Tacos in Oaxaca City
Oaxaca City, the capital of Oaxaca, eats more tlayudas and memelas than tacos, but its markets are famous for grilled tasajo, chile-rubbed cecina and chorizo wrapped in fresh tortillas, for toasted chapulines and for barbacoa from stone-lined earth ovens.
Tacos in a tlayuda city
A street-food guide published by Travel To Oaxaca observes that tacos are not a traditional Oaxacan food, although they are widely available, including al pastor and steamed tacos. The emblematic street food is the tlayuda, a large toasted tortilla spread with asiento (unrefined pork lard), beans and quesillo and often topped with tasajo or chorizo; it is traditionally an evening meal. Larousse's gastronomic dictionary likewise describes Oaxaca's antojitos, such as empanadas, memelas, molotes and tlayudas, as night food, and associates tlayudas with the Central Valleys around the city.
Pasillo de Humo
The closest thing to a signature Oaxaca City taco is assembled in the Pasillo de Humo, the smoky aisle of grills inside the Mercado 20 de Noviembre. Diners buy tasajo (thin dried beef), cecina (thin chile-rubbed pork) or chorizo by the kilo or half kilo, have it grilled on the spot and wrap it in fresh tortillas with salsa, guacamole, grilled onions, chicharrón and chile de agua, a very hot local chile. Late at night, a stand at the corner of Calle de los Libres and Calle Murguía sells tacos of suckling pig with crackling and of pork leg, according to the same guide.
Chapulines and barbacoa
Chapulines, grasshoppers boiled and then toasted on a comal with garlic, lime, chile and salt, are sold by weight in the city's markets. Anthropologist Jeffrey H. Cohen interviewed vendors at the Mercado Benito Juárez, and notes that the harvest follows the rains from late May through September. Time Out México recommends Oaxacan grasshopper tacos, and México Desconocido observes that the smaller alfalfa grasshoppers are considered finer than those of the cornfield.
Barbacoa is cooked in stone-lined pits. Barbacoa Obispo Cocina Rural, listed in the Michelin Guide, serves it in memelas, blandas, quesadillas and tlayudas, along with birria, wild boar and steamed tacos.
Michelin era
The 2026 Michelin Guide Mexico listed five Bib Gourmand restaurants in Oaxaca de Juárez, among them La Olla and Las Quince Letras. Vanguardia's tally of taquerías in that edition named only one Oaxacan address, Barbacoa Obispo Cocina Rural, as a recommended taco place.
Where to try it
- Pasillo de Humo, Mercado 20 de Noviembre, Oaxaca de Juárez: Market aisle where tasajo, cecina and chorizo are grilled to order
- Barbacoa Obispo Cocina Rural, Oaxaca de Juárez: Earth-oven barbacoa listed in the Michelin Guide Mexico
Signature tacos
Reviews
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See also
References
- "Ultimate Oaxaca Street Food Guide: The 17 Things You Must Eat in Oaxaca Mexico". Travel To Oaxaca. Retrieved 2026-10-10.
- "Oaxaca". Larousse Cocina (Diccionario enciclopédico de la Gastronomía Mexicana). Retrieved 2026-10-10.
- "Would You Eat a Grasshopper? In Oaxaca, It's Been a Tasty Tradition for Thousands of Years". Food Manufacturing. Retrieved 2026-10-10.
- "De Ensenada a Yucatán: 13 tacos de otros estados que puedes comer en la CDMX". Time Out México. Retrieved 2026-10-10.
- "¡Para tacos, sólo México!". México Desconocido. Retrieved 2026-10-10.
- "Barbacoa Obispo Cocina Rural – Oaxaca". MICHELIN Guide. Retrieved 2026-10-10.
- "Mexico's Most Affordable Restaurants in 2026". MICHELIN Guide. Retrieved 2026-10-10.
- "Guía Michelin 2026: reconocen a las taquerías de México". Vanguardia. Retrieved 2026-10-10.