Expendio Tradición — Restaurant in Oaxaca

Would give zero stars if I could. BY FAR the worst dining experience in my five day of Oaxaca (which has so many excellent restaurants!) Went there for new years even dinner, there were 4 of us. There was a fixed price menu that was about $85 USD per person for three courses and drinks. I didn't think it was too expensive, but expected everything to be amazing for that price, considering the prices of other nice restaurants in town. The cocktail was good, the red was was served COLD and poor quality. For food, we waited around 45 minutes knowing that we came for the price fix menu and finally had to ask for the first course to be delivered. The flavors were well blended and it wasn't tasty. The worst was the main course, though. it was supposed to be "brisket." While I agree it was beef, this couldn't even be cut and was tough as shoe leather. Even if we had wanted to eat it, they didn't even bring us a proper knife to cut it with! It was one of the most terrible meals I've had in any restaurant EVER, at any price level. I can't believe this restaurant, which is known for fine dining, in a city that prides itself on its wounderful food would serve this! With everything so far, we didn't want to stay, and at that point we decided to leave and asked to be refunded half because of everything -- had to put up a fight but did get refunded. Still wasn't even close to worth half of the money we paid. Such a disappointment. I will say the servers were nice and I felt bad that they had to deal with such terrible food...

Of all the amazing food in Oaxaca, Expendio Tradición stands out as one of the best! From the expertly prepared cocktails, the farm-to-table fresh appetizers and main courses, to the delicious handmade desserts, everything we had was outstanding. The staff was attentive and friendly, offered menus in English, and took great care of our group. We had the mixed tacos, fried shrimp with guacamole and passion fruit, and tomato salad as appetizers. The mixed tacos consisted of 3 shrimp, 3 fish, and 3 mushroom. The mushroom was a special request in place of the octopus and we were pleasantly surprised that it was no problem for the special order and that all three were excellent. The tomatoes were fresh, juicy, served with a goat cheese and balsamic vinaigrette and just melted in your mouth. So delicious and fresh! All main courses were just as well prepared and mouth watering. We had the fish wrapped in an edible green leaf local to the area. The fish was fresh and super flavorful with hints of cardamom and other spices and served with a yellow mole. We followed everything with a dessert course of chocolate cake and another of flan. Both were so yummy! Expendio Tradición will be at the top of our list for our next visit to this...

This place is already well reviewed and our experience was great.cocktails were very good. I'm sorry I forgot exactly what I had, but I believe it was with pineapple mezcal and worms on top. The other with watermelon. We had the suckling pig tacos with chicharon. Fantastic with the guacamole pickled onions and with the house salsa. The regular tacos we got next we're not our favorite as the cheese made them a bit too salty for us and in comparison we preferred the pig tacos. Dessert sampler was also great. I wish it were served with a little bowl of honey as the honey was so good. The place is small so it looks like they extended tables into hallways beyond the restaurant near the bathroom and kitchen. That's where we found ourselves. It was still fine and the meal was still enjoyable. I would give 5stars for eating in the restaurant proper for atmosphere and three for the hallway. However the hall area was quiet and peaceful and still nicely decorated. I'm sure some would even prefer sitting in this area. Wait staff were pleasant and...