4 Best Restaurants in Oaxaca City, Oaxaca

In Colonia Reforma, this café is, as its name suggests, a more informal version of the Casa Oaxaca restaurant in the historic center. This open-air, garden-themed restaurant maintains the same incredibly high levels of food preparation and presentation, and the same attentive service, but with a menu suited more to breakfast and lunch, featuring more fruit, salads, and lighter options. One of the highlights is the huitlacoche omelet served with pumpkin flowers, and bathed in chile guajillo salsa, a true taste of Oaxaca.

A neon sign bearing the namesake hummingbird draws you to this little cafeteria. Mothers who have packed their kids off to school and cell-phone-toting business executives favor this place, perhaps for its free refills of super-hot coffee and the extensive menu of Mexican favorites. If you're homesick, you can always order a burger with fries. While you wait, browse in the gift shop. The restaurant is across from the ADO bus station, making it a great escape from the crowded waiting area.

Local families and expats in the know come here for a seafood fix. The ceviches are delicious, as are the whole-fried-fish platters and the shrimp specials. Margaritas, too, are best-in-class, and a wonderful baked banana dessert comes with condensed milk, cream, and rummy eggnog. This, the original branch, where you can enjoy your meal out in a lovely, fern-shaded garden, is a breakfast-and-lunch-only place, closing at 6 pm. Another branch on Calzada de Porfirio Diaz isn't quite as cute.

With folding glass windows opening out onto the foliage of trees overhanging the bustling zócalo, Tres Bistro offers a classy retreat from the bustling square. You can see the glitter of the twinkling lights and hear the music of the marimbas down below. The menu offers a range of traditional Oaxacan dishes alongside contemporary pastas, pizzas, lasagna, and seafood, so it's good for people traveling with young children who might not take to some of the more traditional Oaxacan offerings, while the adults can savor some different tastes. Unlike most upper-floor restaurants, this one also has an elevator.