Where to eat when in Oaxaca City: the 10 best restaurants (& more!)

Food

We went to 35+ restaurants, cafes, street carts, diners, lunchrooms, food halls, and rooftops in 5 weeks' time. We ate out twice a day, so all in all, we know where to eat in Oaxaca City! Let us show you who made it into the top 10 list.

These are our favorite and the very best restaurants/places to eat when in Oaxaca City, Mexico. We´ve said ´muy rico´ (delicious!) so many times to waiters, you wouldn't believe it,… and that was mainly because of the mole which is soooooo good!

Restaurant: Casa Taviche
There are many high-quality restaurants where you can enjoy traditional Oaxacan cuisine, but they all tend to be on the expensive side, but not Casa Taviche. This cute little atmospheric restaurant has the ambiance of Tel Aviv, but the menu of a high-end Oaxacan restaurant.

The prices here are just shocking. For example; their day menu, comprised of three courses with aqua del dia, is just 110 pesos (+- 5 dollars/4 euros). The presentation of the food looks marvelous, and it even tastes better than it looks. We couldn´t believe the bang for bucks at Casa Taviche, and so we went back about five times and thoroughly enjoyed their tasty menu that changes every week.

Is this restaurant our favorite? Check all the winners at the bottom of this article!

Restaurant: Casa Oaxaca
We went looking for the best restaurants in town, because if Oaxacan cuisine is the best in Mexico and even the world, then the best restaurants must deliver the very best food we will ever have. With this high expectation, we went to Casa Oaxaca, the fanciest restaurant in town!

The ambiance, interior, staff, and delivery were all as we were hoping for. It was very professional in every little detail. But what about the food, you ask? Well…, it was spectacular!

But not everything we tried was spectacular. Some things were quite expensive and not out of this world. But, with that being said, we did have a great night out here and ate some very spectacular dishes. And we loved that they make their own home salsa right in front of your nose. Such a great extra!

Try the unbelievable ensalada de betabel rostizado and the suckling pig, and thank me later!

Foodies who want to visit Oaxaca, this one is for you: When in Oaxaca, you have to try these 9 traditional dishes and drinks (best food in the world?)

Restaurant: Los Danzantes
The second best fancy restaurant in town was Los Danzantes, a funky, cool, and unique restaurant. Its menu is as unique as its interior. It's a bit more expensive here than most restaurants, but not crazy expensive. Their website is just as cool as this restaurant is. And we quite liked what we ate, but we would rather go back to the aforementioned recommendations.

Try the Melted Quissillo Huarace and Coconut Shrimps and thank me later.

Can´t wait to eat these delicious traditional Oaxacan dishes? Then go! Book your flight and hotel here!

Street food: San Fransisco Tortas
Enough of this fancy talk, it's time for some street food. And there is plenty of them in Oaxaca. You will find street carts and vendors on every street corner (that don´t look like much, but are actually great!), and we found this one guy that just made the best sandwiches we´ve had in years. He makes delicious and very stuffed tortas (sandwiches with toppings like avocado, tomato, bacon, onions, cheese, egg, etc etc). And it costs just about 2 dollars for a huge sandwich that will fill you up for the whole morning. We love that every little detail gets grilled a bit, which makes it all tastes fantastic!

It's a simple little cart right next to the San Fransico Jardin and next to the church.

We went about 14+ times in 5 weeks to this awesome and very friendly Mexican guy. He speaks fluent English (which is rare in Oaxaca) and loves to have a chat with you. Tell David that the free birds sent you! 😉

Restaurant: Coronita
On the first day of arriving in Oaxaca, we went straight to the Coronita restaurant. Why? Because they have the 7 moles tasting experience!

There are 7 typical Oaxacan moles, and you can taste them all in one sitting. This experience is not even that expensive, and you will get to know which mole excites you the most. We loved the red and black mole (coloradito and negro).

The rest of the restaurant is quite old and bland, but we really liked this first encounter with the magical mole dish. First impressions matter!

Food Hall: Alhondigo Reforma
Usually, food halls are shit. The prices are higher than most restaurants, the service is abysmal, and the food is not that spectacular. But we were surprised at how good Alhondigo Reforma food hall was! We really enjoyed their sushi, their coffee, their hummus, and their traditional mole. And their prices were nothing to complain about. We highly recommend you to fill up your belly with all sorts of delicious food from all sorts of kitchens (Middle Eastern, Mexican, American, Japanese, etc.).

And we loved the breakfast options, the lunch options, and the diner options. There are just soooo many delicious meals to choose from and everything tasted sublime!

Try the Dragon Roll, and the traditional mole negro, and thank me later.

Breakfast/lunch/diner: Boulenc
The coolest, hippest, and most atmospheric place in town must be Boulenc. The decor feels like your in Tel Aviv, Israel, and the menu feels like a mix of Middle Eastern and French. That mix makes up for a hell of a place that always has a little waiting line in front of it. I would rate this place mostly as a place for lunch, but you can also get excellent breakfast and dining options here. Boulenc´s menu is greasy, oily, tasty, and overall always delicious!

Try their salsa macha (you get a bottle of them on the table, smear that on anything you order), their greasy sandwiches, their big salads, and thank me later.

Wanna know where to get the best coffee, lunch, and where to work with your laptop? We got you, amigo. Check out The best coffee shops and digital nomad work spots in Oaxaca

Can´t wait to eat at these restaurants in Oaxaca? Let´s go then! Book your flight and hotel here!

Restaurant: Tr3s
This up-class New York-style restaurant can be found right at the Zocalo. It´s an oyster bar, but it´s also an excellent restaurant for mole, steaks, shrimps, cocktails, and delicious snacks. We ate our belly full here and thoroughly enjoyed the view from the second floor on the Zocalo. People watching while stuffing our fat face, we love it! And so will you. The prices at Tr3s Bistro are a bit more expensive, but you will get so much food in return!

Try the Croquetas cremosas de jamón serrano and mole negro, the pizza with gorgonzola and peer, and thank me later.

And also we liked the old-fashioned place with the white tablecloths next door: Del Jardin. Looking out on the Zocalo from here feels like a little secret. These Oaxaca restaurants might be a bit old-fashioned, but the overall experience was excellent.

Check our Instagram Stories from Oaxaca to see more about the delicious dishes we had!

The many rooftops in Oaxaca
There are quite a few cool rooftops in Oaxaca where you can enjoy the good life (read: a cocktail, a tasty diner, and enjoying the company of your friends). We visited quite a bunch but found that the best ones can all be found in one street (Calle de Ignacio Allende). This street can be found across from the Santo Domingo church.

We really loved staying at the rooftop of Hotel Amantes, which cannot be found on Google Maps as a dining place, but as a hotel location, but you can still walk in here to get escorted to this very cool rooftop bar. The viewpoint here is the best in town!

Hungry for excellent Italian pizza? Go across the street to Mezzaluna and enjoy the lovely lights and ambiance of this fine rooftop restaurant.

Also an option to visit is Praga (hip, funky, and cool) and Pitonia (fancy, stylish, expensive). You can find all kinds of rooftops in this street, so have at it! 🙂

Pro-tip: go to these rooftops around sunset and enjoy the view.

But wait, there are so many more!

There were literally dozens of excellent places to have a great meal. Oaxaca is truly a foodie heaven. And we should know; we gained a solid 5 pounds per person after 5 weeks of enjoying life a bit too much. We have no regrets by the way!

These recommendations above are excellent, but we could have made a top 20 in total. So here we have another handful of great options for you to feast at: Taco Sireno (in Reforma, hot damn f** spicy tacos with camaron), Terranova (a terrace on the Zocalo, excellent for people watching, the food is quite good as well), Los Cuilles (the most pretty pink courtyard, and healthy lunch options!), Calabacitas Tiernas (funky hippy place with healthy superfoods),

and we would love to mention this little hole in the wall place called Luigi. It might not look like much, but their papas and pollo are crazy good. These potatoes and chicken are seasoned and spicy and will fill you up nicely. We loved this meal as lunch and went back quite a few times!

And then there are the many bars and mezcallerias where you can drink till dawn. We didn´t really like to go out clubbing or drinking, but there are plenty of options to get your groove on, like Desenstresse Bar. You will find the best bars, mezcallerias, and clubs north-east of the Zocalo.

ps: special shoutout to the Oxxo, for delivering cold Monsters on a groggy day, and for supplying us with Ruffles queso chips for movie nights 😉

Restaurant in Oaxaca we did NOT like

We disliked these places for being average or just not good in any way: Sushi Itto (horrible menu, unworthy of Japanese cuisine), Guns&Beers (loud, and very ugly bar and rooftop), the rooftop bar of the Los Andantes mall (across from the Santo Domingo church, horrible staff, nice view though), and Sakura Shokudou (a wannabe Japanese place, skip this one, tasted like paper).

And sad to say… we kinda disliked the Mercado 20 de Noviembre market… It looks a bit run down, the food was just okay (mainly tlayudas and mole), and the annoying waitresses are spewing the whole menu in absolute gibberish in 5 seconds while you are walking around here. It gets old fast. The meat market alley was quite cool to walk through, but the meat platters looked quite messed up, to be honest…

The Winners

Best lunch: Boulenc

second place goes to: Food Hall Alhondigo Reforma

Best restaurant: Casa Taviche

second place goes to: Food Hall Alhondigo Reforma (the sushi!)

Best rooftop: Hotel Amantes Rooftop

second place goes to: Pitiona

Best streetfood: San Fransisco Tortas

35+ restaurants mapped

As you can see, we really ate well in the many great restaurants in Oaxaca. And we even made a handy list for you! Our own Google Maps list with locations of all visited restaurants (and more!) with little notes can be found here in this extensive list. Thank me later!