"Before the COVID-19 crisis hit, Mi Zacatecas, Cecilia Chairez’s tiny Mexican restaurant, was one of the Oakland’s dining scene’s great success stories. The only spot in the Bay Area specializing in the cuisine of the north-central Mexican state of Zacatecas, the restaurant had amassed a large and loyal following, despite its remote location in deep East Oakland, entirely on the merits of Chairez’s homestyle cooking: her slow-cooked stews, her enormous handmade tortillas, and, especially, her fat, freshly griddled gorditas — widely hailed as the best in the city." - Luke Tsai