If you judge a book by it’s cover then you will be missing out on possibly the very best Oaxaca Cuisine at La 15 Y Salas in Phoenix AZ. I’ve been here several times and La 15 Y Salsas is certainly worth a Fork!

This restaurant has come a long way since my first visit. You used to order at the counter and order from the pictures on the wall  menu in Spanish.  They used to have more Oaxaca Goods for sale including grasshoppers that are used for tacos. I didn’t notice the grasshoppers this time but I guess they still might offer them.  They still do sell Oaxaca Goods but not as many and now have more tables for dining.

Instead of ordering at the counter they now have table service with printed menus. This little dive experienced success because of the delicious reasonably priced foods and has several glowing reviews by local restaurant critics.

They started us off with three salsas and a basket of Mexican Chips.

All three sauces were very spicy. One sauce was a creamy avocado, another might have been made with tomatillo and the third sauce was made with some sort of smoked chile. I asked the last time what kind of chile was the smoked same and I was told the chile used was a Mexican Bird’s beak chile.

We tried an appetizer and it sounded small because it was called Mini Quesadillas Fritas.

This was three folded fried flaky tortillas filled with lots of mild melty cheese and and herb called Epazote, a very strong herb something like oregano with another flavor mixed in. The tortillas were brushed with a black bean sauce laced with anise leaf and topped with shredded mild cheese and lettuce.

We shared our plates.

One plate was the Combo De Chile Relleno.

It’s a spicy green chile stuffed with flavorful tender pulled chicken, raisins and nuts that is batter fried and covered with spicy tomato sauce. This is delicious and is much lighter than it seems. Tortillas are handy to wipe up any sauce you leave behind.

The other plate were Chicken Emmolodas.

Rolled corn tortillas stuffed with that carefully seasoned moist pulled chicken and covered with the most amazing mole I ever tasted. It’s full of flavor from dozens of nuts, chiles and spices but the flavors are very balanced and you can’t really pull the flavors out individually. The texture is smooth and it’s like a blanket covering the emmolodas.

La 15 Y Salsas is Worth a Fork

For more information on La 15 Y Salsas please visit www.15ysalsas.com