and the version at Casareyna are so much better.

Can you tell I love tacos? I enjoy wrapping everything up in a taco but it’s easier to just rip up the tortilla and dip it in the sauce. Mole poblano is rich, thick, and tasty and makes for the perfect dipping sauce.

What you’re looking at is Puebla’s answer to tortas ahogadas – the chancla. It refers to a type of Mexican sandwich made with chorizo and ground beef drenched in a spicy tomato-based sauce. I enjoyed my fair share of tortas ahogadas in Guadalajara but I think I like chanclas even more. The bread is so light and delicate that you almost forget you’re eating a sandwich.

We only had chanclas this one time so I’m curious to see what it’s like at other places. I’ll definitely look for more restaurants that serve it on my next trip to Puebla.

I love cemitas, but I think I may enjoy pelonas even more. The pelona is a type of Mexican sandwich made with shredded beef, refried beans, lettuce, and deep-fried bread.

The fillings are great but what really makes this sandwich is the fried bread. It’s crisp but extremely light and crumbles between your teeth when you take a bite. It’s so incredibly delicious.

Comal is one of the most popular restaurants in Puebla. It’s located right in front of Puebla Cathedral, just a few doors down from Don Pastor.

We were lucky enough to be seated at one of the balcony tables and enjoyed this view of the church over lunch. Baroque architecture and great Pueblan food. What more can you ask for?

Comal

Address: C. 16 de Septiembre 311-b, Centro histórico de Puebla, 72000 Puebla, Pue.
Operating Hours: 8AM-12MN, daily
What to Order: Mole, cemitas, antojitos

9. Antojitos Acapulco

I enjoyed the pelona at Comal so much that I needed to have it again. This time, at Antojitos Acapulco, a humble street food stall with no dining tables. As I expected, it was just as good as Comal’s pelona which goes to show that you don’t need to go to the most expensive restaurants to find the best food in Puebla.

Seriously, if you see pelonas on a menu, just order it. Chances are, it’ll be delicious.

Acapulco specializes in molotes but they offer other antojitos as well like pelonas, gorditas, flautas, tostadas, and these tasty tacos de canasta (basket tacos).

Also known as tacos al vapor (steamed tacos) or tacos sudado (sweaty tacos), tacos de canasta are filled with different types of stew before being bathed in oil or melted butter. They’re typically sold from baskets to keep them warm which is how they got their name.

Tacos de canasta are delicious and one of our favorite types of tacos. They’re a popular breakfast item or snack and can be found throughout central Mexico.

Acapulco makes molotes filled with a variety of ingredients like mushrooms, chicharron, shrimp, Oaxacan cheese, and picadillo. It’s similar in shape to an empanada except it has a thicker, harder shell and is topped with cream and one or two salsas.

Can you guess the molote filling? We got ours filled with spicy pulpo (octopus).

Open since 1962, Antojitos Acapulco is a true street stall located just around the corner from the zocalo. It’s another great place to get cheap eats in Puebla.

Antojitos Acapulco

Address: Av 5 Pte 114, Centro histórico de Puebla, 72000 Puebla, Pue.
Operating Hours: 9:10AM-11PM, daily
What to Order: Molotes, pelonas, tacos de canasta

10. Molotes La Ventanita

Like Anotjitos Acapulco, La Ventanita is a tiny shop that specializes in molotes, an empanada-like snack made with masa and all-purpose flour. They make other antojitos like tostadas and pelonas but what they’re really known for are their molotes.

I’m not sure if you can tell from this picture but the molotes at La Ventanita are huge. You can get them stuffed with different fillings like mushroom, potatoes, spicy shredded chicken, and beans. We got ours filled with chicharron and huitlacoche, a mushroom-like fungus that grows on corn.

Here’s a look at the huitlacoche. Also known as corn smut, it’s an interesting ingredient often used in Mexican cuisine. It’s soft and earthy and tastes very similar to mushrooms.

The La Ventanita stalls are so small that they’re easy to miss. There are actually two shops just a few doors apart. Just look for the red awnings with the words “La Ventanita” on them.

Here’s a closer look at one of the shops. It doesn’t seem like it but there are a few tables inside.

Molotes La Ventanita

Address: Av 10 Pte 304, Centro histórico de Puebla, 72000 Puebla, Pue.
Operating Hours: 10AM-8PM, Mon-Sat (closed Sundays)
What to Order: Molotes

11. La Antigua China Poblana

Aside from mole poblano, chiles en nogada was the one Mexican dish we were most excited to try in Puebla. With a dish as beautiful as this, how can you not be?

As described in our Puebla food guide, chiles en nogada is a seasonal dish that’s traditionally eaten from around August till mid-September. We were in Puebla in late February so hardly any restaurants were offering it at the time. Thankfully, we found La Antigua China Poblana.

Chiles en nogada consists of a stuffed poblano pepper covered in a creamy walnut sauce and pomegranate seeds. Pomegranates are in season in August and September which is why this dish is so hard to find at any other time of the year.

Interestingly, the consumption of chiles en nogada coincides with Mexican Independence Day. It’s a patriotic dish whose ingredients are meant to represent the colors of the Mexican flag – green poblano pepper (and parsley), white sauce, and red pomegranate seeds.

Here’s an inside look at the poblano pepper. It’s stuffed with a delicious picadillo mixture that goes so well with the creamy walnut sauce and pomegranate seeds.

Even though we had it out of season, it was still incredibly delicious. However, I can imagine it being that much better when pomegranates are in season. As you can see below, the seeds were pale and almost absent of flavor.

Chiles en nogada is a signature dish of Puebla so we’re looking forward to having it again when it’s in season. I’ll be sure to update this guide when we do.

In Guadalajara, tortas ahogadas are among the most popular comfort foods. In Mexico City, it’s tacos of every kind. In Puebla, it’s cemitas.

Cemitas are Pueblan tortas or sandwiches. They can be made with different types of meat though the most popular are cemitas poblana de milanesa – sandwiches made with a flattened breaded piece of chicken, pork, or beef.

You can find cemitas pretty much anywhere in Puebla – from proper sit-down restaurants like La Antigua China Poblana to street food stalls to fondas (small family-owned eateries). We never met a cemita we didn’t love so compared to dishes like mole poblano or chiles en nogada, I think it matters less where you try it, especially if you’re a first-time visitor.

La Antigua China Poblana is one of the restaurants you’ll find immediately surrounding the zocalo. Many of these restaurants tend to be on the touristy side but this was the only place we could find at the time that served chiles en nogada. Thankfully, their food was delicious and reasonably priced.

From the outside, La Antigua China Poblana is just a door with a sign above it but walk inside and you’ll find this interesting and surprisingly airy dining space. Aside from the food, the architecture is what we love most about Puebla.

La Antigua China Poblano

Address: Av 2 Sur 110 – 4, Centro histórico de Puebla, 72000 Puebla, Pue.
Operating Hours: 8AM-12MN, daily
What to Order: Mole poblano, chile en nogada, cemitas, antojitos

12. Super Cemitas El As de Oros

If cemitas are appealing to you, then you need to go to Mercado de Sabores. Located about a 20-minute walk from the zocalo, it’s a large food hall with around two dozen food vendors, most of whom specialize in cemitas.

Upon the recommendation of our AirBnB host, we had lunch here after visiting Amparo Museum, one of the best museums in Puebla.

I’m not familiar with its history but it seems that Mercado de Sabores was meant to showcase the best in Pueblan food. Today, many stalls have closed, with the only ones thriving being the vendors specializing in cemitas. It was a bit sad to see but it also shows just how popular cemitas are in Puebla.

There are many cemitas vendors at Mercado de Sabores. But like hawker centers in Singapore, you go to the stalls with the longest line of locals. At Mercado de Sabores, that was Super Cemitas El As de Oros. Keep reading to see why they call their cemitas “super cemitas”.

It’s hard to tell from this picture but this super cemita poblana de milanesa was absolutely massive. It’s an extremely filling (and delicious) behemoth of a sandwich with breaded steak that was big enough for both of us. You’ll get a better sense of its scale in the next picture.

Can you get a better sense of its size here? It’s like one of those gigantic large dishes you see on YouTube!

To be honest, I still don’t think this picture adequately captures just how large this sandwich was. It’s a beautiful beast of a cemita that any sandwich lover needs to conquer in Puebla.

Super Cemitas El As de Oros

Address: Mercado de Sabores, Av. 4 Pte. 1104, Historiadores, 72090 Puebla, Pue.
Operating Hours: 10AM-8PM, Sat-Sun / 10AM-7PM, Mon-Tue (closed Wed-Fri)
What to Order: Super cemitas

13. Cemitas La Colonial

You’ll be spoilt for choice with the sheer number of cemitas stalls in Puebla. One of the most highly-rated is La Colonial, a small cemitas stand just a couple blocks south of Mercado de Sabores. They serve cemitas and tacos made with different cuts of pork like pierna (pork leg), lomo (pork loin), and carnitas (braised pork).

Pictured below is my delicious pierna cemita. It isn’t a super cemita but it’s just as big on flavor. Like I said, we never met a cemita we didn’t like in Puebla.

The La Colonial pin on Google Maps is a little off. It’s located on the corner, across the street from where Google Maps says it is. I pinned its exact location on the map at the bottom of this post.

Cemitas La Colonial

Address: Av 2 Pte, Centro histórico de Puebla, 72090 Puebla, Pue.
Operating Hours: 9AM-7PM, daily
What to Order: Cemitas

14. La Gran Fama

As described at the top of this post, Puebla is home to over 300 types of dulces típicos or traditional sweets. During colonial times, they were offered as gifts to the convents’ benefactors but today, you can find them sold from the dozens of candy shops throughout the city. In fact, there are so many sweets shops along Avenida 6 Oriente that it’s often referred to as “El Calle de Los Dulces”.

One of the very best candy shops along this street is La Gran Fama. Walk into this shop and one of the first things you’ll notice is how much classier it looks compared to the other shops. In the words of one reviewer, it looks like a “Parisian macaron shop”.

La Gran Fama provides excellent service. We asked our server for recommendations and she filled our tray with all kinds of Pueblan goodies like camotes, borrachitos, tortitas de Santa Clara, and mostachones.

Camotes – cylindrical sweets made from sweet potatoes – are among the most popular so be sure to get a few pieces of that.

La Gran Fama may look like a Parisian macaron shop but you won’t be paying Parisian prices. This bog box of handpicked dulces típicos cost us just MXN 157.

There are dozens of sweets shops along Avenida 6 Oriente. Ignore them all and make a beeline for La Gran Fama.

La Gran Fama

Address: Av 6 Ote 208, Centro histórico de Puebla, 72000 Puebla, Pue.
Operating Hours: 9AM-8PM, daily
What to Order: Dulces típicos de Puebla

15. Puebla La Churreria

Churros – that delicious pastry dessert from Spain – isn’t an example of Pueblan regional food, but you can find darn good ones just a stone’s throw from the zocalo. La Churreria is one of the best places in Puebla to have churros and other pastries like buñuelos, cubiletes de queso, conos de crema, and bolas de Berlín.

Pictured below are churros, cubiletes, and two cups of hot chocolate. The churros here are crisp but super light and airy. They’re delicious.

Cubiletes are fantastic as well. They’re essentially Mexican mini-cheesecakes that resemble muffins.

Puebla La Churreria is located next to Puebla Cathedral, on the opposite side of Comal and Don Pastor. Don’t miss it.

Puebla La Churreria

Address: Calle 2 sur, Av 5 Ote y, Centro histórico de Puebla, 72000 Puebla, Pue.
Operating Hours: 7AM-10PM, daily
What to Order: Churros and other pastries

16. Panaderia El Hospicio

We were lucky enough to be staying at an AirBnB in the same building as this panaderia or bakery. They bake their bread and pastries inside the building so every day, at least twice a day, we’d get a whiff of that heavenly aroma wafting from their ovens. It was torturous and intoxicating all at once.

We stayed in Puebla for over a week and new goodies would grace their shelves everyday. We bought something new every single day and everything we had was delicious.

This was easily my favorite pastry from the bakery. It’s some sort of strawberry cream cake. It’s a popular item and sells quickly but were lucky to score maybe four or five slices during our stay. It’s absolutely delicious, especially with a cup of hot coffee.

El Hospicio opens bright and early at 7AM and would tempt us with their pastries until 9PM every night. These guys are pure evil.

Panaderia El Hospicio

Address: Av 2 Pte 501-B, Centro histórico de Puebla, 72000 Puebla, Pue.
Operating Hours: 7AM-9PM, daily
What to Order: Breads and pastries

17. La Pasita

Dishes like mole poblano and chiles en nogada are native to Puebla. Pasita isn’t just native to Puebla, it’s native to one Pueblan cantina.

Pasita is the signature drink of La Pasita, a small bar located at one end of Callejón de Los Sapos. Poured into a slender shot glass, it’s a type of raisin liquor served with a toothpick-skewered raisin and a cube of goat cheese.

La Pasita has been serving this drink for over fifty years. Both the bar and the drink are Pueblan institutions. In a way, taking a shot of pasita has become a rite of passage for people visiting Puebla.

The owners of La Paista are super friendly and offer great service. We had fun sipping on these pasitas and chatting with them in our broken Spanish. ¿Una mas por favor?

Pasita is the most well-known but you can get many other drinks here as well, like these shots of licor de almendras (almonds) and rompope. Rompope is a delicious eggnog-like drink made with egg yolks, milk, sugar, and alcoholic spirits.

Like Pueblan sweets, rompope may have originated from the convents of Puebla so it’s something you’ll want to try here as well. La Pasita is an excellent place to try it.

You can’t really tell from this picture but La Pasita has to be one of the smallest bars we’ve ever visited. It’s a standing-room-only bar that can fit a maximum of maybe 8-10 people.

If you like them enough, then you can pick up bottles of their pasita and rompope. I’ll definitely do that on our next visit to Puebla.

La Pasita is located on the right side of one end of Callejón de Los Sapos. You can’t miss it.

La Pasita

Address: Av 5 Ote 602, Centro histórico de Puebla, 72000 Puebla, Pue.
Operating Hours: 1-6PM, Wed-Mon (closed Tuesdays)
What to Order: Pasita and other shots of liqueur

LOCATION MAP

To help you navigate to these restaurants in Puebla, I’ve pinned them all on the map below. It includes a few other restaurants as well that we had on our list but couldn’t get to. Click on the link for a live version of the map.

FINAL THOUGHTS ON THE BEST RESTAURANTS IN PUEBLA, MEXICO

As described at the top of this post, many travelers treat Puebla as a quick day trip from Mexico City. I hope this guide helps convince you that Puebla is so much more than just a side trip.

Like Oaxaca, Puebla has one of the most colorful culinary traditions in Mexico. With so many delicious dishes to try, you’ll need several days to get a real taste of Puebla.

We fell in love with Puebla and its food so we’re already looking forward to our next trip. Aside from chile en nogada, we’re looking forward to trying other seasonal specialties like escamoles. Known as “Mexican caviar”, it’s a regional delicacy made with ant eggs or larvae. I’ll be sure to tell you guys about it after we try it.

Until then, thanks for reading and have an amazing time eating your way through Puebla!

Disclosure

Some of the links in this article on the top restaurants in Puebla are affiliate links, meaning we’ll earn a small commission if you make a purchase at no added cost to you. As always, we only recommend products and services that we use ourselves and firmly believe in. We really appreciate your support as this helps us make more of these free travel guides. Muchas gracias!

If you’re reading this article, then you’ve probably heard about the food in Puebla. Like Mexico City and Oaxaca, Puebla City is home to some of the most delicious food in Mexico.

And we aren’t just talking about typical Mexican food like tacos and quesadillas either. When you visit Puebla, you’ll get to try interesting dishes like chanclas, camotes, and pipián. Mole poblano and chiles en nogada are signature dishes and probably unlike anything you’ve ever tasted before.

If you’ve been to Mexico City and love tacos al pastor, then you’ll be interested to learn that Puebla is home to the crossover dish that inspired it. Like Oaxaca, Puebla is rich in culinary traditions and is a must-visit for any Traveleater.

Mole poblano is the most important but be sure to look for all twelve of these dishes the next time you visit Puebla.

POBLANO CUISINE QUICK LINKS

To help you with your Puebla trip planning, we’ve put together links to recommended hotels, tours, and other travel-related services here.

HOTELS

Top-rated hotels in Centro Historico, one of the best areas to stay for first-time visitors to Puebla City.

• Luxury: Banyan Tree Puebla
• Midrange: Hotel Boutique Casareyna
• Budget: Hostal Casa De Arcos

TOURS

• Sightseeing Tour: Half-Day Private City Tour with Transportation
• Food Tour: Guided Foodies Tour with Cathedral Visit
• Cooking Classes: Puebla Cooking Classes
• Day Trip: Cholula Magical Town 6-Hour Tour by Double-Decker Bus

OTHER SERVICES

• Travel Insurance (with COVID cover)
• Mexico SIM Card

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WHAT FOOD IS PUEBLA, MEXICO FAMOUS FOR?

Puebla is home to many delicious dishes, but if you only had one day in the capital city, then you have to go for mole poblano. It’s a national dish and something that you cannot miss. If you visit in August or September, then chile en nogada is a must as well.

After you’ve familiarized yourself with what to eat in Puebla, then be sure to check out our article on the best restaurants in Puebla to learn where you should go to try these dishes.

1. Mole Poblano

Mole is a defining dish in Mexican cuisine. When people think of mole, they usually think of mole poblano. It’s the signature dish of Puebla and regarded by many as Mexico’s national dish.

Mole poblano is a thick sauce made with about twenty different ingredients, among the most important being cocoa and chili peppers. Chocolate is often used as a shortcut but moles made from scratch are typically made with cocoa and sugar. Dark brown in color and intensely rich in flavor, it’s traditionally served over turkey with sesame seeds and a side of rice.

There are two legends that recount the origin of mole poblano. The first and more popular claims that the dish was created in the 16th century by nuns from the Santa Rosa Convent. The archbishop was paying them a visit and they had nothing to prepare for him except for an old turkey.

They mixed together whatever ingredients they had in the kitchen like different types of chili peppers, old bread, chocolate, and spices. They cooked the sauce for hours and poured it over the turkey meat. Thankfully, the archbishop enjoyed the dish and the rest is history.

Mole poblano is best when made from scratch but according to a local we met in Oaxaca, most moles at restaurants are made with mole paste. A proper version takes about three days to prepare. If restaurant moles are already this good, then I can only imagine what proper moles must taste like!

Mole poblano truly is a labor of love. It’s considered the pinnacle of Mexican culinary traditions and best enjoyed during the Cinco de Mayo celebrations. It’s featured prominently in this annual festival that commemorates Mexico’s victory over France in the Battle of Puebla in 1862.

2. Pipian Verde

I’m not sure if it qualifies as a type of mole, but pipián refers to any Mexican sauce made with pepitas (pumpkin seeds) as its main ingredient. In Puebla, pipián verde seems to be the most common though you can also find a red version known as pipián rojo.

Recipes vary but pipián verde or “green mole” is typically made with ground toasted pumpkin seeds mixed with pureed greens, tomatillos, and green chili peppers (poblano, serrano, jalapeño). Other ingredients include sesame seeds, peanuts, garlic, and spices.

3. Pipian Rojo

Pipián rojo is similar to pipián verde except its made with red chili peppers and tomatoes.

Pictured below is a mole degustation platter with four different types of sauces – pipián verde, pipián rojo, poblano, and blanco. Mole blanco is a type of Oaxacan mole made with roasted and ground peanuts, almonds, pine nuts, sunflower seeds, and white corn tortillas mixed with fruits, white chocolate, milk, chili peppers, and spices.

4. Chiles en Nogada

Like mole, chiles en nogada is considered a signature dish of Puebla and Mexico’s national dish. It’s a visually striking dish consisting of a large poblano chili stuffed with a picadillo mixture containing ground meat, panochera apple, sweet-milk pear, criollo peach, aromatics, and spices.

The stuffed pepper is then drowned in a creamy white sauce made with walnuts, milk, double cream, fresh cheese, and sherry, before being garnished with red pomegranate seeds and parsley. Both the poblano chili and walnut sauce are typically served at room temperature.

Unlike mole that’s available year-round, chiles en nogada is a seasonal dish that’s traditionally enjoyed when pomegranates are in season, usually from around August till mid-September. Tied to Mexican Independence Day, it’s a patriotic dish whose coloration represents the main colors of the Mexican flag – chile poblano for green, walnut sauce for white, and pomegranate seeds for red.

Chiles en nogada is largely unavailable at other times of the year but if you visit Puebla in August or September, then you cannot leave the city without trying this dish.

5. Tacos Arabes

If you like the iconic taco al pastor, then you need to try tacos arabes as well. It’s considered the predecessor of tacos al pastor and is the first Mexican iteration of the Lebanese shawarma.

Sometime after the First World War, a wave of Lebanese immigrants settled in Puebla and brought with them their shawarma-making tradition. Over time, locals tweaked the recipe to suit the Mexican palate. They substituted lamb with pork and created what would eventually become known as tacos arabes.

Tacos arabes are similar to tacos al pastor except they’re flavored with Middle Eastern spices and indigenous central Mexican ingredients. Another important difference is that the grilled pork is wrapped in pan arabe (pita bread) instead of corn tortillas and it isn’t served with any pineapple.

Pictured below is a version made with jocoque, a Mexican fermented milk product similar to sour cream.

This picture of spit-roasted pork helps illustrate the difference between tacos arabes and tacos al pastor.

The spit on the far left is for tacos al pastor. It’s much more orange in color due to the use of annatto (achiote) seeds in the marinade. It’s also shaped like a top – hence the term trompo (spinning top) – unlike the arabe spits that are more cylindrical in shape.

Don’t mind the size difference in this picture. Al pastor trompos are usually much bigger, about the same size as the arabe spits.

When you look at taqueria menus in Puebla, many will have terms like “taco arabe”, “taco de harina”, and “taco oriental”. They’re all made with arabe meat but the difference is in the bread they’re served in.

Taco arabe is served in pan arabe or pita bread. Taco de harina is wrapped in a flour tortilla while taco oriental is served in a corn tortilla. The picture below illustrates the difference between tacos arabes and tacos oriental. Because corn tortillas are typically palm-sized, tacos oriental are considerably smaller than tacos arabes and much lower in price.

We’ve tried all three tacos and for us, tacos arabes are the most delicious. In our opinion, the fluffiness and chewiness of pan arabe works best with this type of meat.

Speaking of tacos, be sure to check out our guide on the best tacos in Mexico City. It lists some of the best places in the capital to enjoy taco favorites like al pastor, suadero, cabeza, and guisado.

6. Chalupas

The chalupa is a tasty Mexican snack that originated in south-central Mexican states like Puebla, Hidalgo, Guerrero, and Oaxaca. It consists of a thin layer of deep-fried masa dough topped with different ingredients like shredded meat, lettuce, refried beans, onions, peppers, and salsa.

Chalupas can be made with different ingredients depending on where it’s from, but in Puebla, it typically consists of shallow-fried discs of masa topped with shredded chicken or pork, cheese, chopped onion, and either red or green salsa.

You can eat chalupas at many restaurants and street food stalls in Puebla. At some places, you’ll find them topped with mole poblano instead of the usual salsa.

7. Cemitas

In Guadalajara, tortas ahogadas are among the most popular comfort foods. In Mexico City, it’s the taco. In Puebla, it’s cemitas.

Cemitas are basically Pueblan tortas (sandwiches) served on bread rolls covered in sesame seeds. Torta is the generic word for a Mexican sandwich while cemita de Puebla refers to a specific type of torta made with meat, slices of avocado, quesillo (Oaxacan cheese), onions, pápalo, and chipotle adobado. Cemitas made with milanesa – flattened breaded fillets of chicken, pork, or beef – are among the most popular.

Cemitas are arguably the most ubiquitous food in Puebla. We tried it at several places – both at restaurants and street food stalls – and we never met a cemita we didn’t like. They’re cheap and make for a tasty quick snack in Puebla.

If you like sandwiches and have a big appetite, then the super cemita is more up your alley. Made with the same ingredients but on a much bigger bread roll, it’s basically the supersized version of a cemita.

Be sure to check out our Puebla restaurant guide to find out where you can enjoy this sexy beast of a Mexican sandwich.

8. Pelonas

If cemitas sound appealing to you, then you definitely need to try pelonas as well. It’s another type of Poblano sandwich made with a specific set of ingredients – shredded beef, refried beans, lettuce, and salsa – served on a deep-fried bread roll.

Pelonas are absolutely delicious and may have been my single favorite dish in Puebla. The fillings are good but deep-frying the bread is what really makes this dish. It’s crunchy but very light and crumbles away when you take a bite. It’s so good.

9. Chanclas

It may not seem like it but what you’re looking at below is another must-try Poblano sandwich. Called chanclas, they’re Puebla’s answer to Guadalajara’s tortas ahogadas.

Chanclas are similarly soppy sandwiches made with flour-dusted pambazo bread drenched in a spicy tomato-based sauce called guajillo sauce. Fillings typically consist of a mixture of ground beef, chorizo, avocado slices, onions, and lettuce.

Chanclas in English translates to “sandals” or “flip-flops”, perhaps in reference to the bread’s shape. Pambazo bread is so incredibly light that you almost forget you’re eating a sandwich.

10. Molotes

Molotes are another popular street food dish in Puebla. They’re empanada-like antojitos (snacks) made with a mixture of corn masa and all-purpose flour stuffed with a variety of ingredients like chicken tinga (shredded chicken), Oaxacan cheese, mushrooms, and huitlacoche (corn smut). The fillings are sealed in a half-moon shape before being deep-fried to a crispy, golden brown.

Like cemitas, molotes are everywhere in Puebla. They’re similar in shape to empanadas but they’re typically much larger and with a thicker, harder shell. They’re topped with cream and one or two salsas (red and/or green) before serving.

11. Dulces Típicos de Puebla

If you have a sweet tooth, then you’re going to love Puebla. It’s home to over 300 types of dulces típicos or traditional sweets.

Borne from the influx of foreign influences and ingredients, Puebla’s handmade artisanal sweets were created in convents during colonial times and were initially given as gifts to the convents’ benefactors. Today, they’re sold all throughout Puebla and make for the perfect souvenir food item.

One street with a particularly high concentration of sweets shops is Avenida 6 Oriente. There are so many candy shops along this street that it’s often referred to as “Calle de Los Dulces”.

There are too many sweets to list in this article but some of the most popular include camotes, borrachitos, tortitas de Santa Clara, and ate. Pictured below are camotes, a type of dulce made with sweet potatoes, sugar, and lemon or orange essence. They’re made in different colors and flavors and are known to be the most popular type of dulce in Puebla.

If you like candies spiked with alcohol, then you need to pick up a pack of borrachitos. Meaning “little drunks” in Spanish, borrachitos are poblano sweets made with cornstarch and sugar enhanced with some type of alcohol like tequila, rompope (Mexican eggnog), or cognac.

Tortitas de Santa Clara are cookie-shaped sweets made with pepitas, egg yolks, milk, flour, icing sugar, lard, and teqesquita (natural mineral salt). It gets its name from the convent where it was invented – Santa Clara.

These sweets known as ate may not be as popular as the previous three, but they may have been my favorite. They’re made with pureed fruit pulp that’s cooked with sugar or piloncillo (unrefined whole cane sugar) until it thickens and hardens into a paste.

Also known as quince jam, ate used to be made only with quince but they can now be made with almost any type of fruit, one of the most popular being guava. Pictured below are blocks of guava ate, the one on the left enhanced with chili.

12. Pasita

All the dishes mentioned in this list are native to Puebla. This last entry, a raisin-flavored liqueur called “pasita”, isn’t just native to Puebla, it’s native to one Pueblan bar of the same name.

Pasita is the trademark drink of La Pasita, a small cantina or Mexican bar located at one end of Callejón de Los Sapos. It consists of a house-made raisin liquor served with a toothpick-skewered raisin and a cube of goat cheese.

Served in a slender shot glass called a caballito (“slender horse”), this fruity amber-hued liqueur has been the signature drink of La Pasita for over fifty years.

PUEBLAN FOOD TOURS

Traveleating on your own is always fun, but if you have limited time in Puebla, then you may want to go on a food tour. Not only will a local guide you to the city’s best restaurants, markets, and food stalls, but they’ll be able to explain all the dishes to you in more detail. Check out Get Your Guide for a list of food tours in Puebla.

PUEBLAN COOKING CLASSES

Going on a food tour is a great way to sample the best Pueblan food in a short amount of time. But if you’re staying long enough, then you may want to take a cooking class. Simply put, there’s no better way to learn about local dishes than by making them yourself. It’s like looking under the cuisine’s hood. Check out Cookly for a list of cooking classes in Puebla.

FINAL THOUGHTS ON PUEBLAN MEXICAN CUISINE

Of all the cities we’ve visited so far in Mexico, Puebla is one of our favorites, and a lot of that has to do with the food. Twelve dishes is a good number but it’s only just the beginning. This delicious state in central Mexico has so much more to offer.

We haven’t tried them yet but I’ve read about other moles and sauces like mole de chilayo, mole verde de Zacapala, and adobo. Adobo is of particular interest to us because it’s the national dish of the Philippines, where we’re originally from.

The word adobo stems from the Spanish word adobar, meaning”to marinate”. There are many differences between the two versions but vinegar is a key ingredient in both. Was our adobo a product of Mexican influence, thanks to the Manila-Acapulco Galleon Trade Route? It’s possible. In any case, that’s a discussion better left for another article.

I hope you enjoyed this list of must-try dishes in Puebla. If you’re a local and have obscure food recommendations for us, then we’d love to hear from you. ¡Muchas gracias!

Disclosure

Some of the links in this Pueblan food guide are affiliate links, meaning we’ll earn a small commission if you make a purchase at no added cost to you. As always, we only recommend products and services that we use ourselves and firmly believe in. We really appreciate your support as this helps us make more of these free travel guides. Muchas gracias!

Mexico City is the biggest city in Mexico and one of its most delicious. If you travel to eat like we do, then you’ll be spoilt for choice with its sheer number of restaurants, bars, taquerias, street food stands, and markets. When it comes to food, Mexico City has it all.

But as much fun as it is to eat your way through Mexico City, its size and wealth of choices can be daunting. With so much good food spread out over so many interesting neighborhoods, how does a first-time visitor with limited time find the best local food in Mexico City?

Easy. Join a food tour.

No one knows Mexico City better than a local so what better way to experience the best and most authentic Mexican cuisine than by going on a food tour? Not only can a local guide take you to the most interesting restaurants, markets, and street food vendors in Mexico City, but they can explain all the dishes to you in more detail as well.

Like everything else in this massive city, you’ll be spoilt for choice with all the amazing Mexico City food tours you’ll find online. To help you decide, we’ve listed ten of the best in this guide.

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WHY SHOULD YOU BOOK A MEXICO CITY FOOD TOUR?

If you’re reading this article, then it’s safe to say that you’re interested in booking a Mexico City food tour. There are two primary reasons why you should book one – convenience and authenticity. You want a local to lead you to the best and most authentic food experiences in Mexico City so all you have to do is follow, listen, and eat.

As described, Mexico’s capital city is massive. It’s one of the biggest cities in the world so finding the best local food and navigating between restaurants and neighborhoods can be challenging. Unlike smaller cities like Guanajuato or San Miguel de Allende, it isn’t something you can fully experience in just a few days.

If you have plenty of time in Mexico City, then you can do your own research and explore one, maybe two neighborhoods a day to get a good feel for the local food scene. That’s what we did. But most people will only have a few days so time will be a factor.

If that’s the case, then you should definitely book one of the many Mexican food tours available online. It’s simply the fastest and easiest way to experience the local cuisine and culture, especially in a destination as big and with as much to offer as Mexico City.

10 OF THE TASTIEST MEXICO CITY FOOD TOURS

You’ll have plenty of choices for food tours in Mexico City. To help you decide, we collaborated with our friends at Cookly and compiled this list of ten of the best food tours in key parts of the city like Roma-Condesa, Centro Historico, and Polanco. If it’s your first time in Mexico City, then I suggest choosing a tour in Colonia Roma or Centro Historico.

All tours featured in this article are small group tours. If you’d rather go on a private tour, then you can try requesting for a private booking via the link provided under each tour. Just click on the “Support” button in the lower right corner of the tour description page.

We’ll describe each tour in more detail but we’ve created the quick comparison chart below for your convenience. Click on a link to go to the tour booking page. All food tours featured here offer free cancellation as long as the booking is canceled at least 48 hours prior to the activity.

Name of Tour	Price (USD)	Start Time	Length of Tour
1. Taste Colonia Roma with Local Foodies	$75	12NN	4 hrs
2. Centro Histórico Food Tour	$69	11AM, 5PM	3 hrs
3. Mexico City Street Food Scene	$35	2PM	2.5 hrs
4. Ultimate Market Experience in Mexico City	$50	9AM	4 hrs
5. Daily Food Tour in Polanco	$69	11AM, 5PM	3 hrs
6. Colonia Narvarte at Night: Tacos, Chelas, and Mezcal!	$98	7:30PM, 8PM	3.5 hrs
7. Mexico’s Flavors Bike Tour	$65	10AM	4 hrs
8. Mexico’s Spirits: Pulque, Mezcal, Bacanora, and Tequila	$50	3:30PM	2 hrs
9. Mezcal Tasting + Lucha Libre Experience	$48	3PM, 5:30PM, 6:30PM	4 hrs
10. Gastronomic Tour Along the Canals of Xochimilco	$203	11AM	3 hrs

1. Taste Colonia Roma with Local Foodies

If you were to go on just one Mexico City food tour, then I’d recommend going on this one. It takes you through the Colonia Roma neighborhood which is one of the coolest areas in Mexico City.

Colonia Roma, along with neighboring La Condesa, is a trendy upscale area with many of the city’s best restaurants, bars, cafes, and street food vendors. It’s one of our favorite neighborhoods in Mexico City and an area that food lovers should definitely explore.

The beautiful salad pictured below is made with Mexican vegetables, herbs, and nopales or edible cacti. It’s one of the many interesting and tasty examples of elevated Mexican cuisine you’ll get on this Colonia Roma tour.

If I remember correctly, this beautifully plated dish is a mole taco served on a lettuce leaf. As you already know, the humble taco is one of the most iconic examples of Mexican food. You’ll experience it in many forms on any Mexico City food tour.

If you’re a fan of tacos, then be sure to check out our guide on the best tacos in Mexico City.

This was one of my favorite dishes from this Colonia Roma tour. It consists of a grilled shrimp served on a bed of huitlacoche risotto. Huitlacoche or “corn smut” is a type of fungus that grows on maize. It’s a tasty mushroom-like ingredient that’s commonly used in Mexican cuisine.

As previously described, Colonia Roma is one of the trendiest areas in Mexico City so this tour features more elevated examples of Mexican food and drinks. If you’re interested in the finer aspects of Mexican gastronomy, then you should definitely book this tour.

Taste Colonia Roma with Local Foodies

Schedule: Sunday-Friday
Start Time: 12NN
Duration: 4 hours
Capacity: 10 people
Food Tastings: 13+
Cost: USD 75 per person
Book This Tour: CLICK HERE for more information and to book this food tour.

2. Centro Histórico Food Tour

Most if not all major cities in Mexico will have a central zocalo or public square. It’s the heart of the city and where you’ll find many of its most important historical attractions, including its biggest church. In Mexico City, the historic center is classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

They say that any first-time visit to Mexico City should begin in its historic center, and so should your quest for the best local food. There are many food tours in Mexico City that focus on the zocalo so if you’d like to get an insider’s look at the city’s local culture, then this is the tour for you.

This Centro Histórico tour is a 3-hr walking tour that takes you to San Juan Mercado de Especialidades and Mercado de Artesanías La Ciudadela. San Juan Market is one of my favorite markets in Mexico City and where you’ll find some of the city’s best produce and food stalls.

On this walking tour, you’ll interact with market vendors and sample different regional offerings like cheeses, seafood, and edible flowers. You’ll get to try some of the very best Mexican coffee as well.

If you’re interested in traditional Mexican souvenirs, then La Ciudadela is one of the best places you can go to in Mexico City. It’s a large market that’s home to dozens of vendors selling Mexican textiles, calaveras (skulls), dolls, and handcrafted jewelry.

A market visit is high on many people’s list of priorities. If you’d like to go on a Mexico City food tour that includes a market visit, then this is one to consider. I went to both of these markets on my own and enjoyed them tremendously.

Centro Histórico Food Tour

Schedule: Monday-Sunday
Start Time: 11AM, 5PM
Duration: 3 hours
Capacity: 1-8 people
Food Tastings: Not specified
Cost: USD 69 per person
Book This Tour: CLICK HERE for more information and to book this food tour.

3. Mexico City Street Food Scene

If you enjoy tacos and Mexican street food as much as we do, then you’ll probably want to go on this tour. It’s a small group walking tour that takes you to some of the best local street food stalls in the Centro Histórico area. You’ll sample different types of tacos, antojitos (snacks), and traditional Mexican drinks.

Pictured below is a street food vendor making tlacoyos, a pre-Hispanic Mexican dish made with fried or toasted corn tortillas stuffed with a variety of ingredients like cheese, beans, and chicharron (fried pork skin). It’s delicious and interesting and one of our favorite street foods in Mexico.

We could honestly survive on tacos alone in Mexico City. It’s the taco capital of Mexico, which pretty much makes it the taco capital of the world. The tacos here are seriously delicious and there are so many you can try like tacos al pastor, tacos de suadero, tacos de canasta, and tacos de guisado.

Some of our favorite food stalls are in the historic center so you know you’ll be in good hands when you join this tour.

Tacos are terrific, but so are quesadillas. Pictured below are quesadillas which are basically larger versions of tacos made with flour tortillas and the addition of quesillo or Mexican cheese. If street food like tacos, tlacoyos, and quesadillas is your priority, then this is definitely the tour for you.

Mexico City Street Food Scene

Schedule: Monday-Sunday
Start Time: 2PM
Duration: 2.5 hours
Capacity: 1-5 people
Food Tastings: 10+
Cost: USD 35 per person
Book This Tour: CLICK HERE for more information and to book this food tour.

4. Ultimate Market Experience in Mexico City

As previously mentioned, a local market visit is high on many people’s list of priorities in Mexico City. If you’re one of those people, then you’ll probably want to join this small group tour. It’ll take you to La Merced Market, Sonora Market, and San Juan Market which are three of the best and most popular local markets in Mexico City.

Mexican markets provide a gritty and unfiltered look at local culture. It’s a fantastic experience though some mercados like La Merced Market have a reputation for being chaotic, dirty, and even unsafe (pickpockets). I had no reservations about visiting San Juan Market on my own but I skipped La Merced Market because of those negative reviews.

If you have the same reservations, then joining small-group food tours like this one is a great way to experience a market in Mexico City. Not only will you feel safer, but you’ll also learn about the market’s history and be taken to the best market stalls.

Aside from more conventional fare like tacos and quesadillas, you’ll also get to sample exotic dishes like chapulines (grasshoppers), huitlacoche (corn smut), and sesos (cow brains). Try to keep an open mind on this tour because the most memorable experiences often happen outside of your comfort zone!

You’ll also get the opportunity to buy some of the best and freshest fruits, vegetables, snacks, and spices in Mexico City.

If visiting a local market is a top priority for you, then I highly recommend booking one of these market food tours. Not only will you feel safer and more comfortable, but you’ll learn a lot more as well. There’s no better guide than a local who buys produce from these markets on a regular basis.

Ultimate Market Experience in Mexico City

Schedule: Monday-Sunday
Start Time: 9AM
Duration: 4 hours
Capacity: 1-6 people
Food Tastings: Not specified
Cost: USD 50 per person
Book This Tour: CLICK HERE for more information and to book this food tour.

5. Daily Food Tour in Polanco

Polanco is often referred to as the “Beverly Hills of Mexico City”. It’s a swanky area that’s home to luxury boutiques and some of the city’s best restaurants. It isn’t exactly the first neighborhood that comes to mind when you’re choosing between food tours but you’ll be surprised by how much good street food you can find here.

We explored Polanco on our own and were genuinely surprised by the number of taquerias and street stalls we found in the area. Like any other neighborhood in Mexico City, Polanco is a food lover’s paradise that caters to any budget.

On this Polanco tour, you’ll get to try regional favorites like mole, tlayudas, Mexican chocolate, and mezcal. Many are specialties from known food destinations in Mexico like Oaxaca and the Yucatan peninsula.

Not as many Mexico City food tours take you to Polanco which is what makes this one so interesting. If you’d like to experience traditional Mexican cuisine in one of the city’s most beautiful neighborhoods, then this Polanco tour is for you.

Pictured below is a hearty bowl of pozole rojo de pollo, another dish that pre-dates the Hispanic period. They say you can get a glimpse of Mexico’s history through its food and traditional dishes like pozole, tamales, tlacoyo, mole, and chapulines are proof of that.

Daily Food Tour in Polanco

Schedule: Monday-Sunday
Start Time: 11AM, 5PM
Duration: 3 hours
Capacity: 1-9+ people
Food Tastings: Not specified
Cost: USD 69 per person
Book This Tour: CLICK HERE for more information and to book this food tour.

6. Colonia Narvarte at Night: Tacos, Chelas, and Mezcal!

People looking to eat their way through a more local and less touristy part of Mexico City may be interested in this tour. It takes you to Colonia Navarte, a middle-class residential neighborhood with dozens of family-style taquerias and local gems.

Not only does this tour take you to a less-visited part of Mexico City with many hidden gems, but it’s also a night tour that starts at 7:30PM or 8PM. From our experience, the best tacos come out only at night in Mexico so going on one of these night tours is a great way to experience some of the best local food in the city.

Aside from feasting on street food favorites like tacos al pastor and tacos de suadero, you’ll also experience traditional cantina culture and try Mexican drinks like mezcal and chela (slang for cold beer).

There are many Mexico City food tours that take you to Roma-Condesa or Centro Histórico, but not nearly as many take you to neighborhoods like Colonia Narvarte.

When Cookly offered to send me on their food tours, this was one of my top choices. However, walking around at night may not be a comfortable experience for many first-time visitors to Mexico City so I chose other tours instead.

But if you’re interested in getting a taste of Mexican culture and food in an area rarely seen by tourists, then this Colonia Narvarte walking tour is an excellent choice.

Colonia Narvarte at Night

Schedule: Monday-Friday
Start Time: 7:30PM, 8PM
Duration: 3.5 hours
Capacity: 2-8 people
Food Tastings: Not specified
Cost: USD 98 per person
Book This Tour: CLICK HERE for more information and to book this food tour.

7. Mexico’s Flavors Bike Tour

Walking tours are fun. So are bike tours. We haven’t done it in Mexico City but we’ve gone on many biking tours in different cities around the world. And when you get to combine biking with some of the best local food a city has to offer, then you’ve got a perfect combination.

This Mexico City bike tour includes stops at a tortilla shop, a chocolate museum shop, a centuries-old candy shop, and San Juan Market. You’ll work up an appetite after all that pedaling so you’ll be fed tasty Mexican dishes like tamales, atole (corn and masa drink), dulces (sweets), tacos, and tostadas.

Some vendors at San Juan Market sell an assortment of edible insects like scorpions, Madagascar hissing cockroaches, leaf-cutter ants, and grasshoppers. I visited San Juan Market on my own and enjoyed a chocolate- and sesame-covered scorpion on a stick. Try some if you dare!

If you enjoy exploring a new city on a bicycle, especially one as big as Mexico City, then this bike tour is for you. You’ll cover more ground and you’ll work up an appetite while doing so.

Just be sure to get travel insurance if you do. Safety measures will be enforced but you never know what can happen. Best to be safe than sorry!

Mexico’s Flavors Bike Tour

Schedule: Monday-Sunday
Start Time: 10AM
Duration: 4 hours
Capacity: 2-8 people
Food Tastings: 5+
Cost: USD 65 per person
Book This Tour: CLICK HERE for more information and to book this food tour.

8. Mexico’s Spirits: Pulque, Mezcal, Bacanora, and Tequila

Mexican spirits are just as interesting as Mexican food. If you enjoy a good drink as much as a tasty taco, then I’m pretty sure you’ll want to go on this drinking tour. It’ll take you to several local spots where you’ll have multiple tastings of traditional Mexican spirits made from the agave plant like mezcal, tequila, pulque, and bacanora.

We didn’t go on this tour but I did do a food and drinking tour in Puerto Vallarta where I got to try traditional spirits like tequila, raicilla, mezcal, and pulque. Aside from being fun to drink, it was interesting to learn (and taste) the differences between the different spirits derived from the agave plant.

This 2-hr drinking tour ends before nightfall, at 5:30PM. I’m pretty sure they do this as part of their safety measures. You won’t get to experience Mexico City nightlife on this tour but at least you won’t have to stumble back to your hotel after dark.

Mexico’s Spirits: Pulque, Mezcal, Bacanora, and Tequila

Schedule: Monday-Sunday
Start Time: 3:30PM
Duration: 2 hours
Capacity: 1-6 people
Number of Drinks: 10
Cost: USD 50 per person
Book This Tour: CLICK HERE for more information and to book this food tour.

9. Mezcal Tasting + Lucha Libre Experience

This was another tour that I really, REALLY wanted to do. I’m fascinated with lucha libre but this isn’t your typical food tour so I chose other tours instead. If you’re a fan or at least curious about the colorful world of Mexican wrestling, then you need to book this tour.

This lucha libre experience will load you up with shots of mezcal before taking you to Arena Mexico to root for your favorite wrestlers. You’ll be hiding behind your own souvenir mask so feel free to cheer (or heckle) as loudly as you want!

I have no interest in American pro wrestling but like many people, I find lucha libre to be incredibly fascinating. It’s hugely popular in Mexico so you’ll often find entire families in attendance, cheering for their favorite wrestlers. Based on people’s reviews, the energy in the stadium is through the roof.

If you’d like to catch a lucha libre event in Mexico City and don’t mind going with a bunch of like-minded strangers, then you may want to book this tour. Just look at these guys below. Don’t they look like they’re having a blast?!

Mezcal Tasting + Lucha Libre Experience

Schedule: Monday, Thursday, Saturday
Start Time: 3PM, 5:30PM, 6:30PM
Duration: 4 hours
Capacity: 1-9+ people
Number of Drinks: Not specified
Cost: USD 48 for adults, USD 37 for children ages 3-10
Book This Tour: CLICK HERE for more information and to book this food tour.

10. Gastronomic Tour Along the Canals of Xochimilco

Xochimilco refers to a network of canals in southern Mexico City. Designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, it’s what’s left of an ancient water transport system that was built by the Aztecs. Today, it’s a popular attraction famous for its colorful gondola-like boats called trajineras that tourists can ride to explore the canals.

You can visit Xochimilco on your own but on this tour, you’ll be served a traditional Mexican lunch while exploring the canals.

Lunch menus may vary but expect to be fed traditional Mexican dishes like tamales Oaxaqueños, salad with chinampa vegetables, Mexican cheeses, guacamole, totopas (tortilla chips), and Mexican coffee.

Aside from lunch and a boat ride through the canal system, you’ll also learn about chinampas. Sometimes referred to as “floating gardens”, chinampas are small, rectangular areas of arable land that are built up on wetlands to grow crops like lettuce, cilantro, squash, chard, and cauliflower. It’s an ancient agricultural technique that predates the Hispanic period.

The canals of Xochimilco are among the most popular tourist attractions in Mexico City. If you have an interest in the canals, then you may want to book this tour.

Gastronomic Tour Along the Canals of Xochimilco

Schedule: Tuesday, Thursday-Sunday
Start Time: 11AM
Duration: 3 hours
Capacity: 1-9 people
Food Tastings: 8+
Cost: USD 203 per person
Book This Tour: CLICK HERE for more information and to book this food tour.

FINAL THOUGHTS ON MEXICO CITY FOOD TOURS

As previously described, going on a food tour is one of the easiest ways to find the best local food in an unfamiliar city. We do it in almost every new destination we visit and Mexico City was no exception.

In fact, I think it’s almost a necessity in Mexico City if you have a keen interest in food and don’t have much time. This city is massive and a little daunting so going on a highly-rated tour assures that you’ll be getting great food in a safe, structured environment. Plus, there are simply some things that you cannot find or learn about on Google.

All the tours featured in this guide are small group tours so you’ll be breaking bread with no more than 5-10 people. If you’d rather book a private tour, then you can make an inquiry via the links posted under each description.

And with that, I’ll wrap up this guide on the best Mexico City food tours. If you have any questions, then feel free to let us know in the comment section below.

Thanks for reading and have an amazing time eating your way through Mexico City!

Disclosure

This article was written in partnership with Cookly. They offered me complimentary tours in exchange for an honest account of the experience. As always, all words, thought, and opinions expressed in this post are mine and mine alone.

Some of the links in this aticle are affiliate links, meaning we’ll get a small commission if you make a booking or purchase at no extra cost to you. As always, we only recommend products and services that we use ourselves. We truly appreciate your support as it helps us make more of these free travel guides. Thank you!

Photos from tours 2-10 provided by Cookly.