Tlayudas Libres ★ 4.7
Tlayudas Libres on Calle de Los Libres is Oaxaca's canonical late-night tlayuda stand, with cooking fires on the street and tasajo, chorizo and quesillo.
Try: Tlayuda
Vendors, food trucks and stalls: the cheapest, fastest, frequently best food in Oaxaca.
Don't-miss vendors
Tlayudas Las Animas ★ 4.4
Tlayudas Las Animas on Mariano Matamoros is the Thursday-to-Saturday-only tlayuda stand near Carmen Alto, a quieter neighbour to the Libres counter nearby.
Try: Tlayuda
Lechoncito de Oro ★ 4.7
Lechoncito de Oro on Calle de Los Libres is Oaxaca's most famous lechon stand, with suckling-pig tacos, tostadas and tortas with pierna or chicharron.
Try: Tacos de lechon (suckling pig)
Pasillo de Humo (Mercado 20 de Noviembre) ★ 4.6
Pasillo de Humo inside Mercado 20 de Noviembre is the smoke-alley grill where vendors over wood coals char tasajo, cecina enchilada and chorizo to order.
Try: Tasajo, cecina enchilada, chorizo
Mercado Benito Juarez chapulines row ★ 4.3
The chapulines row outside Mercado Benito Juarez on Miguel Cabrera lines a dozen vendors selling grasshoppers fried with garlic, salt and chile to take home.
Try: Chapulines
Itanoni memelas counter ★ 4.6
Itanoni's outdoor comal in Reforma sells memelas, tetelas and tlayudas hot off the wood-fired griddle with criollo-corn masa stone-ground in-house since 2001.
Try: Memelas and tetelas
Memelas Dona Vale (Mercado de Abastos) ★ 4.6
Memelas Dona Vale at Mercado de Abastos is the famous comal counter with thick masa memelas topped with morita-chile sauce, asiento (pork lard) and quesillo.
Try: Memelas with morita chile
Tamales oaxaquenos at Mercado Sanchez Pascuas ★ 4.3
The tamal counter inside Mercado Sanchez Pascuas runs banana-leaf tamales oaxaquenos (mole negro, amarillo, rajas) from 6am, the Oaxacan breakfast standard.
Try: Tamal de mole negro
Comedor Yolis (Mercado Sanchez Pascuas) ★ 4.0
Comedor Yolis is one of the slate of fondas inside Mercado Sanchez Pascuas (Lupita, Nelly, Chonchita), with the freshest morning memelas and tlayudas.
Try: Memelas, tlayudas, tamales
Tejate vendors at Mercado Benito Juarez ★ 4.3
Tejate stalls at Mercado Benito Juarez whisk the maize, cacao, mamey seed and cacao flower into a foamed prehispanic drink, served cold from gourd bowls.
Try: Tejate (maize-cacao drink)
El Volador (Plaza de la Danza) ★ 4.1
El Volador in the Jardin Socrates lake plaza is one of the tejate stands serving foamed prehispanic cacao-and-maize drink with totopos by the bandstand.
Try: Tejate
Nieves Manolo ★ 4.4
Nieves Manolo on Macedonio Alcala is the 1953 stand for leche quemada, tuna and sorbete sorbets, scooped to order by the Velasco-Cuevas family generation.
Try: Nieve de leche quemada
Esquites and elotes Zocalo carts ★ 4.0
The Zocalo evening carts roll out esquites (cups of corn with mayo, queso fresco, chile) and elotes on the cob, the canonical Oaxacan plaza-evening snack.
Try: Esquites and elotes
Chocolate de agua at Mayordomo ★ 4.3
Chocolate Mayordomo's counter on Mina mills cacao on demand and pours chocolate de agua (water-mixed) into ceramic mugs with pan de yema for dunking.
Try: Chocolate de agua
Chiles de agua stuffed at Mercado 20 de Noviembre ★ 4.2
The comedor counters at Mercado 20 de Noviembre stuff chiles de agua (a milder Oaxaca-only chile) with quesillo and serve them fried in a tomato-garlic broth.
Try: Chiles de agua rellenos
Empanadas de amarillo street vendors ★ 4.3
The empanada-de-amarillo vendors at Plaza Llano fold thin masa around mole amarillo with quesillo and hierba santa, the late-afternoon Oaxacan classic.
Try: Empanada de mole amarillo