10 Mexican Dishes You Need to Try in PXM and Where to Get the Best (1-5, Part 1 of 2)
I've been eating all over Puerto Escondido for five years, and below you'll find some of my very favorite bites in town.
Puerto Escondido is delicious.
I love living here for more than a dozen reasons, but the abundance of fresh, delicious, affordable food is among the many reasons. The restaurant scene continues to grow, and Puerto is still the perfect-sized town where, with every new restaurant that opens, you’ll likely hear about it!
Foreign flavors are slowly joining the scene (I’m also working on a blog to highlight the best international cuisine), but when it comes to traditional Mexican fare, you can find pretty amazing versions of the classics all over town.
Let’s look at 10 important Mexican dishes that you can try an amazing version of right here in Puerto Escondido.
Note: All hyperlinks will take you directly to Google Maps.
1. Fish Tacos
We have to start here, it’s a must-eat food item if you visit Puerto Escondido. I’m still trying to eat my way through all of the options to write a proper fish taco review, BUT, you can’t go wrong at a handful of well-known institutions. Fish Shack, La Olita, Pepes Fish Tacos, La Casa del Surfer, and El Viejo are the five I’ll unabashedly recommend.
Fish Shack is an institution that is incredibly famous for good reason.
La Olita has a tempura batter that’s insane. (There’s also a location in Zicatela)
Pepe’s is famously slow (I’ve heard that the wait times have improved), but the tacos are generous and fresh!
La Casa del Surfer is always big, fresh, and delicious (albeit a bit expensive).
Smoked Fish Taco El Viejo serves amazing tacos ahumados, or smoked fish.
Go try all five and let me know which is your favorite!
Bonus: Shrimp Tacos
The coco-fried shrimp taco is a Puerto Escondido specialty, and the closest thing PXM has to a signature dish. Fish Shack does these tacos extremely well. La Olita is famous for their crunchy tempura battered shrimp taco, which is also a Puerto treat. I still miss the OG coco-fried shrimp taco at Koko’s Tacos, which used to be where Juana Mezcala is now. Come back!
2. Pastor
I previously published an entire newsletter about my adventures trying to find the best pastor in Puerto Esondido, which you can find here. There are a bunch of very good places (especially in Centro) for pastor tacos, but there are two I would categorize as excellent.
In the first edition of the Pastor post, I ranked Uno y Mas as my top location. It’s on the highway right above Tamarindo, and it’s packed every single night. There used to be a burger joint next door, but they eventually took over that real estate with their popularity. The pastor is amazing, and their barbacoa burrito is the sleeper item on the menu.
Once I published that blog, I had a number of people in the comments saying, “You messed up, you have to go to Taqueria La Playita!” They were right, so I updated the post.
This long-standing institution is tucked behind the airport and has a well-deserved reputation. The pastor is amazing, and it comes with a free cup of beans, pickled veggies, and fresh salsas. It’s a bit of a drive from most neighborhoods, but make it a mission to go find out why they’ve been slinging pastor for over 30 years.
3. Suadero
I had this specific blog idea a long time ago, mainly to highlight Zicachela, a restaurant on the Carraterra that is now a Vento motorcycle dealer. Zicachela did a suadero night on Mondays that was well-loved, with little crispy fried onions on top of the perfect suadero tacos.
You could find me there nearly every Monday night for the last year that they were open. Now that they’re closed, I would love to hear in the comments any Suadero spots you all love. I have two that I hit up, but neither is on the level of Zicachela’s Monday night tradition.
First of all, if you’re unaware, Suadero is a type of taco made famous on the streets of Mexico City. The cut comes from the area between the brisket, belly, and hind legs, and is slow cooked in its own fat before being diced and served in a tortilla. If you’ve ever had a street taco in CDMX that blew your mind, it was probably suadero.
The first of two Puerto options I go to is a small taco hole called Dońa Reme at the entrance of La Barra (right around here, but it’s not actually on Google Maps). 105 pesos for an order of suadero and a Coca-Cola en vidrio makes for a tasty light dinner.
There’s also a street-food style set-up near the Pemex in La Barra (see below), which is pretty popular. They run out of suadero some days because of the traffic they garner, and their agua de jamaica is also rich and noteworthy. Both places serve a great 5-suadero order with fresh salsas and a drink for around 100 pesos, but Zicachela—please come back!
4. Tlayudas
Tlayudas are a oxacan specialty, often described as “Mexican pizza.” If you’ve never smashed a tlayuda, it’s essentially a massive tortilla, covered in beans, cheese, and whatever meats and veggies you want added, resembling a pizza. They’re almost always a massive portion of food for a fair price, so it’s a great choice if you’re feeling hungry and acting thrifty.
I like a good tlayuda, but I’ve also had some very questionable ones. There are dozens of places that serve tlayudas, including most taco joints, but there are three spots I can highly recommend.
La Cabañita—A long-standing restaurant in La Punta right across from the little triangular public park on the main street. It’s up a little walkway and a bit hidden, but a great chill place for a chill affordable meal. This is the first place I had a really good Tlayuda, and it’s still my favorite.
Tlayudas El Plebe—This spot has the biggest sign in town for tlayudas, which is what first caught my attention. Then I noticed it was pretty busy most nights, so I followed the people, and eventually stopped in. They offer huge portions with fresh ingredients, and El Plebe tlayudas are among the best I’ve ever had in Puerto.
Mi Pueblito—This has become one of my go-to spots living in La Barra, because it’s on the caraterra near my entrance. They have a menu full of classics, but there Tlayudas, alambres, and burritos are all amazing.
5. Mole
This is a very broad category.
According to a quick Google search, there are over 50 recognized types of mole. If you’re not entirely sure what mole is, it’s generally defined as a “rich complex sauce made with chiles, nuts, chocolate, and various spices.” They’re often named after their color, but sometimes the name derives from the origin or creator.
Oaxaca is famous for mole, so of course you can (and should!) find it in Puerto Escondido. One place that you can always get two of Oaxaca’s most well-known and famous varieties of mole is at La Juquileñas.
They have mole amarillo and mole negro on their every day menu, so you can easily try both classic oaxacan flavors at this one stop! (Note: There are two locations a few blocks apart in centro, with the same menu.)
Another classic Puerto restaurant that will likely have some type of mole on the menu is Comedor Tere. This has become one of my favorite spots when I’m near Rinconada or Centro. It’s the type of place where the menu is written on a whiteboard every day, and items are erased one at a time as they run out.
One or more of the “platos preparados” will almost certainly be some type of mole dish. I had “Gallina en mole amarillo” last time I was there, and it was the richest yellow mole I’d ever tried. I used their amazing fresh tortillas to clean the bowl.
In Puerto Escondido, mole is generally found as an option in the "prepared plates” of a traditional place. That makes it a bit harder to find, but the upside is that you always know it’s incredibly fresh. Las Margaritas (also featured in my centro food recco post) is also likely to have a mole option if you stop for lunch.
In Oaxaca City, you’ll be able to find more menus that feature mole, but dishes at those restaurants are likely to be 2-3 times more expensive, so I recommend going for it next time you’re at a local spot and the waiter reads off a mole option among their prepared dishes for that day.
Note: Specifically in Oaxaca, there are seven distinct types of Mole (including mole amarillo and mole negro). This sounds like a future Sobre Puerto Escondido newsletter, just begging to be writen.
Find part two (numbers 6-10) here.
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