El Naranjo•Austin
Mexican•$$
El Naranjo is a love letter to the food and traditions of Mexico, headed by James Beard Award multi-nominated and winner of the Best Chef: Texas category, Iliana de la Vega, and her Chef de Cuisine daughter, Ana Torrealba. El Naranjo’s history comes all the way from Oaxaca, Mexico, where it first opened in 1997 with the simple goal of sharing the cuisine of Mexico with others. It soon gained international acclaim, with features in The New York Times and Bon Appetit. Local political turmoil led to El Naranjo’s closing and the relocation of de la Vega and her family to Texas, with the dream of bringing her country’s cuisine to Austin one day. De la Vega first worked as the Mexican and Latin Cuisines Specialist at the Culinary Institute of America, until the reincarnation of El Naranjo opened its doors in 2012. And while since then El Naranjo has been called the “only real Mexican restaurant in Texas” by the Texas Monthly and received multiple awards and recognition, its goal remains the same as in 1997: to share the beautiful, delicious, and vast world of Mexican cuisine with others. Guests can expect to find elevated traditional dishes from Oaxaca and Mexico City, de la Vega’s hometowns, but also recipes from every other region of Mexico, such as Puebla, Yucatán, and Veracruz.
Experiences at El Naranjo
Reservation
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El Naranjo is a love letter to the food and traditions of Mexico, headed by James Beard Award multi-nominated and winner of the Best Chef: Texas category, Iliana de la Vega, and her Chef de Cuisine daughter, Ana Torrealba. El Naranjo’s history comes all the way from Oaxaca, Mexico, where it first opened in 1997 with the simple goal of sharing the cuisine of Mexico with others. It soon gained international acclaim, with features in The New York Times and Bon Appetit. Local political turmoil led to El Naranjo’s closing and the relocation of de la Vega and her family to Texas, with the dream of bringing her country’s cuisine to Austin one day. De la Vega first worked as the Mexican and Latin Cuisines Specialist at the Culinary Institute of America, until the reincarnation of El Naranjo opened its doors in 2012. And while since then El Naranjo has been called the “only real Mexican restaurant in Texas” by the Texas Monthly and received multiple awards and recognition, its goal remains the same as in 1997: to share the beautiful, delicious, and vast world of Mexican cuisine with others. Guests can expect to find elevated traditional dishes from Oaxaca and Mexico City, de la Vega’s hometowns, but also recipes from every other region of Mexico, such as Puebla, Yucatán, and Veracruz.