Muss Cafe is a coffee shop located on the first floor of the Casa Antonieta hotel in the city…read morecenter of Oaxaca. This is not as well-known as other popular cafe spots in the area so it's not as busy and there is seating inside. We ordered the shakshuka ($125) and baguette jamon serrano y mozarella ($195). The shakshuka base was more of a soup than a sauce and its flavor was decent. We asked for the sandwich without olives but it still had some in there but it was fine. For drinks the flat white ($65) and americano ($45) were okay. It's more peaceful and not as busy if that's the vibe you're looking for. If you want another place to relax you can head through the door at the back of the cafe to the lobby of the hotel. If you're staying at the hotel this cafe is very convenient to get pastries or coffee.

I didn't realize there's outdoor seating. There's this hidden door ( well hidden to me because I…read morecouldn't see it. It's a tad bit romantic in there with low lit lighting.) it's really beautiful I tried to sit out there but was not allowed. It is for guest to the hotel. I had no idea it was part of a hotel. Gorgeous building. That hidden door makes sense. Mostly tourist, a few pretentious folk making me smile. I feel like if I don't look up I could be back at home in echo park. There is a local getting some work done on his laptop next to me. Small place, you could sit at the bar , there's 5 wooden stools. Now to the coffee. I had a single cappuccino with oatmilk. Strong and delicious coffee. It makes me not want to try other coffee shops but I must compare! You'll find goat milk yogurt here and chia pudding which I need before I venture off to my temazcal. Good coffee and grateful for light breakfast items items that are good for my sensitive gut. I asked and the coffee beans are legit from Oaxaca roasted from a place called San Juan cacahuatepec.

This is the place for a delicious tapas/meal (the owner know everything about tapas because he is…read moreoriginally from Barcelona) with a great wine, mezcal and/or beer. It is a tiny bar/restaurant just outside of the "real" downtown area with most of the restaurants and bars. There are about 6 tables but normally there is space for a small group, you can also reserve a table if you have a bigger group. I really like the simple design and the layout. It is a great place to go with some friends to have a snack and some wine/mezcal/beer. They have a great selection of wines of all of the world. I am more a beer and mezcal drinker so I love the artisan beers of Tierra Blanca and the house mezcal (only 20 pesos!!). The best thing about this place is that when you order a glass of wine or a beer you get a small tapas (montadito) with it. There are four different ones for every glass you have, this changes regularly with some variations. Of course you can order extra tapas, I really really love the Jamon Serano! Delicious and not expensive at all. They also have a menu of the day, my favourite is Friday lasagna day! D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S!! Other favourites of mine that are on the menu are the cheese pasta, the prawn pasta and the croquettes with different fillings, also typical Oaxaqueñan ones such as Mole Negro! They also have a lot of choices for vegetarians. The prices here are so cheap! Just amazing what you have to pay after a whole night of drinking and eating! This is a must go if you are in Oaxaca! Because it closes at 12 you can continue the party, with a full stomach, in some other bar.

Wonderful quaint little residential restaurant on a quieter street in El Centro. We shared a ham…read moreand cheese bruschetta, chorizo and mushroom pizza and a memorable creamy spaghetti carbonara which I would recommend to anyone. The three dishes with a gratis amuse were plenty for me and my wife and we walked out with leftovers. We paired our meal with a few glasses of affordable wine and left sated and happy. We will return.

I was interested in getting a little pre-dinner drink somewhere and El Destilado came highly…read morerecommended to me. Upon arriving I asked to be seated on the rooftop which they obliged with no issue. The upstairs ambiance is upscale without being stuffy. They played contemporary music but it wasn't too loud. The drinks menu is interesting and there are a lot of creative options for cocktails. I ordered a drink called the GOAT margaritas and it was STRONG but balanced. Cocktails run around $180-230 pesos. The main menus are 6 and 9 course tastings but they also have somewhat reasonably priced a la carte bar snacks. I debated ordering something but didn't want to spoil my appetite which was already happening as they brought out complimentary chips and (excellent) salsa with my drink. Service was a tad on the slow side but I wasn't in a hurry. Would absolutely return!

We ate our last dinner in Oaxaca at El Destilado, and I'm glad we did. It was a great way to end…read moreour trip. El Destilado offers a few options: a 6-course meal and a 9-course meal. (They also offer a bar menu with snacks and drinks on their rooftop if you're not up for a whole tasting menu situation.) We did the nine-course menu, and we couldn't resist adding on the drink pairing. I can usually pass on a drink pairing, since they can be really expensive and I feel pressure to keep up. But El Destilado's drink pairing was too varied and unique to pass up! Each of our nine courses came with very different beverages - two cocktails, two glasses of wine (the wines were great natural wines, but I kind of wished they offered Mexican wines; I think there are some really incredible natural Mexican wines being made now!), one craft beer (brewed in Mexico), one sake (brewed in Mexico, the first Mexican sake company), one pulque (made in house; it was fantastic), and one port (with dessert). (I think I'm missing one! I believe there were 9 - one for each course. Maybe the last one is the little bottles of mezcal they gave us with the little dessert snacks as our last course?!) I often worry that the portions of a tasting menu will be too large, and I won't be able to enjoy the meal. But I really enjoyed El Destilado's portion sizes and progression. Our first course was a plate of three small snacks (tiny versions of Oaxacan dishes), and many other courses were very light (a tomato/vegetarian dish, a single ravioli in a bowl, a raw fish course, a cooked fish course, a shared main)... It was a smart way to serve a lot of great dishes without your guests filling up too fast! I think my favorites were the quail main, the foie course, the seafood courses, and the snack course! Overall, the food was all really good - modern takes on Oaxacan dishes and flavors. Fun and beautiful without losing focus on the flavor. The service was top notch (felt so welcome and comfortable and our server went out of her way to explain every course and beverage pairing) to us while still giving us time to enjoy. They can do service in Spanish or in English. The restaurant is beautiful and yet still understated for a tasting menu restaurant. It's on the pricey side. But it was my favorite of the pricey side meals we had. It was interesting and delicious and exciting, and I'd absolutely return to eat there again.

Absolutely delicious! Highly recommend asking for a mocha…read morebut hot chocolate, foam & all!

Cute hidden spot. Would recommend. The staff was so nice and gave me lots of recommendations to go…read more My favorite was the banana nut bread with coffee

Sabina Sabe is a popular restaurant and bar located in the city center of Oaxaca. It was recently…read moreon the list of North America's 50 Best Bars. I thought it was funny when I got the menu and the food menu was only one page while the drink menu was five pages. The outside of the restaurant is blue-ish and the restaurant has multiple rooms. The ceviche del dia ($190 MXN) was a little sweet and not as tart or sour as others I've had. The tacos de sirloin ($170) were really good and were our group's favorite. The taquitos dorados de mole negro ($140) were okay; there was no meat just in case you were wondering. The aguachile rojo de camaron ($190) were good. The esquite con tuetano ($100) was not like a typical corn in a cup but it was closer to a corn soup. For drinks I had the pequeño gigante ($210) which was good. The paloma madura and paloma margarita were both favorites among our group. We went during the day and it wasn't that busy but supposedly it gets way busier and livelier at night.

I came here for the renowned drinks but also ended up loving their food! It's a super cute spot…read morewith tiles and open balcony doors. We were able to get a seat right away and the servers were super helpful. My friend wanted to try some mezcal and they let us taste a couple before choosing. We sat at the restaurant instead of the bar because it was cuter and I wanted food too. I tried two of their fruity mezcal drinks and loved both. I forget the names but one had watermelon, and the other had coconut and lime. I ordered cheese stuffed plantains with mole and this was soooo good. It was very filling too!

I came here with my wife, who is a bartender, and my mother in-law. We all loved our cocktails…read more They also served our mezcal with dried cranberries and chocolate covered coffee beans. It complimented the Mezcal in a special way. Super good!

New bar offering cocktails, Mezcal and tapas options. Seems like a friendly and well-meaning spot…read moreand I hope it develops, but was very disappointed in quality of drinks here. I tried the Senor del Rayo, a Mezcal cocktail with cucumber lemon juice and grasshopper salt. It was just overly ambitious, both spicy and overly sweet. Our friends met us after dinner so tried a "dessert drink," the La Capillita with Chocolate liquor, Mezcal and evaporated milk that was decent but one note. The meat/cheese plate looked incredibly small and disappointing, and people at the next table barely touched it and didn't recommend. My friends did enjoy their margaritas, and my top shelf friend enjoyed his Mezcal from their decent assortment. Thought the decor/artwork and layout was cool. Found the interior way too bright for primarily a bar, though. Staff was great and bartenders were working hard--find it hard to recommend based on food/drinks, but hope they work out the kinks

We visited this restaurant last month in February during a birthday trip, it was a Saturday evening…read moreafter returning from Monte Alban. We were very hungry and it was very hot as it was 88 degrees in Oaxaca. We decided to start with a few drinks. The drinks were ok, a bit sweet and did not taste like mezcal at all or like they had any alcohol. I was very disappointed. We also had a tlayuda which was a decent portion and filling but it was way overpriced. They charge $260 pesos where in other places they charged around $170 for the exact same portion. The only good thing about this restaurant is the view of the Templo de Santo Domingo from the rooftop which was gorgeous. Our servers were also attentive.

This was our first dinner spot in Oaxaca and it started the trip off well…read more We came here after a crazy rain storm with hail. The cocktails were bomb and the rooftop has an amazing view of Santo Domingo. I would definitely recommend.