Three Days in Oaxaca City

Getting into Oaxaca City

Over the Thanksgiving holiday from school, I visited Oaxaca with two fellow teachers and friends, Stacie and Amanda. We started with a few days in Oaxaca City followed by a few more relaxing days at the beach in Puerto Escondido.

From Guadalajara, we took a direct flight to Oaxaca City on a regional airline that I hadn’t heard of before, TAR Airlines. They were late to the check in counter but since it doesn’t take long to board 12 people, we made it on time. 

The airport in Oaxaca City was small. We hopped right off the plane and we were out the door in about two minutes. The airport taxi company seemed to really overcharge travelers so we walked out to the front gate. From here we took a local taxi company which charged us a third of the fare.  

We stayed at a cute AirBnb in a residential neighborhood outside of the historic city center. Our host, Maria Luz, showed us around the three bedroom upstairs apartment. Then, she was kind enough to drop off us downtown and explained where and how to catch the local bus.

Around Town

Walking Tour

On our first morning in town, we walked to the bus terminal to get our tickets to Puerto Escondido and then continued to the historical downtown area. To begin, we ate breakfast at Casa Mayordomo which served delicious local coffee and a plateful of huevos divorciados, fried eggs covered in green and red sauce. 

We signed up for a free walking tour of the historical area. Our guide, Itzel, met a group of fellow travelers in front of the Cathedral with her pink umbrella and we joined the two hour walk around some of the highlights of the historical area. 

Cathedral of Oaxaca

Construction on this main church started in 1534, shortly after the arrival of Spanish in 1521 and wasn’t completed until 1733 due to setbacks from several major earthquakes. The outside facade is baroque style and the church is dedicated to the Lady of Assumption. Itzel clarified that all the virgins represent the same being in Catholicism, but just takes different forms. Our Lady of Guadalupe is also very common in Mexico.

The inside of the church has a huge pipe organ from the 17th century that is still in working condition. On the sides of the main worship area there are many smaller chapels honoring the Lord of Lightning, Our Lady of Guadalupe and other saints. Near the church’s crypt, there is also blocked-off entrance to the tunnel system below the city. Although not open to the public, these tunnels used to connect the other churches and monasteries in the city.

Government Palace

Inside the former Government Palace, there is an impressive mural that brings together prehispanic Zapotec and Aztec life, the arrival of the Spanish in 1521, and the Mexican independence with the local and national hero, Benito Juarez. Benito Juarez was born in Oaxaca in poverty and later became one of the most important presidents in México. He is most known for the separation of church and state.

Outside the former government building, a group of protesters from San Juan Capala have been occupying the plaza for several years. Their continuing protest has been due to having  been displaced in conflicts related to their declaration as an autonomous municipality and the local political parties. Now many of them reside under the awning of the former government palace. 

Itzel described the diversity of Oaxaca. The state Oaxaca of 3 million residents is over 75% indigenous, representing 16 different ethnic groups. Through their grassroots organizations, the people of Oaxaca are known for their strong resistance and organization to fight injustices in their society. 

Main Plaza

The central plaza is crowded, filled with local and tourist alike. Families played on the steps of the church, listening to the live musicians. Spotlights illuminated the old stone church and nearby buildings. Toy vendors with enormous bunches of balloon strolled around. Rows of makeshift stands sold toy cars and animals for the children, and another area sold crafts, clothes and bags to tourists. Delicious smells came from the line of food carts selling hamburgers, elotes, esquites, tostilocos, french fries and fried plantains.

Oaxaca City has more tourism that Guadalajara. I think I saw more tourists in those first three hours in the plaza than in the last three months in Guadalajara. 

Calle Macedonio Alcala – Pedestrian Walkway

One main road through the historic downtown is closed off to vehicles, making it the perfect stroll through the stores, cafes and the well preserved old buildings. There are many art galleries, coffee shops and bookstores. One gallery, “Voces de copal,” creates art with the traditional alebrijes. These brightly painted figurines blend together local animals and their spiritual meanings. There has been a revitalization of these traditional creatures inspired by the movie Coco.

One block off the pedestrian walkway is the famous Macedonio Alcala Theater. It’s not from colonial times, but rather the era of dictator Porfirio Diaz. Before the end of his reign during the México Revolution in the early 1900s, he built this theater in his home city. While generally unliked, Diaz left a legacy of cultural institutions and the railway system.

Santo Domingo Church

The Church of Santo Domingo is one of the largest of many churches in Oaxaca. Construction started in the mid 16th century and the church open in 1608. The next door monastery has been a clinic, chapel and botanical garden over the years as well as military barracks. 

The classic outside facade has two plain stone towers on the front entrance. However, the inside of the historic church has an ornate Baroque style covered in several layers of gold leaf. The art includes a relief of a family tree and paintings of the main biblical heroes and bishops on the ceiling. 

Our first evening in town we sat at a rooftop terrace with a view of the Santo Domingo church lit up at night. We enjoyed the live music and our first drinks of mezcal; my favorite was mezcal with a berry drink that was sweet with a slight smokey hint. We shared a plate of grilled queso fresco with a mole and bean sauce and tried our first tlayuda, a local favorite that people call a “Oaxacan pizza.” It’s an open faced tortilla with beans, lard, lettuce or cabbage, avocado, and maybe mole, meat or cheese, depending on the style. 

Basilica of Nuestra Señora de la Soledad and Socrates Plaza

This church was constructed in the 17th century and is also connected to the other churches via the underground tunnel system. It has a sophisticated Baroque style and slightly lower towers to resist Oaxaca’s frequent earthquakes. 

Socrates Plaza sits at the gate of the basilica. This popular plaza is known for its many flavors of ice cream. Two local favorites are the leche quemada, or burnt milk, and tuna, the cactus fruit, not the fish. I had pasión oaxacana with dried fruit and mezcal. 

Benito Juarez Market

The local market named after Benito Juarez, has everything you’d ever need. Hundreds of stalls offer all sorts of fabrics, clothes, bags and carpets as well as flowers, soccer balls, shoes and leather goods. There are tons of souvenir stands, especially local specialities like mezcal, sold by the bottle or by the shot at small stands tucked in the rows. 

In addition to the colorful stands stacked high with fruits and vegetables, many local favorites were also on sale. Ladies sold cooked grasshoppers from their series of baskets; some spicy, others not, some with their legs still attached, others not. One stand had a dozen types of chiles piled high; another stand sold medicinal plants. Many places offered fresh Oaxacan cheese and  local candies. Another corner stall sold a variety of mole sauces and customers brought small quantities of the mole paste from large tupperware bins to make into delicious meals at home. 

Mercado 20 de Noviembre and the Smoke Alley

The market’s main area has sit-down dining options with quesadillas, tlayudas and other appetizing options. However, it’s most notable for its unique smoky meat alley. Upon entering, visitors grab a basket and enter the smoke clouded hallway. Vendor hawk their raw meat options from elevated stands. We choose a mix of chorizo, pork and steak.

After choosing our meat, we went to the bench seats of the cafeteria style tables. Kids sold sodas to go with the grill out. Another boy offered a laminated card menu of side options of onions, salsas and limes to accompany our meal. Soon, our meat basket was returned, all cooked and ready to eat with a pile of tortillas.

Drinking Local Mezcal

Mezcal is a traditional drink in Oaxaca and recently has been gaining international popularity. Like tequila, it is also made from the agave plant but mezcal comes from a variety of different agave species. It comes from the base of the plant, called the piña (because it looks like a pineapple), and is cooked, fermented and distilled into a spirit.

Mezcal is usually served with slides of orange and red salt to cleanse the palate. The red salt is made with worms that have been collected, dried and ground up with chile and salt. Proper mezcal drinking technique dictates you should sip and keep the mezcal in your mouth for a moment before breathing in and swallowing. Experts recommend you exhale the vapor so you don’t get drunk.

We visited the highly recommended Casa de Mezcal. The place was a very touristy. Clearly, we weren’t the only ones to get the suggestion. We took a seat in the corner and asked the waitress for her preferences for a softer, less smoky drink. She brought us Espadín 3 años and Afrutado, which we liked best for the sweeter flavor. 

At Mezcalerita, I had a passion fruit drink with mezcal but it was too thick and seedy for my preference. At another terrace, we tried the frutos del bosque and apple with mezcal. Both had a nice carbonated tickle with the sweet and smoky. Lastly, we went to Txalaparta, a backpacker bar with cumbia music that severed just shots of one brand, nothing fancy but just right.

It wasn’t all mezcal. Amanda also brought us to a small brewery with raving reviews.

All the Street Food

Oaxaca is known for its distinctive food from fancy restaurants to the carts of street food. We ate well in our few days in Oaxaca City. 

I recommend trying the tejate, a traditional drink made with maize and the cacao seeds. The drink has been around since prehispanic times and can be found in the local market for about a dollar. Here we were served a portion of tejate in a bowl made from half a coconut, painted bright blue with colorful designs. It tasted like a chocolatey cornmeal with a hint of peanut butter. 

We loved the deep fried plantains served in the plaza in the evenings. The lady served up plates covered in chocolate, cream, sprinkles or a plethora of other toppings. Other stands sold elotes, Mexican corn on the cob with mayonnaise, cheese and chile powder, and esquites, basically an elote in a cup. The one we tried was quite spicy and limey. 

As in the rest of México, tacos are everywhere. Our favorite taxi driver, Fabian, took us to an excellent stand run by his friends. We even hit it up again before our night bus to Puerto Escondido. I always love tacos al pastor with cheese and slices of pineapple. 

Oaxacan Cooking Class

Through AirBnB Experiences, we signed up for a cooking class with Sonia and her family. Early in the morning, we met Valdo and a handful of other travelers outside of the Santo Domingo Church and then drove 25 minutes to the village of Nazareno Etla outside of the city. Sonia walked us through the traditional cooking techniques and essential ingredients for a huge Oaxacan breakfast.

Starting Off

Before we started cooking, Sonia served juice and fruits so we weren’t too hungry while we prepared the next courses. The juice was a fresh blend of mandarin, papaya and oats. The mix of fruits included fresh papaya, strawberries, raspberries, grapefruit and chicozapote (or sapodilla), a sweet but dense fruit that grows on trees in Mexico. 

She also served a large basket of bread, fresh out of the oven. We tried the pan dulce or sweet bread, another called yellow bread, and one with manteca, or lard, made with amaranth flour. The bread was served with butter that was made just before we arrived. 

And, while in Oaxaca, Sonia’s son Valdo, offered samples of mezcal made with wild agave to start the morning off right.

The Freshest Cheese

Sonia’s family is locally known for their 4th generation cheese factory. Sonia’s husband wakes at 3:00am every morning to make quesillo and queso fresco. He’s proud of his work, continuing the organic process and sharing yummy cheese with everyone. He even brings out his certificate of authenticity from the 1950s as an original cheese producer. The stringy quesillo and squishy queso fresco are delicious on their own and along with the other plates we make this morning. 

Chilaquiles with Red Sauce

Sonia led us through the process to make chilaquiles, a classic Mexican breakfast. First we boil tomatoes and peel off the skin. Then, with the metate, we grind the tomatoes, chile serrano and onions into a liquid salsa. Then, the sauce is cooked over the stove with garlic, onions and chicken broth. Finally, it’s poured over crisp tortilla chips and sprinkled with cheese and cream.

This metate has been in the family for over 30 years. Sonia says that the metate gives the food that special flavor. It’s only cleaned with rice or nixtamal, never soap or detergent. 

Sonia makes another spicier salsa with chile pasilla. She grinds the chile, worms and salt in a molcajete. This salsa is incredible with the fresh queso fresco. 

Making Tetelas

We also make tetelas in Sonia’s cooking class. Each participant made their own triangular packet with blue corn dough and their preferred ingredients. Most made theirs with chapulines, grasshoppers, cooked and salted. We also put huitlacoche in the tetelas. 

Huitacoche is an edible fungus that grows on corn. It’s a delicacy here.

Finishing Touches

A traditional Oaxacan cooking experience wouldn’t be complete without mole. We had a plate of mole, tortillas and chicken. Sonia prepared this mole negro with six types of chile. Mole is made from a variety of recipes and can be very complicated to make correctly.

We finished our meal with a ball of mandarin sorbet; a cup champurrado, a hot chocolate drink and rompope cake. We sipped passionfruit mezcal and lemon grass water. 

We left Sonia’s cooking experience with full bellies and a new appreciation for Oaxacan traditional foods.