El Destilado - OAXACA DE JUÁREZ

El Destilado is a happy addition to our list of favourite Oaxacan dining and drinking places. The entrada draws you in and the staff are friendly and welcoming. At our first visit, we enjoyed tasty mezcal margaritas selected from an extensive list of mezcals and appealing mezcal cocktails. The menu features several tapa style items for sharing, and a shorter list of larger meals. We elected to share small plates of a fresh and refreshing watermelon salad, broccolini, and tacos de arrachera (so good we had to order a second plate). Our 2 postres, tres leches pastel with coconut and pineapple and a chocolate extravaganza, finished our meal on a satisfying note. The staff were all friendly and fun to chat with, in both Spanish and English. We enjoyed El Destilado so much we returned for a late night drink and tapas a few nights later, another enjoyable experience. They haven't seen the last of us!

What a great place. Friendly festive environment. We had fish tacos, pappardelle and chocolate pudding and berry tart desert. All fabulous!! Also had Oaxaca beers Boy stout, Rey Oh, Toledo. All good. Outstanding creative chef!

This is a tiny bar/restaurant with an outstanding tasting menu - think tapas- that can be paired with mezcal(s) for a fun evening. Our party spent a leisurely three hours with the 9-course pairings. Got some very imaginative food (corn fungus empanada/pork belly w/mole) AND found out we really really like mezcal. Wait staff spoke English. We got to meet the sous chef and chat with him. Service was great. This is not a "fancy" restaurant, just a great little place that loves (pretty fancy) food and drink.

We've been there three times, and each visit the experience has exceeded the previous. But this was the first time trying the tasting menu (three of four of us), and I believe the first visit with Julio at the helm as head chef. Service was attentive but not overpowering, the pairing of the different mini-courses with different alcohols was dead on, and the quality of fare was tasty and unique in terms of combining flavours, essentially Oaxacan, and it all certainly entailed a lot of thought. The ambiance is quaint and traditional, no pretentiousness at all in terms of either the physical environment or wait staff which presented each course with an explanation. This evening I only drank a couple of mezcales, but from prior visits I know that the selection is broad, and that the owners do a top notch job sourcing the agave spirits on hand. Yes it costs to dine at El Destilado, but for that kind of experience you can't begrudge and you certainly get value for your pesos. We will definitively keep coming back, on our own, and recommending to friends (and in my case clients). I rate it as fine dining for the cost, but in terms of ambiance and overall experience, I would put it in a different category, not sure which or what, perhaps classy comfortable.

I went to El Destilado a few nights ago with some friends. The food was phenomenal and the service was superb. Everyone was friendly and outgoing. The mezcal was a great experience as well. We got to experience the "Chefs Menu" and all the different courses they brought out were amazing. I am very happy to say that this is one of the best restaurants I've ever been to. If you are in town, this is a must go to place.