Our story
From Oaxaca
to Magazine Street.
Chef Lucia Mendoza grew up in the kitchens of her grandmother's home in Oaxaca, learning to make tortillas before she could read. She moved to New Orleans in 2018 looking for the only thing that rivals Mexico's food culture: a city that takes eating seriously.
Cantina del Sol opened in 2022 as a love letter to both places. Our mole poblano is Lucia's family recipe, simmered for fourteen hours. Our gumbo-spiced shrimp tacos are what happens when those two cultures shake hands at the table.
We press every tortilla by hand. We char our chiles over wood. We make our mezcal cocktails with bottles we sourced ourselves, on trips back to Oaxaca every year.
"Mexican food doesn't need updating. It just needs respect."
— Lucia Mendoza, Chef & Owner
