A surefire way to pull yourself out of your knee-jerk Mexican restaurant order is to go regional. Don’t worry, your steady burrito won’t forget you.
Tucked along Walnut Drive in Cutten, Cocina Oaxaqueña offers the flavors and specialties of its namesake, the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca. The coastal region’s Indigenous culture and flavors come through especially in its masa and smoky black beans, and the complex mole negro, one of the famed “seven moles.”
Raymundo Diaz and his wife Lorena Matias, who own and helm the kitchen at Cocina Oaxaqueña, both hail from Oaxaca. Matias has been in Humboldt for 18 years, while Diaz has been here 24 years. They’ve both spent years working in local restaurants but this spot, purchased four years ago, is their first business together, says Diaz.
“Most all the recetas she has she brings from Oaxaca,” says Diaz, noting those recipes are handed down from Matias’ mother, who taught her to cook. “It’s more like homemade.”
That homey feeling starts with breakfast, which is served all day. Memelitas, thick rounds of soft masa with raised edges to hold in pureed black beans, queso fresco, fried eggs, a sprinkling of chopped bacon and avocado, are fried for a crisp bottom ($13). “It’s very popular in Oaxaca,” says Diaz, adding they are made from scratch. “We do the masa; we do everything here.” Fans of sopes will enjoy the contrast and with the duo of red and green salsas, it outshines basic eggs Benedict.
It’s folly not to try the mole, which is deeply spiced, with a buzzy heat and rich, smoky chocolate flavor. While Matias isn’t giving her secrets away, of the dozens of ingredients are dried ancho and guajillo chiles, some of the spices roasted or fried to make their flavors bloom (is that cinnamon? clove and anise?) before they are blended smooth in the pot to simmer and meld for five hours. “Customers, they love the mole,” says Diaz.
There are plenty of ways for them to enjoy it, too, from the traditional presentation atop chicken ($20) to the smothered enmoladas ($16.50). The latter is comprised of soft corn tortillas stuffed with meat — take the server’s suggestion and try the pastor with fresh pineapple if you’re game — before topping with mole, queso fresco and crema. A pork chop, on the bone and grilled to still-juicy browning, also gets the mole treatment to great success, with a lovely side of beans and rice. “We decide to something like that, more different,” says Diaz, who hasn’t seen it elsewhere in the county.
“Most everything we do … fresh,” he says, explaining that the firm pinto beans are cooked in the morning, then another batch is made before the dinner shift. The same goes for the fresh tomatillo verde salsa, and the red chile de arbo salsa, both of which are bright and fresh.
Forced to choose, Matias’ favorite item is the enfrijoladas, fried corn tortillas with pureed black beans, onions and queso fresco plated with eggs and meat ($17). For Diaz, it’s the chilaquiles, though choosing between red, green or mole sauces isn’t easy ($17). Mimosas, espresso drinks and a lingering brunch might offer an opportunity to try more than one.
Stop in Thursday through Saturday and there may be chocoflan — the physics-defying bundt ring of chocolate cake crowned with flan custard. Your burrito rut doesn’t stand a chance.
Cocina Oaxaqueña
3943 Walnut Drive, Eureka
(707) 599-4610
cocinaoaxaquena.com
This article appears in My Humboldt Life January 2026.
Thank you very much, Jennifer Fumiko, for this nice post and, as always, to all our clients for making a dream come true without them, thank you.