Since 1994

As immigrant kids, food was the one thing that always gave us joy, comfort, and a sense of belonging. In 1994, our family left Oaxaca for Los Angeles, and that same year, our parents opened the doors of Guelaguetza to bring the flavors of home a little closer to their new community.

They weren’t trying to build a landmark. They set out to feed people the way they’d always been fed: mole ground by hand, tlayudas cooked over fire, mezcal poured from day one. Everything made from scratch, the way it’s done back home.

That same mole is still on the stove today. Every year we travel back to Oaxaca to hand-pick our ingredients and choose the producers we partner with; the families who grow our chiles, our chocolate and corn. When you taste our mole negro, you’re tasting a recipe our family has carried for generations, and the hands of everyone who grew what’s in it.

Guelaguetza has always been a gathering place. It’s where Los Angeles comes to celebrate family milestones and Sunday lunches that stretch long into the afternoon. It’s where homesick Oaxaqueños come to feel at home, and where everyone else falls in love with a food they didn’t know they were missing.

Our story has grown past our four walls. Bricia has carried these recipes into two cookbooks — OAXACA: Home Cooking from the Heart of Mexico and ASADA: The Art of Mexican-Style Grilling, named one of the best cookbooks of 2023 by The New York Times — so families everywhere can cook a piece of Oaxaca and LA in their own kitchens.