La Oaxaquita, a small, relatively new restaurant on the periphery of the immensely popular plaza outside the neogothic Expiatorio church in central Guadalajara, promises to notch up the quality of food offered around one of the city’s jewels.
As the name suggests, La Oaxaquita, which means The Little Lady from Oaxaca, offers breakfast and dinners à la Oaxaca, one of Mexico’s southernmost and more exotic states (with its capital city of the same name).
The restaurant sits on the second, third and fourth floors of a building a stone’s throw from the well trafficked Expiatorio and just alongside and above a perennially open stall which serves popular if not delicious hamburgers and hot dogs.
La Oaxaquita’s three small dining rooms are each situated on their own floor, accessible by narrow, cheerfully painted stairwells. Each room has a window that opens onto the busy plaza with breezes pulled in by the church’s spires and usually pleasant aromas from the nearby stands wafting through. (Not everyone loves the odor of frying hamburgers and churros in bubbling lard, and certainly nobody the smell of propane gas from stoves below, but on still days and most of the rest of the time, these smells are less in evidence than the delicious aromas from La Oaxaquita itself.)
Our friendly but low-key waitress explained that spices frequently used in Oaxacan cooking are thyme, basil, garlic, oregano, cinnamon and cloves. She suggested that from the guisados del dia (delicacies of the day), I try the pancita en salsa verde (plate or flank of beef in green sauce) rather than the grilled arracherra (flank) steak, which I had my eye on, in order to better enjoy the typical sazón (seasoning) of Oaxaca.One translation of pancita is tripe. However, I don’t believe I was served tripe (although I’ve never had tripe) but instead medium-size cubes of tender beef, with a moderate amount of fat, swimming in salsa and accompanied by savory rice, black beans and tortillas. I was not disappointed by the sazón, even if my Americanized palate yearned for more fresh, green vegetables. (Admittedly, this is like hoping for a salad in a Chinese restaurant.)
La Oaxaquita’s dishes other than the guisados del dia are more typically Oaxacan and more in demand, especially during the busy Mexican comida hours between 1 and 3 p.m. These range from their most popular dish, enmolidas (enchiladas or corn dough filled with special, Oaxacan moles, which are purees ground from a variety of ingredients, such as cacao, sunflower seeds, chiles and typical spices) to tlayudas (a pizza-like dish with a large tortilla as a base and topped with meat, beans and melted cheese — yum) and even Oaxaca style pozole (pork and corn stew very popular in Jalisco and here served in a unique style).
On the question of hot, as in spicy, La Oaxaquita prepares food that isn’t, but puts on the table small dishes of green and red salsa that are. “Everyone can have it their own way,” the waitress explained.
Besides the apparent cleanliness, excellent flavor and very reasonable price of its food (breakfasts for 35 and dinners for 40 pesos), La Oaxaquita’s other forte is probably its offering of unusual and tasty beverages. While they don’t serve beer and wine (yet), we ordered a pitcher of tejate, an unfermented blend of cacao, corn, mamey, flowers and spices such as a bit of cinnamon. We asked for less sugar than usual and what we got was similar to chocolate milk with a zesty tang, although a pitcher was too much for two people. My dining companion informed me that tejate is a prehispanic drink.
On another day we breakfasted at La Oaxaquita, we had their delicious cafe de la olla (sweet coffee made in a pot with cinnamon) and were served milk in a pitcher to add if we wished. (Coffeemate, begone!) Later, in a moment of wild abandon, we ordered yet another beverage — chocolate almendrado (almond chocolate), which is made without milk. (In addition to the lovely beverages, we were very happy with the sazón of our egg dishes.)
A Oaxacan saying on the menu makes mention of the special place that chocolate had in prehispanic Mexico: “Aun hoy en muchos pueblos indigenas de Oaxaca, beber chocolate significa honrar la vida.” (Even today in many small, indigenous villages in Oaxaca, to drink chocolate means to honor life.)
La Oaxaquita earns a mark of honor for providing the best food on the Expiatorio plaza (with the possible exception of some of the organic stalls during the Sunday evening alternative tianguis) and certainly the most scenic and tranquil atmosphere in this otherwise frenetic area.
La Oaxaquita, Calle Francisco Madero 848, where it dead-ends at the east end of the Expiatorio plaza at Escorza. (The Expiatorio church is located near Vallarta and Enrique Diaz de Leon.) Tel. (33) 1955-2822, cel: 331-6712-2420. Open daily 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.