Los Danzantes occupies a courtyard on Macedonio Alcalá, the pedestrian street in Oaxaca’s historic Centro that leads up to the Templo de Santo Domingo. The restaurant belongs to a group that opened its first location in Coyoacán, Mexico City, in 1995. Diners come for contemporary Oaxacan cooking and mezcal produced by the group’s own labels.
The dining room sits in a partly open-air patio framed by tall earthen walls, with plants and a reflecting pool. Lunch happens in daylight, and dinner feels intimate once the lanterns come on. The kitchen builds its menu around regional ingredients such as moles, chiles, corn and local cheeses, and the dishes change with the seasons. The bar pours the house mezcales, Los Danzantes and Alipús, as straight tastings or in cocktails. Mexican wines are also available (source: Yelp).
Visitor Highlights & Practical Info
Book ahead for dinner, especially during Guelaguetza in July, Día de Muertos in late October and early November, and the Christmas holidays. For the quietest tables, arrive for a late lunch on a weekday. If you are new to mezcal, ask your server for a flight comparing espadín with wild agaves. Afterward, walk a few blocks north to Santo Domingo and its ethnobotanical garden, or head south to the Zócalo. The Centro is compact and easy to cover on foot, so you won’t need a taxi.
