Sample Teotitlán’s best at the traditional Tlamanalli restaurant (on Juárez, about a block south of Hidalgo, no phone, 1–4 p.m. daily except possibly Mon. and Thurs., longer hours when more people stop by). Their menu of made-to-order Zapotec specialties, such as sopa de calabaza (squash soup, $5) and guisado de pollo (chicken stew, $10) is limited, but highly recommended by Oaxaca City chefs.

If Tlamanalli is closed, go to the inviting Restaurant El Descanso (Juárez 51, tel. 951/524-4152, weaving shop and restaurant open 8 a.m.–6 p.m. daily). Your hosts will be the welcoming family of Edmundo and Alicia Montaño, who, besides crafting and selling lovely wool weavings, also serve tasty country fare and offer a number of rooms ($40 d) that open on to their leafy and lovely inner garden-patio. Choices include king-sized, regular double bed, and single beds.

Alternatively, for a lunch or early dinner treat, stop at showplace Restaurant El Patio (out on the highway, 0.8 mile/1.2 km east of the Teotitlán entrance road, tel. 951/514-4889, 10 a.m.–6 p.m. Tues.–Sun.). The restaurant centers around an airy patio, decorated by antique country furniture and a fetching gallery of scenes from the 1940s-era films of the Mexican Golden Age of cinema. The finale is the food, of tasty traditional Oaxacan dishes such as ensalada Oaxaqueña ($4), Zapotec soup ($3), and the house specialty botana Don Pepe ($7).