Tlayudas Las Animas is a street food restaurant in Centro Historico, Oaxaca.
Editorially verified June 1, 2026 by Elliot Marsh, TableJourney editor. Source.
Guided tour · 2 hours
Discover the basics of mezcal with a tasting experience in Oaxaca City. Learn about the history and production of mezcal, and taste 6 different mezcals with a local expert.
6 hours
Discover Oaxaca’s culinary traditions with a market tour and cooking class. Select fresh ingredients, then cook over a wood fire as you prepare an authentic tlayuda an...
Private tour · 4 hours
Walk with an expert local guide through the streets, markets, and museums of Oaxaca City. Discover new flavors and listen to interesting stories.
Why locals love it: Thursday-to-Saturday only, in front of the Carmen Alto church; locals know not to confuse with Libres.
Tip: Lighter crowd than Tlayudas Libres; order the tlayuda with tasajo and quesillo for the canonical bite.
Address: Mariano Matamoros 203, Centro, 68000 Oaxaca de Juarez, Oaxaca
Mercado Sanchez Pascuas on Porfirio Diaz is Centro's locals-only morning market, with tejate, tamales and comedor counters from 06:00 in three small halls.
Why locals goNorthwest corner of Centro, well off the tourist trail; locals-only morning market open from 06:00 with three small halls and three comedor counters.
TipArrive 07:00-08:30 for the freshest tamales; the comedor counters (Yolis, Lupita) close around 15:00.
The empanadas-de-amarillo grandmas at Plaza Llano cook only Friday to Sunday afternoons, folding thin masa around mole amarillo and quesillo on the comal.
Why locals goWeekend-only street vendors that don't show up on Google Maps; a dozen abuelas with charcoal griddles.
TipFriday-Sunday from 16:00; expect to share a bench, the bench at the corner of Plaza Llano is the centre.
Cabuche on Hidalgo is the locals' Centro lunch room with a 100-peso comida corrida, pulque on tap and the deepest fermented-drink list in the centro.
Why locals goMostly local lunch crowd with a comida-corrida menu rather than a tourist a la carte, and the deepest pulque-mezcal-craft-beer list in Centro Oaxaca.
TipOrder the 100-peso comida corrida; the pulque-cerveza pours are the deep cut.
Yu Ne Nisa in Reforma is the under-the-radar Istmeno-Zapotec room on Amapolas, with totopos istmenos and chile rellenos de marlin in a quiet street.
Why locals goA 20-minute taxi from Centro into Reforma residential blocks where few tourists go, Istmeno cooking with depth.
TipTake a taxi, the address is hard to spot from the corner of Amapolas and Coniraya.
La Teca in Reforma is Deyanira Aquino's home-kitchen Istmo room with five tables, no sign and 30 years of garnachas-on-banana-leaf cooking unchanged.
Why locals goFive tables in a Reforma residential street; no sign, no website; you knock at the door.
TipBook by phone the day before (951 515 0563); lunch only, 14:00-16:30.
Mercado Sanchez Pascuas on Porfirio Diaz is Centro's locals-only morning market, with tejate, tamales and comedor counters from 06:00 in three small halls.
Why locals goNorthwest corner of Centro, well off the tourist trail; locals-only morning market open from 06:00 with three small halls and three comedor counters.
TipArrive 07:00-08:30 for the freshest tamales; the comedor counters (Yolis, Lupita) close around 15:00.
Ancestral in Xochimilco is the thatched-roof grove on Lopez Alavez, well away from Centro tourist flow, with the seven-moles tasting platter as the headline.
Why locals goIn Barrio de Xochimilco, the weaving quarter most tourists never reach; thatched-roof grove.
TipTake a taxi (the Lopez Alavez block is a steep climb); book the moles tasting for two.
The empanadas-de-amarillo grandmas at Plaza Llano cook only Friday to Sunday afternoons, folding thin masa around mole amarillo and quesillo on the comal.
Why locals goWeekend-only street vendors that don't show up on Google Maps; a dozen abuelas with charcoal griddles.
TipFriday-Sunday from 16:00; expect to share a bench, the bench at the corner of Plaza Llano is the centre.
Cabuche on Hidalgo is the locals' Centro lunch room with a 100-peso comida corrida, pulque on tap and the deepest fermented-drink list in the centro.
Why locals goMostly local lunch crowd with a comida-corrida menu rather than a tourist a la carte, and the deepest pulque-mezcal-craft-beer list in Centro Oaxaca.
TipOrder the 100-peso comida corrida; the pulque-cerveza pours are the deep cut.
