Cenaduria Oaxaqueña Donaji

This Aerospace Mechanic Runs the Best Oaxacan Home Restaurant in Los Angeles | Eater LA

In a white-tented backyard just east of the 215 in Riverside, I discovered a family-run cenaduría where Efraín and Antonia Toledo have been serving authentic Valles Centrales Oaxacan food for 21 years. Efraín — an aviation mechanic who has worked on Teslas, NASA and SpaceX projects — cooks over a charcoal-fired grill and comal; his scorched tlayudas (made with imported large tortillas) are exceptional, topped with Antonia’s avocado-studded herbed black beans, warmed porky asientos, lightly sour quesillo from Villa de Etla, and shredded cabbage, folded and served with sides like tasajo, cecina, chorizo, and a second basket of pungent wild herbs (pipicha and pápalo), guajes, roasted onions, chile de agua, and grilled nopales. The memelas are frisbee-sized and piled with asientos, black-bean purée, quesillo and a choice of meat or crunchy chapulines; Conchita García hand-forms huge torpedo-shaped molotes stuffed with chorizo and potatoes, fried until crispy, drowned in avocado sauce and black bean purée and showered with queso fresco; the menu also includes tamales de mole, quesadillas with high-quality quesillo and fresh epazote, pan de yema, café de olla and chocolate de leche, plus mezcal with botanas and occasional live music. On Friday and Saturday nights there’s often a line for the picnic-table setup, where the Toledos emphasize artisanal, original products and a customary weekend experience that truly tastes like strolling Oaxaca de Juárez at night. - Bill Esparza