A Oaxaca Mezcal Bar It’s Not: El Faro Cantina and Eatery

Alvin Starkman, M.A., J.D.

---

Swing open the saloon doors, walk down a few steps, and have a seat at one of the ten or so orange arborite tables.  Clint Eastwood might have parked himself on a wooden stool instead of a 1960’s vinyl covered stainless steel padded chair, but you get the idea. And yet somehow, the shiny, brand spanking new digital juke box does not seem particularly incongruous. 

El Faro is a small bar in Colonia Reforma, about a ten minute taxi ride from Oaxaca’s zócalo.  It serves alcohol, as well as the finest in typical, filling finger foods, as well as other quickly prepared local fare.

Distinctly different from other “authentic” bars, I have never seen a non-Mexican at El Faro over the dozen or more years over which I have been an occasional patron, except for when I have taken Canadian and American friends for the experience.

Now down to indulging. The experience on this afternoon began with the alcohol orders. Drinks arrive promptly, alongside shelled peanuts made on the premises with course salt and spices, a Oaxacan staple.  Of course quartered limes, sal de gusano, and other accompaniments arrive depending on choice of beverage. You don’t order a tepeztate or a jabilí, although perhaps mezcales with such agave species are now offered.  Blanco or añejo is all I have ever ordered, with a domestic beer chaser or three. 

Mezcal is served clearly without any consideration given to portioning, and a couple of drinks will leave you feeling like four, or five. When my wife and I visit, we go in her car, both of us fully understanding that I will be in no condition to drive home. Alternatively, it’s in a taxi.  Our friends are equally cognizant of the danger of El Faro. 

El Faro cantina is no substitute for any of the dozen or more mezcalerías in Oaxaca. By contrast, it’s the place you want to go to understand what and how Oaxacans have typically been drinking for generations.  With the mezcal boom now in full swing, younger Mexicans have also begun to drink as do visitors making a pilgrimage to Oaxaca to experience and learn about production of agave distillates such as the foregoing two varietals, and naturally others.
 
How to order.  While of course one can order from what the server says is available, but to our thinking it’s best to say, after the list has been rhymed off, “todo, por favor, poco a poco, y sin prisa” (everything please, little by little, and no rush).

The parade at El Faro then begins, starting with a burst of smoky flavor and spice; that is, exquisitely marinated onion slices.  While vinegar is the main ingredient, the unique and appealing flavor of chile pasillo, with a mixture of spices, predominates, creating an appeal hard to beat, and dare I say replicate.  Certainly it bears some similarity to piedrasos, often sold on street corners in large glass containers and served with marinated vegetables over giant chunks of toasted bread.    So encountering this tart treasure in a sit-down environment is indeed a true find, especially since the street food lacks the smokiness found in this cook’s onion dish. 

A tlayuda is set before us in short order, prepared without any excess baggage.  The large crunchy oversized baked tortilla is made with requisite asiento (schmaltz, as my grandmother would say, but this fat isn’t from a chicken) and a thin paste of chile de arbol, topped with queso.  Forget the vegetables, refried beans and meat typifying most tlayuda toppings. All in due course. 
 
Marinated serrano chiles with onion slices (rajas), additional salsas, and guacamole follow, rounding out the sides;  that is, if appetizers can be distinguished from mains.     

A plate of fast-fried small round potatoes known as bolas de fuego (fire balls) is placed before us.  Seasoned with some type of chile, perhaps paprika, and without a doubt garlic, these crisp-on-the-outside golden goodies do not disappoint, being true to their name.  

Once on my way to inebriation, I’ll usually head to the juke box and play some of my favorite ‘60s and ’70 rock tunes. Sometimes you have to wait until the earlier music aficionado’s tunes have run their course, but it’s typically not more than a few minutes. 

Frijoles con pata is next to arrive; black beans served in a bowl with boiled pork foot.  It’s a traditional dish, and in fact our Oaxacan friends typically eat the gelatinous vittles with great gusto.  But it’s equally both a taste and texture which many North Americans take time to acquire.  A couple of decades later we’re still working on it. The salsas do help.

The empanadas de seso (beef brain) are the best we’ve had anywhere, anytime.  While fried as is the custom, these little filled turnovers are lacking the customary double dose of oil, making them as close to a baked botana as one can find.  Guacamole is the preferred dipping sauce, since there’s already a bit of spice in the stuffing.

As dusk approached, we rounded out our experience with two meat dishes combined on a single platter:  costillas enchiladas (spare ribs coated with a chile mixture) which were well cooked as I had requested, and had plenty of meat on and off the bone; and tasajo (a thin filet of lightly seasoned beef) which arrived tender and juicy, and not at all over-cooked (often an issue in Oaxacan eateries), already cut into (large) bite sized pieces.

On some visits we ask for a plate of mixed typical Oaxacan snacks comprising quesillo, cecina, tasajo, chorizo, sometimes queso fresco, and chapulines if available.
 
El Faro isn’t for every traveler.   There are many who surely must walk by such establishments, take and quick peek inside, are clearly intrigued, but then say “no, we’d better not.”  At El Faro you can, and you should.  

A couple of years ago I asked my wife where she wanted to go for her 70th with some invited close friends.  Casa Oaxaca? Vieja Lira? Los Danzantes? Origen? You guessed it, she said El Faro. 

El Faro.  Jasminez 222-B, Colonia Reforma.  Monday through Saturday.
 
Alvin Starkman and Randall Stockton operate Mezcal Educational Excursions of Oaxaca (www.mezcaleducationaltours.com).