Jacobo & María Ángeles

Free tour was really interesting. Super cool to see the artisans at work and the process to make these insane sculptures!

To see the artists at work and the amazing detail, wow. What an amazing experience and our guide Lilli was incredible! Make sure that ask for her if she is available.

Amazing place, bigger than expected. The personal was really friendly and the art they make is amazing. 100% worth the experience. I went with kids and they paint their own alebrijes

"WOW" does not fully encapture the talent of these artists & what they create here at Jacobo & Maria Angeles. Take the tour of the workshop where they will explain the process and you can see the current work in progress. After you are done there venture off into the gallery. Make sure you put this on your agenda when visiting. You will not be disappointed. Enjoy.

We went on a very fascinating free tour here and found it very interesting. I enjoyed learning about how the different coloured paints are made, how the carving is done, and how the sanding and painting is done, and to see it all happening. At the end, we viewed the gallery with a whole bunch of completed works. The price points were quite significant here which seemed to match the quality, though I’m not sure how the prices compare to other workshops/stores selling similar works. Overall, I really enjoyed the afternoon trip out to go and visit this workshop.

My two friends were skeptical about this alebrijes experience but they ended up loving the tour (highly educational) and gallery. The craftsmanship is exquisite and it’s easy to see why this shop is making a name for itself internationally. Yes the pieces are expensive but not unreasonable- you can find larger pieces that are almost as intricate/good for half the price at smaller family run shops in town. We ended up getting a piece from Jacobo and Maria plus a few pieces in town. A great experience over all.

We have a blast at the gallery, our tour guide was so gentle and explained every details of how does the alebrijes were made. We also didn’t make any reservations and the people in there were so kind to provide us the tour. We also appreciate that is pet friendly Amazing experience! 🫰🏼

Adan was an amazing guide. He took his time to explain everything and all the processes. He was kind and very helpful. Thank you all for the amazing experience!!

Wonderful workshop. I saw many alebrijes throughout Oaxaca and the quality here is superior. The prices are also much higher. I came here as part of a tour (Ruta de las artesanías, booked via https://oaxacatours.mx). The tour included this town (San Martin Tilcajete) as well as San Antonino, Santo Tomás Jalieza, Ocotlán and Santa Catarina Minas. The alebrijes tour was one of the highlights. They took us through the different steps: cutting the wood, dyeing it, and painting it. They let us smell the pieces of wood (and the incense produced from it), showed us how the natural dyes are mixed, walked us past artisans cutting and painting the pieces. Our guide was excellent and we were offered fresh juice and tamarind ice cream along the way. The galleries had some stunning works on display. Incredible creativity and gorgeous execution. The final gift shop had some wonderful pieces (a lot of variety) and I purchased a lovely cat that I'm very happy with. I saw imitations at other locations thereafter but they weren't even close in quality (the lines were crooked, the eyes too far apart, less detail, etc.) I'm very happy that I bought my alebrije here. That being said, I wanted a larger piece to commemorate my visit and quality was important to me. I do encourage you to purchase smaller souvenirs elsewhere and support other artisans as there are a lot of shops selling these toys in the town (and for less). Don't be afraid to ask your tour guide/driver to stop at other shops to pick up cheaper souvenirs (which is what we did). Obviously you can come here without being part of a tour. I do recommend the artisan tour however as it was really affordable (450 MXN for adults or about 22 USD). The bus was extremely comfortable and private for our group of 3 adults and 2 kids. They picked us up and dropped us off at our AirBnB. The guide was really knowledgeable and spoke great English. The other stops included a market with fabric weaving, an embroidery shop, a busy market in Ocotlán (as well as a stunning church), a stop for lunch, and ancestral mezcal tasting in Santa Catarina Minas (this was the other highlight).

I ordered a carving in June of 2017. It was to be 18 to 20 inches high and was going to take one year. They charged me $1400.00us It arrived and was 8 inches high! I looked on their website and found a similar carving larger than what I ordered for nearly the same price! I contacted them and they deny my order was supposed to be larger. My husband and I stood right there and showed the size we wanted from a shelf of samples. I know what we ordered. I feel totally ripped off. If you choose to do business with these people I would strongly urge you to take a video of the transaction. Signed, Ripped-Off and Angry