Mezcal Restaurant
Octavio Gomez cooks his mother Doña Libo's two Oaxacan moles downtown, the coloradito and the negro, off the recipes she brought from Oaxaca.
Why go
Adolfo Gomez came to San Jose from Oaxaca in 1989, spent sixteen years working in hospitality, and opened this with his family in November 2008.1 His mother, Doña Libo, ran a catering business in Oaxaca before she came over to help, and the dishes are hers. The house is blunt about what it is for: We Specialize In Oaxacan Moles (Sauces) - Coloradito And Mole Negro - All Family Recipes That Have Been Passed Down From Generation To Generation.
1
That is the family's own account and it is the only account there is. No byline I could reach has reviewed this room, so I have no critic's line to point you at, and the moles are the reason to go and find out.
Order this / avoid
- Order: a mole, either one.1
- Avoid: Monday. Closed.1
- Avoid: rolling in at 2pm midweek. Lunch runs 11:30am to 1:30pm Tuesday to Friday, then the kitchen shuts until 5.1
Good to know
- Hours: Tuesday to Thursday 11:30am to 1:30pm and 5pm to 9pm. Friday to 9:30pm. Saturday noon to 9:30pm, Sunday noon to 8pm. Monday closed.1
- Where: 25 West San Fernando, between South 1st and South Market, behind St. Joseph Cathedral Basilica.1
- The room: one of the largest covered patios downtown, by the venue's own count.1
Verdict
could-visit — Nobody outside the family has written this kitchen anywhere I could reach, so the rung sits on stated intent and not on a plate somebody ate. Intent counts for more than usual here, because a kitchen that stakes its name on mole is making a claim you can test in one sitting. Eighteen years of trading is the other half: the family opened in 2008 and the room is still there. That is enough to send somebody, and not enough to promise them anything.