Go Where The Pros Go

Download the F.E.D. iPhone app and get more recommendations from chefs, bartenders, sommeliers, and food artisans.

F.E.D. Photos | Instagram

Check more photos and follow us on Instagram at FindEatDrink.

Map

WHAT: Historic Mexican city founded in 1529

WHERE: Located 300 miles south of Mexico City

PRONOUNCED: Wa-ha-kah

CURRENCY: Peso

LOCAL EATS: Mole, Corn, Cacao, Chapulines (grasshoppers), and tomatillos, tomatoes and chiles dry-roasted on the Comal (griddle made of clay)

LOCAL DRINK: Mezcal

HERITAGE: Zapotec, which was a pre-Columbian civilization. Designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1987.

The Pros

Chef Rick Bayless has made a name for himself and won many awards for his Mexican-focused Chicago restaurants, cookbooks and television series “Mexico–One Plate at a Time.” He was honored by the Government of Mexico with the Mexican Order of the Aztec Eagle, which is the highest decoration bestowed on foreigners whose work has benefitted Mexico and its people.

Artist Ron Cooper was the first to bring mezcal to the United States back in the 199os. He would go into the mountains and meet the Zapotec farmers making the smoky elixir and bring home small amounts amounts for his friends. In 1995 he founded Del Maguey, which is a line of seven Single Village mezcals all produced artisanally.

He earned the coveted title of Master Sommelier by taking the Master’s Exam and passing on the very first attempt. He was only the 9th person to do so and one of only 200 Master Sommeliers recognized in the world today. In 2007, he launched Sombra Mezcal. This small-batch spirit is made from organic Espadin agave in the village of San Juan and put in hand blown bottles, recycled from glass found in Mexico.

Oaxaca Guide

Casa Oaxaca

“One of the great restaurants in Oaxaca,” says Ron Cooper. Rick Bayless calls it “the granddaddy of modern Oaxacan food.” He adds, “Alex Ruiz creates a step up in finer dining. Really beautiful menu and I always send everybody here to really see what Oaxacan food can be. It is Oaxaca’s first farm-to-table restaurant.”

Constitución 104-A, Centro, 68000 Oaxaca, Mexico

T: +52 951 516 8889 | www.casaoaxaca.com.mx

Itanoni

Sombre mezcal producer Richard Betts recommends this lunch only spot with a menu that revolves around corn. “You can eat dishes based on 28 different varieties of corn. There are two comal, which is a domed hearth with a little sideways flue where you feed the fire and the comal is dipped on the top. There is one woman per comal and they have all these bowls filled with amazing things. They slap together whatever form of the corn you ordered and put it on the comal. It’s really great. It’s like an artifact. You really don’t find food like this anywhere.”

Belisario Dominguez 513, Reforma, 68050 Oaxaca, Mexico

T: +52.951.513.922 | www.itanoni.com

La Biznaga

“It’s the Zapotec word for barrel,” says Ron Cooper. He recommends this restaurant and bar for their food and their house and branded mezcals. The list also features Mexican micro-brews and wines by the glass. They advertise themselves as “very slow food.” Sit in the open air patio and enjoy the laid back atmosphere

Garcia Vigil 512, 68000 Oaxaca, Mexico

T: +52.951.516.1800| www.labiznaga.com.mx

Café Central

Richard Betts goes to this mezcaleria for the owner / artist Guillermo Oguin. He is the creator of Los Amantes (The Lovers) mezcal and Betts says, “He is great and so is the bar. The bar has a great selection of mezcal and a young vibe with varied and enthusiastic patrons.”

Calle Hidalgo 302, Centro, 68000 Oaxaca, Mexico

www.colectivocentral.com

Los Danzantes

Located in the heart of the historic district, chef Rick Bayless says, “I would eat here first and foremost. They have their own line of mezcal called Los Danzantes also labeled under Alipus. They have a great drink program and the chef is very talented. The food is modern and delicious. I'm always trying too many things here.” Also recommended by Del Maguey’s Ron Cooper, you’ll find local ingredients and newer versions of traditional dishes.

Calle Macedonio Alcalá 403, Centro, 68000 Oaxaca, Mexico

T: +52.951.501.1187 | www.losdanzantes.com

Marco Polo

“Oddly you are an eight hour drive from the sea, but they cook amazing fish in wood burning ovens,” says Richard Betts of this seafood restaurant near the zocalo which is only open at breakfast and lunch. Sit under the trees in their courtyard and try one of their fresh ceviches.

Pino Suárez No. 806, Col. Centro, 68000 Oaxaca, Mexico

T: +52.951.513.4308

Tlacolula de Matamoros Market (Sundays)

Richard Bett’s loves this market, even more so than the larger market in Oaxaca. “It’s unique and very special. Find the old woman in the back corner that sells Pulque. She's amazing and two or three gourds of Pulque will give you a unique outlook on the world.”

2 de Abril, Tlacolula de Matamoros, 70400 Tlacolula de Matamoros, Oaxaca

Mercado 20 de Noviembre

Also known as Mercado de la Comida, this market takes up an entire city block. You’ll find family-run food stalls selling Oaxacan specialities and many to choose from so that you won’t go hungry.

20 de Noviembre, 68000 Oaxaca, Mexico

La Abuelita

Rick Bayless loves this market stall that he says has been here for nearly a hundred years. “You sit cheek-by-jowl with everybody else in communal seats. They actually have a written menu because so many out-of-towners want to come here and I think they actually have a menu in English now. The tradition is to come here for breakfast and eat either enchiladas, enfrijoladas (with a black bean sauce), enmoladas with mole on top of it, seared marinated pork that’s sliced, the half-dried beef or the chorizo sausage which comes on the side. They serve the traditional Oaxacan chocolate and bread. You get these bowls that look like café au lait bowls filled with either Oaxacan chocolate made with water, which is the traditional way to do it, or with milk. Then they have this egg bread that goes beside it that’s like a brioche studded with anise seeds.”

Taco Corridor

Another eating spot in the market that Rick Bayless loves is for tacos. “This is where I would eat my last meal. It’s just about 10 paces away from La Abuelita and it’s a really smoky corridor. It started because a lot of people used to come into Oaxaca for the day to buy / sell and before going back to their villages would grill some meat on coals. Then a lady showed up and started selling tortillas, so they’d grill their meat and they would eat it in tortillas. Then somebody else decided to make some salsa and some fresh sliced vegetables. The next thing you know this whole corridor now has become a taco corridor. Go to the meat stalls, order 150 grams of this and 200 grams of that and then they actually grill it for you now. Someone set up tables and they’ll sell you the condiments and the ladies come around with the tortillas. They are the best tortillas in the world. I know I make lots of enemies when I say this, but to me the best tortillas in all of Mexico are the handmade ones sold by the market vendors in the Oaxaca market. They’re really big and so beautifully done. You tear up the meat since there’s no silverware and make your little taco. You are sitting there and just smelling all the grilling going on around you.