Best Restaurants in Oaxaca: The 2026 MICHELIN List, the Seven Moles and the Markets

MICHELIN restaurants in Oaxaca, 2026

The MICHELIN Guide Mexico 2026 was announced on May 20, 2026. It lists 26 restaurants in the state of Oaxaca: two with one star, five with a Bib Gourmand and 19 selected without a distinction, according to local coverage of the 2026 selection. No restaurant in the state has two or three stars. Both starred restaurants have held their star since the guide's first Mexico edition in 2024, as the year by year star table shows.

The selected restaurants in the city include Casa Oaxaca El Restaurante, Criollo, Itanoní, Zandunga, Alfonsina, Crudo and Aguamarga, which was added in 2026. Four of the 26 are outside the city: three are on the Pacific coast around Puerto Escondido, several hours away by road, and one is in Guadalupe Etla, in the valley to the north.

Two points are worth checking before relying on an older list.

• Levadura de Olla is starred, not only recommended. Levadura de Olla opened in 2019 and received one star in 2024, when chef Thalía Barrios García also received the guide's Young Chef Award. Some pages still describe it as a recommended restaurant.
• A well-known restaurant is not always in the guide. Origen, chef Rodolfo Castellanos's restaurant in the historic center, is often described as a MICHELIN Guide restaurant. It is not among the 26 in the 2026 selection. That is a statement about the list and not about the cooking.

Los Danzantes opened its Oaxaca restaurant in 2001 in a courtyard on Macedonio Alcalá. It serves mezcal from its own distillery and grows much of its own produce, which is the basis for its Green Star. For how Mexico compares with other countries on star count, see which city has the most MICHELIN stars.

Where to eat the seven moles of Oaxaca

Oaxaca is often called the land of the seven moles. A mole is a cooked sauce built from dried chiles, seeds, spices and, in some versions, chocolate. The seven usually listed are below.

Las Quince Letras, on Calle de Mariano Abasolo, has served chef Celia Florián's moles since 1992, and the mole negro is the dish most visitors order. Tierra del Sol, chef Olga Cabrera's restaurant on Calle Reforma, has a bakery and a chocolate and atole shop on the lower floors and a rooftop dining room above. Both hold a Bib Gourmand, which the guide gives for good cooking at moderate prices.

Few restaurants serve all seven moles on a single day. If trying several matters to you, ask for a tasting plate, or order different moles across two meals.

What to order in Oaxaca

These are the dishes and drinks that appear most often on menus and at market stalls, and what each one is.

For corn dishes in particular, Itanoní on Avenida Belisario Domínguez in the Reforma neighborhood has made memelas, tetelas and tortillas from heirloom corn since 2001.

The two central markets

Two covered markets stand next to each other just south of the Zócalo, the main square. They serve different purposes.

• Mercado 20 de Noviembre. The food market. It is lined with stands serving moles, tlayudas, bread and hot chocolate. One aisle is given over to grilled meat: you choose tasajo, chorizo or other cuts at a butcher's counter, and it is cooked over charcoal while you wait.
• Mercado Benito Juárez. The general market, which covers a full block. It sells fruit, flowers, cheese, chapulines, mole pastes and chocolate to take home, along with crafts and leather goods.

Both are busiest at midday. Go to 20 de Noviembre for lunch and to Benito Juárez for ingredients and tejate.

Where to eat in Oaxaca, by area

The city is formally named Oaxaca de Juárez, and the city proper has about 259,000 residents. Almost every restaurant in this guide is in one of four areas.

• Centro Histórico, north of the Zócalo. The pedestrian street Macedonio Alcalá runs from the main square to the Santo Domingo church. Los Danzantes is on Alcalá itself. Levadura de Olla is one street west on García Vigil, and Casa Oaxaca El Restaurante is beside Santo Domingo.
• Centro Histórico, south of the Zócalo. The two markets, and cheaper, simpler places to eat.
• Reforma. A residential neighborhood north of the center, about ten minutes by taxi. Itanoní is here.
• Jalatlaco and Xochimilco. Two older neighborhoods on the edge of the center with cobbled streets, cafes and bakeries. Both are walkable from Santo Domingo.

Two restaurants need more planning. Criollo, founded by Enrique Olvera and Luis Arellano, is on Avenida Francisco I. Madero, west of the historic center, and serves a tasting menu only. Alfonsina, run by Jorge León and his mother Elvia, is in San Juan Bautista la Raya, a village outside the city close to the airport. It is also a tasting menu, by reservation, and you will need a taxi in both directions.

How to plan meals in Oaxaca

• Book the tasting menus ahead. Levadura de Olla, Criollo and Alfonsina take reservations and fill first on weekends and around the Guelaguetza festival in July and Day of the Dead at the start of November.
• Eat the main meal in the afternoon. The traditional main meal, the comida, is served from about 2 pm. Market stalls and many traditional kitchens are at their best then and close early in the evening.
• Carry cash for markets. Restaurants in the center generally take cards. Market stalls and street stands mostly do not.
• Allow for altitude and sun. The city is at about 1,550 meters. Midday walks between restaurants are hotter and more tiring than the distances suggest.

Most international visitors arrive through the capital. If you are stopping there, see the best restaurants in Mexico City or go straight to the Mexico City restaurant map. Other cities are on the destinations page.

Why a search for Oaxaca restaurants often returns places in the United States

Oaxaca is the name of a city, the name of a state and, in the United States, a common name for Mexican restaurants. Search results mix all three.

Of 73 common search phrases that combine Oaxaca with restaurants, 50 refer to a business or a city in the United States. They account for about 16,100 of 27,050 monthly searches. Examples include restaurants named Oaxaca in Sedona, Fresno, Sacramento, Atlanta and Huntington, New York, and searches for Oaxacan restaurants in Los Angeles and Chicago. Only 20 of the 73 phrases, about 4,900 searches a month, can only mean restaurants in the Mexican city. The remaining three could mean either.

The fix is to add the word city or Mexico to the search, as in "restaurants in Oaxaca city", or to search for a restaurant by its full name. Within Mexico, the same care applies to the state: a restaurant listed under Oaxaca may be on the coast, several hours from the city.

Best restaurants in Oaxaca: common questions

What are the best restaurants in Oaxaca? For fine dining, the two one-star restaurants in the MICHELIN Guide Mexico 2026, Levadura de Olla and Los Danzantes Oaxaca, followed by Criollo and Casa Oaxaca El Restaurante. For mole, Las Quince Letras and Tierra del Sol. For an inexpensive traditional meal, Mercado 20 de Noviembre.

Are there MICHELIN star restaurants in Oaxaca? Yes, two. Levadura de Olla and Los Danzantes Oaxaca each hold one star in the 2026 guide, and both have held it since 2024. Los Danzantes also holds a Green Star. No restaurant in Oaxaca has two or three stars.

What food is Oaxaca known for? The seven moles, tlayudas, memelas, quesillo, tasajo, chapulines, hot chocolate, tejate and mezcal.

Is Oaxaca a city or a state? Both. The city, formally Oaxaca de Juárez, is the capital of the state of Oaxaca. The state also includes Pacific coast towns such as Puerto Escondido, which are a long drive from the city.

Do you need reservations in Oaxaca? For the starred restaurants and the tasting menus at Criollo and Alfonsina, yes. Markets and most traditional restaurants do not take them.