Arena Negra — Restaurant in Oaxaca

Their sign tells you right away that this is slow food. That is true, yet an understatement. The wonderful crew of sweet people have somehow managed to find a level of inefficiency that is rarely achieved by an experienced crew. Some restaurants take advantage of the long wait for food to ply you with drinks but there is no danger of ever becoming intoxicated here as your system will process anything you were served long before they have managed to fulfill your repeated requests for another. I ordered beer and a mescal at the same time. Despite asking repeatedly for my mescal and explaining that I like them together after asking repeatedly, the barman, who, to be fair, had to keep over dozen guests supplied -by his self - did finally serve me when I went and pleaded directly. By then my beer was long done. The food is similar but one understands that it does take some time to prepare compared to pouring a shot. We all ordered the same thing and that probably helped ensure we ate before leaving, though there was an near mutiny at our table.

This is the third time there and second time to be astounded by their achievements as a team. The dishes are nice, tasty and can be mostly recommended. To be fair, the third time was weeks after the hurricane. Not sure how that matters but ok. One of the other two times was similarly frustrating. Very hard to find any satisfaction in the experience for me. Some friends love the place. All four of us upon leaving, exclaimed almost in unison " that's the last time we go there!". But you should try their food. And again, good folks. I suggest you bring an excess of patience and perhaps your own drinks to fill the lulls. Or simply go for lunch when not hungry, to enjoy sitting above the street and spending some lazy time in a nice spot. The...

I don’t know how this place has high ratings. I guess people have low expectations in Mazunte. Went there for my wife’s birthday and the whole experience was underwhelming. Food came late. Ordered the skewers and although the meat was ok, the veggies were doused with way too much salt/msg sauce. Big mistake. My wife ordered the “curry” I can honestly say it was the worse curry We’ve ever eaten. It tasted like old bland carrot juice. Watery and too much shredded carrots and gritty potatoes. All I could taste was raw carrots. To the owners…my advice is to re-taste whats on your menu if actually care about flavours. Throwing salty soupy msg sauce on dishes is a sad excuse to hide the under layered issues going on in the kitchen. A place we will...

It was a quiet and stormy night with a beautiful setting at Arena Negra. The entrance was hidden so keep a keen eye out and climb the staircase to this beautiful restaurant. The Fisherman Tiritas were unlike anything we’ve had before. So fresh and wonderfully delicious. They were out of a couple of options I originally wanted but the hostess and chef were very accommodating and thorough as to why they wouldn’t offer any subpar meat or at least the freshest available, so I opted for the shrimp in coconut sauce and it was divinely sweet and succulent. My partner had the tasty, super fresh shrimp tacos. Beautiful setting, with a wonderfully set price menu. Go visit if you’re...