El Sabor Oaxaqueño #2 — Restaurant in Lawrence Township

Waitress was nice and greeted us when we walked in. Went on a Sunday night, so only maybe one other group of people were eating in. It’s basically a bodega with a couple of tables around the kitchen/grill section of the store. Couple of aisles of basic cooking and health necessities are located in the front of the store.

The naranja (orange juice) was really good, and tasted fresh. I ended up getting a Tlayuda with my choice of meat of pollo (chicken). I’m not sure if this is typical, but my dish was not warm when it came out. It did come out pretty quickly as well. I guess I was expecting a warm dish but I don’t know if it’s traditionally supposed to be that way. The tlayuda dish as a whole also didn’t have as much flavor as I would have liked, the chicken was the main flavor.

But the chicken is what turned me off. As I was chewing, I came across something that wouldn’t break down with my chewing. I thought it was an overdone piece of tortilla, so I just kept chewing. Eventually, I pulled it out of my mouth, and it was a flattened chicken bone. As I was trying to pull it out, I accidentally swallowed a smaller piece of what I realized to be another chicken bone. I thought, alright, at least I got one bone out, I’ll continue with my meal. But then, I came across a ball chunk of cartilage/sinew. That made me stop eating and decide to take it home to see if I could salvage it at home (decided later I wasn’t going to bother). If it’s traditional to have flattened bones and cartilage in a Tlayuda de Pollo, I would have liked a heads up from the waitress when ordering or an indication on the menu, and if it’s not traditional to do, well I guess this says something about the preparation methods here.

So I really wanted to like this meal, but unfortunately I couldn’t. The only other thing I liked was...

Delicious delicious food — authentically Oaxacan — healthy and richly flavored and most can be enjoyed without spiciness if you prefer. Tlayudas are very large thin toasted tortillas (piazz box size!) covered with bean spread, crumbly cotija and mozerella-like oaxacan cheese, lots of cabbage, onion, tomato, bell pepper, and avocado and the meat of your choice (or meatless). I could only eat half and delightedly snacked on it through the next day. They have tacos, fajitas and other familiar Mexican dishes. There are weekend special dishes, including some meal-sized soups I’ll try this winter! Until the , it was great to finish with a paleta (a delicious water or milk based popsicle from the freezer in the front in MANY tropical flavors.) Inexpensive, delicious, clean, warm waitstaff. It’s in a store with many Mexican products (or they deliver.)

I’ve been twice in the last 2 weeks and plan to go back.

Easy to get to from Princeton — just take Nassau Street South and keep going South.

Delicious delicious — got some special dishes they only make on the...

As someone who comes from a Mexican family, it’s been really difficult to find a good and authentic Mexican place near the Princeton area. This place is, by far, the best Mexican food I’ve had in quite some months (since being in Texas with family). They have a relatively small selection with offerings of burritos, tacos, tlayudas, and tortas throughout the week. During the weekends, they have your traditional weekend offerings. My favorite dish was the chicken mole tamal. The tlayuda was new to me, but it was delicious. It’s like a bigger tostada. 10/10 would recommend. My partner and I had dinner from this place last night and went back today to try the...