It will cost María Sara and her husband Hilarino around $7,000 to get electricity for their small roadside restaurant, located about an hour from Oaxaca City. It’s doable only if you can get some of your neighbors to participate. But that would detract from the charm of your restaurant: fresh meats delivered to the premises every day and kept fresh in an insulated box; hours of operation governed by nature; no stove or oven, no subtle din of an electric fridge; and without television reviewing the last soccer triumph of Mexico.
El Tigre is just about the last vestige of Old Mexico you’ll find on a visit to Oaxaca, while at the same time being as comfortable, welcoming, and safe on the American gastrointestinal tract as you’ll find at the best white-clothes restaurants in the downtown core. Sure, the wood-burning hearth on which all your daily offerings are prepared produces distracting smoke from time to time. And it’s doubtful that the blocks of ice that chill Coca-Cola, Fanta, and Corona will keep drinks as cold as most are accused. But except for these inconveniences, if you go to Mitla or Hierve el Agua, you cannot miss a visit to El Tigre.
You will be warmly received by María Sara and her daughter-in-law Alma. Hilarino may also be there. He runs the mezcal operation together with the restaurant, the participation is that if you order mezcal, it’s on the house.
But you stop for the food and the outdoor atmosphere and basically nothing else. There is no menu, so you’d better have a minimal knowledge of Spanish or keep reading and taking notes. Every morning María prepares a different stew, whether it is beef in green sauce, pork in red sauce or something similar. Otherwise, the standard options available every day are pretty simple: grilled chorizo (Oaxacan sausage); a plate of cecina (sliced pork lightly dusted with chili); tasajō (thinly sliced beef); eggs, either scrambled plain or with chorizo, or fried; quesadillas; and memelites. María is used to this writer being brought here by North American tourists, who have often commented that it was the best meal they had in Oaxaca. You can ask for anything to cook on the griddle, over an open fire, without lard, oil or butter.
The accompaniments are tomato and onion slices (disinfected), cooked black beans, and freshly made salsa with garlic, chile, tomato and little else, served hot from the grill in its molcajete, the mortar with which it is prepared. Typically, you’ll see a pot of simmering corn kernels soften and get ready to grind the next day into a masa to make tortillas. And yes, of course the tortillas, made with hand-ground cornmeal and prepared on the griddle before your eyes complement each order.
Since 1994, El Tigre has been serving the surrounding communities, the occasional visitor on the way to and from Hierve el Agua, and those in transit between Oaxaca and the district known as Mixe. The main draw for many Mexicans is the mezcal produced on site by Hilarino, using the age-old traditional techniques of his and his grandparents’ ancestors. But for those who crave a down-to-earth, unadulterated taste of southern Mexico, El Tigre is a must—-uniquely Oaxacan, and as fresh and flavorful as it gets.
El Tigre is open 7 days from morning to 7 p.m. to the bubbling springs.