Madre! Oaxacan Restaurant and Mezcaleria

"Ivan Vasquez took his Palms restaurant and planted a massive flagship in Old Torrance, serving his mother’s favorite mole and other Oaxacan dishes with a huge list of mezcales. The locals have figured it out, turning Madre into one of the most reliable Mexican restaurants in the city. Start with the queso fundido, alambres (a stir-fry of sliced marinated pork and vegetables), or memelas (fried masa cakes with beans, cheese, and salsa) before venturing to the shareable tlayuda (a wide, thin corn tortilla grilled over wood-fire and topped with lard, beans, cabbage, cheese, and either tasajo, chorizo, or cecina. As one would expect from a Oaxacan restaurant, the moles are also fantastic, like mole negro spread over grilled chicken or a pork chop." - Matthew Kang

"Madre is a local mini-chain that boasts the country’s largest private mezcal collection (yes, really) as well as consistently good Oaxacan food. There are three locations in LA and a fourth in Santa Clarita, but the spacious Torrance branch stands out as our favorite, with its large bar area where you can comfortably post with friends for mezcal margaritas. Madre’s folded tlayudas come glued together with melted quesillo, mole-drenched tamales are generously stuffed with chicken, and the crispy chicharrón tacos come on soft, handmade tortillas." - sylvio martins, brant cox, garrett snyder

"All three locations (Torrance, West Hollywood, and Culver City) of this excellent Oaxacan restaurant are doing a three-course Valentine’s Day package for $95 that feeds two people. The meal includes their house salad, seafood cocktelito, two different moles, dessert, and two mezcal cocktails. You can also do an add-on mezcal flight, which we recommend considering they have one of the largest mezcal stocks in town. For pickup, order here." - brant cox

"Madre is an excellent place for a casual weeknight dinner, business lunch, or a date with someone you don’t know very well. The original location of this Oaxacan spot is in Torrance, and the mezcal collection here has to be among the largest of any restaurant in the city. Get the mezcal margarita and order the queso fundido to start. For entrees, focus on the moles—we like the coloradito best—with either chicken thighs or short ribs. " - nikko duren, garrett snyder

"Madre is a local mini-chain that boasts the country’s largest private mezcal collection (yes, really) as well as consistently good Oaxacan food. There are three locations in LA and a fourth in Santa Clarita, but the spacious Torrance branch stands out as our favorite, with its large bar area where you can comfortably post with friends for mezcal margaritas. Madre’s folded tlayudas come glued together with melted quesillo, mole-drenched tamales are generously stuffed with chicken, and the crispy chicharrón tacos come on soft, handmade tortillas. " - sylvio martins