Tag Archives: tejate

Making Tejate at Mi Lindo Oaxaca

A bowl of tejate.

A bowl of tejate.

Tejate, a traditional Oaxacan drink made from maize, cacao, mamey seeds, and other ingredients—all handmade—is a labor-intensive preparation. And that’s an understatement.  From the hand-shelling of cacao and the grinding of the nixtamal  to the serving, takes several hours.

At Mi Lindo Oaxaca in Dallas, Honorio Garcia and family take that time to make tejate from scratch at their restaurant. Here’s a video of the incredible process that shows how the preservation of tradition trumps the creativity of modernity.

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Filed under Dallas, Oak Cliff, one of the freaking best, Tacolab, Texas, West Dallas

Mi Lindo Oaxaca

From-scratch mole con pollo is a weekend special at Mi Lindo Oaxaca.

From-scratch mole con pollo is a weekend special at Mi Lindo Oaxaca.

The Home Depot now stands on the land where the Bronco Bowl once welcomed musical acts such as Bob Dylan and Lenny Kravitz. Across the street, along Fort Worth Avenue, sits a shopping center where Tacos King once doled out breakfast tacos. The taqueria is gone. The only remnant of its existence is the yellow awning bearing the business’ name. The space now houses Mi Lindo Oaxaca, likely the only Oaxacan restaurant in Dallas, and the one restaurant all seekers of authentic Mexican food should put at the top of their must-visit list.

Former migrant farm work Honorio Garcia opened Mi Lindo Oaxaca three months ago with the help of an Accion Texas micro loan because, he told me on my third of four visits to his restaurant, “There needed to be a taste of Oaxaca in Dallas.” Ladies and gentlemen, the American Dream is alive and well, and Honorio Garcia is serving it with mole oaxaqueño made from scratch, beginning with the hand-shelling of cacao for the chocolate. On one visit, I got to watch as the ingredients were being toasted on the dry flattop griddle. Continue reading

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Filed under Dallas, Oak Cliff, Reviews