Best Oaxaca Street Food: Know What To Eat & Where
Last Update: 1/30/2025
Oaxaca is one of Mexico’s culinary capitals, renowned for the unique cuisine served up at its bustling sit-down restaurants and by the purveyors of its enticing street foods. Thanks to being featured on shows like Street Food: Latin America on Netflix, Oaxaca street food and Oaxaca State itself are both becoming more celebrated with each passing year.
While Mexico itself has a rich food culture that’s thousands of years old, many in the United States and elsewhere outside of the country seem to think it’s all just tacos and burritos. While you will find these foods in Mexico City, neither is a key component of Oaxacan cuisine. Traditional Oaxacan food is so much more than that!
Oaxaca street food offers a kaleidoscope of colors and a cornucopia of flavors.
Each year, more and more foodies flock to the state’s capital, Oaxaca de Juárez (or just plain Oaxaca City), where they’re greeted by large, organic mercados (markets) and some of the lesser-known street foods of Mexico—like tlayudas, tamales, chapulines (grasshoppers), and the ancient chocolate and corn beverage, tejate.
I love Mexican food, have been to Mexico countless times, and have long featured Mexican cuisine as a key component of my culinary repertoire for both my clients and family. So, I can vouch for the fact that Oaxacan cuisine is like nothing else in all of Mexico, and once you get a taste of it, you’ll want more, more, more!
So, what are the most famous Oaxaca street foods to try when visiting Oaxaca? Let’s take a look at 5 of the street foods that make Oaxaca so special—and one non–street food that just couldn’t be left off the list.
Top 5 Oaxaca Street Foods
1. Tlayudas
The most famous Oaxaca street food, tlayuda.
Tlayudas are the most famous of all Oaxaca street foods. But just what is a tlayuda (pronounced tla-you-da)? Although it is sometimes referred to as Mexican pizza because it roughly resembles the Italian original, the similarities definitely end there.
How Tlayudas Are Made
Tlayudas start with a large, sometimes gigantic, tortilla. They are then smeared with asiento (unrefined pork lard) and placed on a charcoal grill or a cooking comal. A comal is a large, round, flat, cooking surface used to cook so much of the best food in Oaxaca.
After the large corn tortilla is toasted, beans, onions, avocado, and tomatoes are placed on top, along with quesillo. Oaxaca’s cheeses are beloved throughout Mexico and beyond, though none more so than quesillo, a string cheese whose origins date back hundreds of years.
Quesillo, used to make Oaxaca’s most famous street food, tlayudas
After cooking for a minute or so, the tlayuda is folded over and the cheese melts it closed. For those who want to add meat to their order, it is placed on top afterward. Meat choices can vary, but most tlayuda street food stands offer both cecina, a kind of dried steak meat, and chorizo (sausage).
When and Where To Eat Tlayudas in Oaxaca
Yes, that does say “when” to eat them! Tlayudas are traditionally a nighttime Oaxaca food. As Oaxaca’s tourism popularity grows and an increasing number of Oaxaca street food stalls sell the local specialty day and night to cater to the burgeoning number of visitors, locals still wait until after sundown to enjoy their tlayudas.
After dark, vendors start setting up small charcoal grills outdoors in the streets of Oaxaca to make tlayudas. The best tlayudas are found in Centro Historico, the historical center of downtown Oaxaca City. There are numerous places to eat them as they are one of the city’s most beloved street foods and are considered by many to be the best Oaxacan street food.
So, if you try only one traditional Oaxaca food, it should be tlayudas! I absolutely love them, and I’m confident you will too!
Try tlayudas here:
Tlayudas El Negro: Vicente Guerrero 1029, Zona Feb 10 2015, Oaxaca, Mexico 68115
Tlayudas La Chinita: Calle Nuño del Mercado and Calle 20 de Noviembre, Centro Historico, Oaxaca, Mexico 68000
Once you get your tlayudas, use these captions to post your tlayudas photos: Mexican Food Quotes
2. Tamales Oaxaqueños
A popular street food in Oaxaca, tamales come wrapped in banana leaves.
Tamales are eaten all over Mexico, though tamales oaxaqueños (Oaxacan tamales) are made a little differently from those elsewhere. In most of Mexican cuisine, a tamal consists of a masa (corn) mixture that is placed in a corn husk and steamed to cook.
However, in Oaxaca, cooks wrap their masa mixture in a plantain or banana leaf instead. The word for leaf in Spanish is hoja, so in Oaxaca, you’ll sometimes see tamales called tamales hojas (leaf tamales).
Oaxacan tamales are also stuffed and/or topped with other items, including frijoles (beans), rajas (roasted poblano peppers), mole con pollo (mole with chicken), and chipil (a local Oaxacan herb).
There are also dessert versions called tamales dulces (sweet tamales), made with such ingredients as raisins, pineapple, shredded coconut, and fruit marmalades.
The Tamale Hotspot!
You’ll find tamales all over Oaxaca, but every Oaxaca foodie will tell you that the Mercado 20 de Noviembre (November 20th Market) is one of the best places to see an amazing variety of the local specialties all in one place.
The bustling Noviembre market is part shopping market, part food hall, so you can go from stall to stall in the food hall and try many different kinds of tamales wrapped in their signature banana leaves.
As a big fan of tamales, I have to say that being in this market is definitely one of those kid-in-a-candy-store experiences. Wow!
Try tamales here:
Mercado 20 de Noviembre: 20 de Noviembre 512, Centro de Oaxaca, Oaxaca, Mexico 68000
3. Memelas
The tasty Oaxaca street food, memelas, ring the edge of a comal.
Memelas (pronounced mem-ell-uhs) are definitely one of best foods to try in Oaxaca! That’s especially so since they are unique to Oaxaca and its neighboring state of Chiapas, Mexico. A common breakfast and lunch street food, memelas are essentially open-face tacos, but with a thicker tortilla.
They are another Oaxacan specialty cooked on a comal. They are then crowned with all kinds of tasty toppings, including black or refried beans, your choice of meat, Oaxacan cheese, and salsas, to name just a few.
Among all of Oaxaca’s other famous street foods, memelas are the easiest to eat as grab-and-go snacks. And they’re some of the most satisfying food Oaxaca has to offer!
The Memela Master!
This is a food in Oaxaca City that you can find all over, but since the airing of the Oaxaca episode of Netflix’s Street Food: Latin America, there’s one place more popular than the all the rest: Memelas Doña Vale. Located in the Mercado Central de Abastos, this spot is now a must-try on any Oaxaca City street food tour.
The chef, Doña Vale (Ms. Vale), is well known for two specialty Oaxacan foods: memelas and salsa morita. Salsa morita is a unique, hand-made salsa that features chile morita, a smoked jalapeño pepper similar to a chipotle.
Try memelas here:
Memelas Doña Vale: Mercado Central de Abastos, Juárez Maza S/N, Central de Abasto, Oaxaca, Mexico 68090
4. Tetelas
Tetelas make a great grab-and-go Oaxaca street food.
These stuffed, triangular-shaped snacks are a popular Oaxaca breakfast food, as well as a lunchtime appetizer or snack. Less commonly eaten as a street food than memelas, they are just as delicious, and traditionally vegetarian.
Tetelas (pronounced tet-tell-uhs) are stuffed with a black bean paste and quesillo string cheese, although you can sometimes find them stuffed with chicken and vegetables. Many tetelas also contain hoja de santa (holy leaf or Mexican pepperleaf), a pepper plant leaf commonly used in a number of Oaxacan traditional dishes.
Tetelas are served hot so the quesillo (AKA queso oaxaca) is nicely melted within this triangular pocket food. Basically hand pies, tetelas are easy to eat on the go. They are definitely one of the best breakfast in Oaxaca options, especially if you don’t have time for a leisurely sit-down meal.
Even with all the other delicious stuff going on in tetelas, I have to admit: They had me at melted quesillo.
Try tetelas here:
Itanoni: Avenida Belisario Domínguez 513, Reforma, Oaxaca, Mexico 68050
5. Tejate
Traditional Oaxacan tejate
OK, you caught me: Tejate (pronounced te-ha-tay) is a pre-Hispanic chocolate and maize drink, not a food. While, admittedly, that ingredient combo may not initially sound appetizing, this centuries-old beverage has stood the taste test of time.
In fact, Oaxacans are so fond of it, they call it the bebida de los dioses (drink of the gods). How could I leave the drink of the gods off of a Oaxaca Must-Try list?
How Is Tejate Made?
Tejate is hand made in large clay bowls by liquifying a mixture of toasted maize (corn), fermented granos de cacao (cacao beans), flor de cacao (cacao flower), and the toasted pits of mamey (a tropical fruit). It is served cold, making it the perfect refreshing drink for a toasty day in Oaxaca City.
Since it has been made for so long, each region, city, family, and even person, can have their own unique way to combine the ingredients. However, even with these variations, tejate, at its essence, tastes like a richly complex chocolate milk—although that’s a colossal oversimplification. It’s probably best if you just sample some for yourself.
One thing is for sure, tejate pairs perfectly with a plate of Mexican cookies!
Try tejate here:
Flor de Huayapam: Mercado Benito Juarez, Las Casa S/N, Centro, Oaxaca, Mexico 68090
Mole in Oaxaca
While not a Oaxaca street food, per se, there’s really no way to talk about traditional Oaxacan foods without mentioning mole (pronounced moe-lay). This is the food most associated with the state of Oaxaca, although it’s most often eaten in restaurants as a sit-down meal.
It’s a traditional Day of the Dead food and something also eaten for special occasions like Christmas. (Read next: Day of the Dead Recipes.)
Mole is both a marinade and a sauce, and Oaxaca is known as the Land of Seven Moles because there are seven distinct types with differing combinations of chiles, nuts, spices, fruits, and other ingredients.
Oaxaca’s Most Famous Moles
The most popular type is mole negro (black mole), which derives its color from chocolate. However, moles are so deliciously complex and varied, you should definitely try some other types as well.
One such option, mole amarillo (yellow mole), is commonly served in street-food form. While in Oaxaca, be on the lookout for empanada street vendors offering empanadas de mole amarillo.
If you’re new to empanadas, they are a type of baked or fried turnover filled with any number of meats, vegetables, and cheeses. Empanadas de mole amarillo are stuffed with chicken in a yellow mole sauce that gets its distinctive color from the yellow chilhuacle chile pepper.
To experience the magic of mole in Oaxaca puts into perspective why great Mexican chefs in the U.S.—like Chef Fernando Olea, from the one of the awesome Santa Fe restaurants, Sazón—are so passionate about making their moles so meticulously magnificent to honor the genius of the Oaxacan masters.
The most famous food from Oaxaca, mouthwatering mole
Try mole here:
Empanadas del Carmen: Jesus Carranza 102, Centro Historico, Oaxaca, Mexico 68000
Las 15 Letras: Calle de Mariano Abasolo 300, Centro Historico, Oaxaca, Mexico 68000
Casa Oaxaca: Calle de Manuel García Vigil 407, Centro Historico, Oaxaca, Mexico 68000
Oaxacan Cuisine: A Unique Jewel aMid THe Treasures of Mexico
Though Mexico had been somewhat snubbed in the culinary respect department in the past, things have been changing for some time now. In fact, back in 2010, UNESCO declared traditional Mexican food an “Intangible Cultural Heritage of Mankind,” an honor shared with only one other country: France.
In plain English, that prestigious designation basically means that Mexican food is one of mankind’s great cultural treasures worth preserving!
Within Mexico, there are a few states and regions that get more culinary attention than others, and some like to dwell on specialties they consider “weird Mexican foods.” But at the top of the short list of exceptional gastronomic standouts in Mexico, you’ll find the food of Oaxaca. If you love exceptional cuisine, you owe it to yourself to discover the unique flavors of this Mexican jewel!
Downtown Oaxaca City is known for both its historic architecture and dynamic street food scene.
Final Thoughts on Oaxaca Street Food
Though this list just scratches the surface of all the delicious food in Oaxaca, Mexico, it definitely highlights the fact that there is tons more to Mexican cuisine than just tacos—although there are some great tacos among the best cheap eats in Cabo San Lucas, and Mexico City’s tacos are undoubtedly the best on Earth!
Food Tour and Cooking Class
However, Oaxaca cuisine, including the best street food of Oaxaca, is in a class all its own. A great introduction to some of the best tastes of the city, especially if you’re on your first visit, is this definitive Oaxaca street food tour and market exploration. You’ll visit two of Oaxaca City’s best markets (including Mercado 20 de Noviembre) and taste more than 20 traditional foods and drinks!
If you’d like to learn how to replicate some of the amazing flavors of Oaxaca when you get back home, check out this awesome traditional cooking class during your visit to Oaxaca City. You’ll learn to make mole and other beloved local favorites.
It’s Time To Go!
The state of Oaxaca is absolutely charming, and besides its cuisine, it is also well known for its Day of the Dead celebration and Mazunte turtles. However, this onetime off-the-beaten path foodie destination is fast becoming one of the country’s culinary meccas. It’s definitely worth the trip—and the sooner the better!
I’d love to hear what you think of our Oaxaca street food guide! Have you visited Oaxaca? If so, what did you think of Oaxaca cuisine? If you have not yet had the chance to sample some of the best Oaxaca street food, what Oaxacan food are you looking forward to trying? Please let us know in the comments section below.
