Must-see restaurants in Oaxaca City

Oaxaca’s best bakery comes with a trendy cafe next door where the most popular dish is – guess what? – avocado toast. Guys with beards or girls in Doc…

Excellent Mexican fusion food in a spectacular architect-designed patio makes Los Danzantes one of Oaxaca’s special dining spots. The hierba santa …

It’s not easy living up to the mantle of Oaxaca's best restaurant, but this place consistently achieves. A glamorous rooftop terrace, theatrical tableside…

Named after a type of indigenous agave plant, the new and unashamedly hip Tobaziche slams down complimentary mezcals on selective nights and trumpets some…

La Olla (the cooking pot) is very much its own invention. It’s not a trying-too-hard bohemian cafe, or a fancy fusion restaurant or a purveyor of nouveau…

Perhaps Oaxaca’s most refined and romantic eating choice, with sharp but nonshowy service on a patio or in a variety of interior rooms. The specialty is…

Food as art. Oaxacan chef José Manuel Baños, who has worked at the renowned El Bulli in Spain, takes the ingredients and flavors of his homeland to new…

Cheap, quick, boisterous and – as the name implies – popular, this little corner restaurant with a sideline as an art gallery does a variety of…

It might smell more like a blacksmith’s forge than a restaurant, but don’t be put off. A dip inside the charcoal-y interior of this city institution is…

Belly up to the bar here and order a Mexican corn whisky, a small-batch mezcal or one of the innovative cocktails. Or simply go for a local craft beer,…

The Isthmus of Tehuantepec has its own take on Oaxacan cuisine based on ingredients like tropical fruits and seafood, with many dishes cooked in banana…

Locals and visitors alike jam the large colonial courtyard for well-rendered nouveau-Oaxacan fusion dishes. The choices are chalked on blackboards: you…

This bright lunch spot serves up hearty helpings of home-style Oaxacan favourites to an appreciative, mostly local clientele. Daily specials usually…

Moles are the prize here and, to make things easier, a tasting menu allows you to sample all seven of the revered sauces along with tortillas for dipping…

Looking for cheap street food? Look no further. Dozens of good, clean comedores (food stalls) fill this large market where wait staff will thrust menus to…

Like a cross between a deli and a tapas bar, Gourmand does baguettes and deli sandwiches with roast beef, hummus or turkey breast, tablas (boards) of cold…

Casa Crespo offers up dishes from Oaxaca state’s seven regions made with market-fresh ingredients and served on a dramatic roof terrace with views of the…

The local's choice, this small indoor food market is where you'll end up shopping when you book a cooking class and go out searching for ingredients.

Perched like a theater box overlooking the twilight entertainment in the Zócalo, the Asador Vasco lays on good Oaxacan, international, and – as the name…

The mellow Jícara is not just a restaurant but also an alternative cultural center, with films, live music and a bookstore selling titles from independent…