If you’re shopping in the downtown Fashion District, head a little farther south to Washington Boulevard, and there, between Maple Avenue and Santee Street, you’ll find Lindo Oaxaca.
It’s an odd place for a Oaxacan restaurant, but maybe locating in that area was smart. Traffic court a short walk away no doubt provides plenty of customers. I was one of them, and spotted other jurors in the place.
Open daily, Lindo Oaxaca has survived in that drab neighborhood for five years. The front of the building is a garish pink, so you can’t miss it. On one side is an open kitchen. The counter at the back is piled with crusty chunks of chicharron and breads brought from Oaxaca, the same breads that you would find in the Mercado 20 de Noviembre or in the huge Abastos market, according to the label.
A small figure of the miracle-working Virgin of Juquila presides over the dining area, where the tables are covered with bright Oaxacan cloths. Photos pinned to her mantle show young people whose needs have been placed in her care. A tall slim cross and a vase of fresh flowers stand beside her.
Run by people from Oaxaca city, the restaurant offers four types of mole (judging by the red mole served over chips, they’re pretty good), clayudas, entomatadas, enfrijoladas, memelas and other typical Oaxacan dishes. To drink there is chilacayota, a pale brown Oaxacan agua fresca that contains strands of the gourd from which it is made.
Specials the day I found the place were barbacoa tacos and an ornate combination of grilled nopal cactus, Oaxacan meats and cheese. The meats arranged on top of the cactus were cecina (marinated pork), tasajo (salted beef) and several small, spicy Oaxacan chorizos, which were chewy at the edges and soft inside, rather like fine-grained meatloaf. A layer of melted Oaxacan cheese (quesillo) covered the meats like a pale yellow serape.
Black beans, rice and chewy handmade tortillas added up to a lunch filling enough to get me through a long afternoon of tiresome jury procedures. I would have gone back, but, alas, I didn’t make the cut for the jury.
Lindo Oaxaca restaurant, 322 E. Washington Blvd., Los Angeles CA 90015. Tel: (213) 749-8723.
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