Zandunga Sabor Istmeño features a beautiful courtyard dining area, and its menu highlights the cooking of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, which lies between the Gulf of Mexico and Pacific Ocean. A great item to order to try a bunch of finger foods from this region was the Botana Zandunga, which came with garnachas (mini tortillas topped with beef, salsa, onions, cheese, pickled cabbage), molotes de platano (plantain fritters stuffed with cheese/cream), empanadas (corn tortillas stuffed with beef), tamal de elote (sweet corn tamal), tamalito de cambray (tamal filled with beef stew), bolitas de queso (fried cheese balls), tacos dorados de cochito (fried rolled tacos stuffed with pork), and pico de gallo (chopped tomatoes/onions/cilantro topped with dried shrimp). Each of these items was unique in flavor and texture, and it was fun to try so many different little bites! Next, the Ensalada Zandunga was a simple salad of lettuce, tomate, cheese, basil, and a berry vinaigrette. We also had two local main dishes--the Cochito Horeneado were pork ribs baked in an ancho chile adobo, served with a spiced potato puree and corn tortillas; and the Estofado del Istmo was a shredded beef stew cooked with fruits, served with potato puree, pan bollo (toasted bread), and queso mantequilla (butter cheese). Overall, everything here was tasty, and the beautiful setting made for a nice place for a relaxed meal. read more

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They serve traditional Oaxacan cuisine. Food is quite good. Cocktails are a little on the sweet side. Ambience is beautiful. A little warm in an April afternoon. Good and friendly service. Tlayudas with beef and chorizo is good! The banana appetizer is excellent, a must try. read more

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Amazing food, from Oaxaca, Chiapas and Veracruz From thee most delicious Garnachas to Cochito You will not be disappointed! read more

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This is a beautiful establishment. My fiancé and I came here to celebrate my birthday and we left very pleased with our experience here. They provided us both English and Spanish menus. To start off they gave us a complimentary appetizer. I wasn't a big fan of the complimentary appetizer. However, we ordered the guacamole with chapulines (grasshoppers) as well as the beef empanadas to start and they were soo good. For entrees we had the pig suckling and the enchiladas with mole. Portion sizes were huge. The pig sucking was soft and juicy and packed with flavor and fell right off the bone. The enchiladas were very flavorful and pared well with their mole sauce. I will definitely be back the next time I'm in Oaxaca. read more

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I'm so sad to report this incredibly under whelming experience. Service was great but it went incredibly downhill from there. I hate leaving negative reviews but will do so that management has an opportunity to fix it. Cocktail was a sugar bomb. Staggered delivery of food items. Sugary ceviche was odd. Chicken was basic. I was so excited and left embarrassed for the wait staff. I had heard good things and literally thought I might have walked into the wrong place. read more

Zandunga - Sugary Cocktail that I couldn't finish - Mexican Near Me - Oaxaca, OAX

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Amazing food, service, and ambience. My second time there and each was wonderful. Definitely worth a visit!

First day in Oaxaca and what a way to start the evening right , I saw this place on yelp and I said we gotta come here ... best choice I could of made the food was SO Delicious and the drinks OMG on point so refreshing , every dish we had tasted so Amazing and full of flavors the place is so beautiful inside it's an open restaurant so you get the full nice breeze of air that comes in the restaurant , the staff was amazing always bringing us what we wanted on time . I highly recommend this place .. read more

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This was the perfect restaurant to end our Oaxaca leg of our Mexico trip. We had the tamales elote, guacamole,platanos, tlayudas, enchiladas. They were all excellent in taste, quality and price. My favorites were the platanos and the tamales elotes. The sweet and savory profiles of both dishes were perfect blend. The mezcal cocktails are top tier and so cheap. This trip made me a lover of mezcal. read more

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Delicious food and amazing cocktails! Wish I would have eaten here when I was a little bit more hungry.

Escaped into this little beautiful restaurant, away from the parade outside. Enjoyed the appetizer on the house, and the mole negro tamal! All the food was delicious and the service was fantastic too! A tad bit pricier than most places - fyi. Would recommend. read more

Zandunga - Mexican Near Me - Oaxaca, OAX

Enjoyed a later dinner here after a flight. The standouts were the tamal de elote and the beef stew- both were unlike any other versions of those dishes I've ever experienced. Delicious. The restaurant is also quite pretty and the cocktails were good though not memorable. Service was nice but very slow. read more

Zandunga - Beef stew - Mexican Near Me - Oaxaca, OAX

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La comida es de buen sabor, no excepcional (para ser Oaxaca). El ambiente del lugar es agradable. El servicio es malo, muy decepcionada. Al tener un servicio malo, todo lo demas se torna negativo. Es una pena que no pongan atencion en este aspecto, aleja a clientes potenciales y futuros clientes. No recomendable. read more

Very good isthmus cuisine. chicken mole plate was delicious albeit small portion. fish tamales were tasty. nice decor. a lot of well heeled artsy gringos and upper class Mexicanos come here to dine, read more

Spent close to a week in Oaxaca to eat everything and of all this things I ate, one of the dishes that stood out was the chicken tamales covered in mole. Zandunga wasn't even in my initial list of restaurants to try out, so very glad I happened upon this gem. Highly recommended. read more

Zandunga - Chicken soup, chicken tamales, citrus drink - Mexican Near Me - Oaxaca, OAX

Sweet location in a beautiful courtyard surrounded by quaint and classy shops. I liked the house appetizer (given free of charge). They said it was a "white fish" but didn't seem fishlike but was good. The Oaxacan style tortillas were tasty. Mushroom empanadas were delicious. Mole was good. All well presented. read more

The food was delicious, the dessert was also incredible delicious. The service was excellent. I totally recommend this place!

Amazing mole and tamales de elote. Being a vegetarian, the vegetarian enchilada with mole sauce was everyone's favorite mole in Oaxaca ! Everyone ordered the Passion fruit mezcal cocktail which had real passion fruit puree. The night atmosphere was beautiful and calming. Would definitely recommend. read more

Zandunga - Mexican Near Me - Oaxaca, OAX

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Amazing food, amazing atmosphere, amazing service! A must visit while in Oaxaca. The Jamaica margarita was to LIVE FOR... read more

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Doesn't look like much when I was passing by , but I was dying of hunger. The interior inside is creative and the food was incredible. Definitely a must try while in Oaxaca. read more

Zandunga - Vegetarian enchiladas - Mexican Near Me - Oaxaca, OAX

Everything was really good and the restaurant is beautiful. I highly recommend the elote tamale and the plantain molotes . Both are so soft and sweet. We are here twice. read more

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Both photos attached are listed as ceviche pescado. This ruined it for us, I must inform the hotel receptionist who recommended this place. read more

Zandunga - Ceviche pescado - Mexican Near Me - Oaxaca, OAX

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This place blew me away! Absolutely adorable interior! Cute art & bright light. Very tasty food as well! Service was good. A great place to bring a book and enjoy the ambiance. read more

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The food and drinks were great. Slightly pricer than other places. The decor is beautiful and ambiance is casual. The service was friendly. The guacamole is a must have and also the chicken mole. read more

The restaurant was really pretty, but the food was not restaurant worthy. The carne de res on the mini tostadas was dry and the edges of the cheese empanadas were hard and even the pico de gallo wasn't good. The only thing I enjoyed was my margarita. It's our last night in Oaxaca and it's a bummer that on our last meal the food was awful. P.S. don't eat here!! read more

This place is always busy and you need a reservation. The courtyard is nice and sunny! The staff is kind! The food was good not amazing and not bad. The Tlayuda was dry and not so great but the sauces that came with it were good and made it better. The guacamole was amazing. The corn tamale was not so good., it was sweet! But they do warn you its sweet.. but once again with the sauces it was edible. Im vegetarian so it was my only option in the entres. Mom had ceviche! The fish was still pink And raw... The scary part is that i saw a waiter take a worm off of his shirt and put it on the tree in the middle of the courtyard. Yup. Yum yum. Wonder where that worm landed on him! Maybe the kictchen... read more

Insanely INCREDIBLE!!! The drinks are TOP tier. The food'a flavor and the ambiance. The perfect balance. The Service is great, you feel like they really care. 10000% my fav place in Oaxaca read more

AVOID ZANDUNGA!!!!! It's in the courtyard of the now defunct Biznaga. We had one of the worst meals EVER in Oaxaca. Service was slow and surly. The margaritas tasted both bitter and salty. The fish amuse bouche was over salted and tasted of rotting fish. The empanadas were allegedly 4 different flavors, but all tasted the same wrapped in a tasteless, tough, doughy skin. The main course, some mystery meat in a dark, heavy tasteless sauce....yichhh! The courtyard was lovely until a mariachi band and huge bridal party showed up, then nothing could be heard. Zandunga, with so much good food to be had in Oxacaca, you are racing to the bottom! read more

Service was mediocre, a little too much hovering. Food over price for what they offer. The picture taken was of the Garnachas when asked no onion the guy said no onion only pickled purple onion... I guess I must be color blind because I do not see any purple. However the food was infested with raw onion inside. What part of zero onion I have an allergy they didn't understand. Food was ok just not my cup of tea. Now the little shops please know they are in no way connected to the restaurant they are their own business but the restaurant will in no way help if you don't have exact change. Bartender couldn't change a $500 pesos bill but was ok to sale me a drink and give me the change. And or all staff tell me that they had no money they had no had a sale when clearly I had just paid in cash over 1400.00 pesos. Overall the the service was not what I expected. read more

Zandunga - Mexican Near Me - Oaxaca, OAX

Huge open space inside with a very beautiful bar filled with tons of mezcal options. Stopped in for cocktails and the service was great. I think we might have just picked bad cocktails on our end. They were okay but we didn't love them. read more

Zandunga - Mexican Near Me - Oaxaca, OAX

Very good food, drinks and attentive staff. We tried the tlayuda and chicken soup this is not your typical Oaxaca food but more from the isthmus of Tehuantepec. Highly recommend. read more

Zandunga - Mezcal cocktail. - Mexican Near Me - Oaxaca, OAX

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Don't get the enchiladas. It says beef but really is some weird bean paste and has no flavor. Friends got chicken and fish and it was bomb, don't make the mistake I did. read more

Zandunga - That is bean paste or something, not beef - Mexican Near Me - Oaxaca, OAX

This is one of my favorite places in Oaxaca, recommended to me by a local! The dishes are istmeno cuisine, so it is a bit different than what you might typically find! The quality is excellent, and the space is open with a huge exposed ceiling. The music and lighting are good too! As a basic American, I had to get the guacamole. It is so good and creamy! The only downside is if you order this, you may be too full for the next meal! The main dishes were also really great. I highly enjoyed the tamal in mole negro! read more

The enchiladas with red & black mole are awesome, particularly the sauces. The free starter is good. Their famous cocktail is sour, so not my type. I had a soup and a custom cucumber cocktail, both below average. Can go back for the tasty mole read more

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Tried the sampler plate and enchiladas they were amazing. The sampler plate is filing and you get to a little of everything The drink Llorona was refreshing read more

Really loved it here during our time in Oaxaca. We went for lunch and dinner on two different occasions!

This was a really nice, modern restaurant with high quality ingredients. Pricey for Mexico, but still reasonable compared to the States. THE WAIT: About 15-20 minutes around 9pm on a Wednesday night. They were packed til well after closing. THE SERVICE: Professional, friendly. MUST-HAVES: Molotes de Platano, Enchiladas con mole! * Free chips, salsa, onion, & dried fish - 3.5 stars Didn't try too much of this; it was unique. COCTELES CON MEZCAL * Llorana con gengibre, jamaica y pina (55 pesos) - 4 stars Refreshing & delicious! ENTRADAS * Garnachas. Tortillitas de maiz fritas, con carne de res, cebolla y salsa de tomate (100 pesos) - 4 stars Unique, nice flavors. * Molotes de Platano con queso fresco y crema (85 pesos) - 4.5 stars Best plantain dish I've ever had! TAMALES * Tamal de Mole Negro con pollo (60 pesos) - 4 stars I never really liked Tamales until this one! The consistency was very moist, the flavor of the filling was great. DE FIESTAS * Enchiladas con mole rojo y negro, rellenas de picadillo de pollo y papa (165 pesos) - 4.5 stars Love the subtle sweet flavors, the slight grittiness to both sauces. Tender chicken inside. read more

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Couldn't get a dinner reservation at Zandunga during the week between Christmas and New Years so instead we dropped by for lunch and our party of 5 was seated immediately. Good selection of wines and mezcal to go with the array of small dishes we ordered. Excellent flavors, attentive service, and the chef sent out a house special at no charge. We missed the festive evening energy but our lunch was a sweet respite from the zocalo's hustle-bustle. read more

Zandunga - Mexican Near Me - Oaxaca, OAX

OK, I will go right to the heart of this one: While it was good, and the people and decor are wonderful, it wasn't my favorite meal while in Oaxaca last. But it is good. They have a mezcal-based house cocktail that I did enjoy, although my dining companion (and mezcal expert) was adamant against mixing mezcal with anything. We had the "sampler plate" which allowed us to try a range of local specialties. This is more than mole (and in fact relatively few moles as I recall). I believe the food is of a different region of Oaxaca. Beautiful decor, great location, efficient staff - but a bit too much for me. Definitely a mixed clientele heavy on global expats and tourists ;) (which OF COURSE included me). read more

The single worst meal I have had in Oaxaca. Soulless and just kind of gross. Also who puts mustard in mashed potatoes? So many better options out there read more

Gorgeous courtyard dining with upscale boutiques. My chicken tamal with mole negro was good but I wish it had more chicken. read more