Modern Oaxacan$$$centro-historico
Hierba Santa on Independencia is a Centro Oaxacan kitchen that runs around the namesake leaf, with a mole program and a Pacific-catch second course.
Signature: Mole oaxaqueno, Sopa de hierba santa, Pescado a la talla
Mezcaleria with food$$centro-historico
Mezcalogia on Garcia Vigil is the Casa Cortes family's El Jolgorio mezcaleria with a strong kitchen of Oaxacan plates and a 200-bottle mezcal cocktail bar.
Signature: Tlayuda, Tetelas, Mezcal cocktails
Istmeno (Tehuano)$$$centro-historico
Zandunga Sabor Istmeno is Oaxaca's Tehuantepec-isthmus room on Garcia Vigil, the kitchen that ships banana-leaf tamales and garnachas to the centro.
Signature: Garnachas istmenas, Tamales tehuanos, Pescado a la talla
Istmeno (Zapotec)$$reforma
Yu Ne Nisa (Land and Water in Zapotec) on Amapolas runs Ofelia Jimenez's Istmo cooking in a quiet Reforma residential strip, with cocina de autor.
Signature: Totopos istmenos, Chile relleno de marlin
Istmeno (Tehuano)$$reforma
La Teca in Reforma is Deyanira Aquino Pineda's 30-year Istmo institution, a five-table room where garnachas and tamales arrive on banana leaves.
Signature: Garnachas istmenas, Tamales de mole tehuano, Estofado
Oaxacan tortilleria-antojeria$reforma
Itanoni on Belisario Dominguez is Amado Ramirez Leyva and Gabriela Fernandez Orantes's criollo-corn tortilleria since 2001, a room that nixtamalizes rainbow.
Signature: Memelas de criollo, Tetelas de frijol, Tlayuda con asiento