Criollo - Oaxaca

For those that only read 5-star reviews to give yourself the justification of going to Criollo despite the pattern of food poisoning reviews, I 'm here to add another food poisoning case from this restaurant. My partner and I went to Criollo last night to celebrate our anniversary. However, we left with a really disappointing experience. Food: the food was nothing special. They offer a 7-course tasting menu for 1450 MXN per person. Quite expensive compared to other restaurants in Oaxaca. There are no unique flavors or anything that would make you go, wow, that 's good . There was this cured fish tlayuda dish with ingredients that had no business being together. This most likely was the dish that gave us food poisoning. Drinks: We didn 't go with the drink pairing because it would make us really full. The drink menu is wildly lacking compared to other restaurants in Oaxaca. Barely any mezcal cocktails. Lots of wine for some reason. I had a local craft beer. A stout that 's basically fizzing so much that I couldn 't take another sip. The yeast was pretty much still alive in the bottle. Ambiance Service: Yes, the place is quite beautiful. However, they cramp as many tables as close to each other as possible. This causes diners to have no intimacy and privacy. You could hear a lot of noises on top of each other. With so many tables and a small number of staff, the service was very slow and full of mistakes. Overall, I 'd suggest you take your hard-earned money elsewhere for a better dining experience. And avoid getting food poisoning and ruin your trip as well. Highly recommend Levadura de Olla.

If you are looking for a testing Restaurant and don't mind paying around 50-70 US Dollars plus drinks this is your place to go. (maybe more, the price is depending on what they have on the menu) The menu changes every night and they don’t have a range of prices upfront. I didn’t like that you don’t get to know the menu till the servers get to your table. I felt the place was not transparent with customers regardless of whether you can/can’t afford it, you don’t get an idea of the cost. They will explain the menu out loud so, if you don’t pay attention you will not know the cost or the menu so, if you go, pay attention it’s hard to understand with the face masks. The place is nice/minimalist. They adapt the menu to the allergies, diet’s…the plus side. In my experience, the food was not worth it(the 1200 pesos per meal) when in other places in Oaxaca are very recognized for less than 150 pesos, including places that made it in Netflix show for us to not known the chefs name. The dishes at the restaurant were inspired by local dishes in Oaxaca. In my PERSONAL OPINION, If you are a person that will feel guilty for spending over 50 dollars on a meal in Mexico’s poorest state, and then see kids and people begging for food/money on the street, don’t even go. We felt awfully bad after we pay that and then saw kids eating off the floor on the streets or going through trash cans. I rather support local small businesses and help the local economy. As I said my opinion. If this is the style you’re looking for, this is the place to go. But there are many places with way better taste.

What a fun evening! From the entrada to the dessert, everything was great

My husband and I are visiting from the US and are pretty open minded dinersworld travelers but did not enjoy the food. The heavy use of ants and insects made everything very earthy and muddy and we didn’t understand it. They didn’t lend a nice flavor. There are so many other regional Oaxacan dishes and ingredients to celebrate, I don’t know why ants had to be the main attraction here. Additional disappointment found with the alcohol pairing, really rough private label rose, like very faulted, not ok to drink wine. And sangria pairing??? Cheesh

Expertly crafted dining experience. Trust the chefs. Learn the food. Be forward about your dietary restrictions. There was no menu when we went. It was curated for us and we loved everything they put in front of us. Mágico