Oaxacan Restaurant and Mezcaleria Madre is expanding to a fourth location in Valencia, located at 27007 McBean Pkwy.
The new Madre will replace a Black Angus around September 2022, first reported by Eater LA. Owner Ivan Vasquez tells What Now Los Angeles the new 6,725 square-foot space will have a lounge and a tasting room for mezcal. Vasquez first opened Madre in the Palms neighborhood in 2012 after 15 years of working up the corporate ladder for Baja Fresh. Madre also has locations in Torrance and West Hollywood. This will be the furthest North location for the company.
Vasquez moved from Oaxaca to Los Angeles in 1995 and immediately missed his mother’s home cooking. After working his way up to district manager of Baja Fresh with control of 14 locations at the age of 24, he lost interest in the corporate agenda. He decided to take over El Nopal in 2012 and reimagine it to honor his mother’s and culture’s cooking. On top of that, Vasquez found inspiration from his grandfather’s mezcaoaria, where customers can enjoy a variety of mezcal. The concept wasn’t popular in Los Angeles until a few years after the first Madre opened.
Now, all three Madres offer extensive menus featuring Oaxacan and Mexican dishes such as elote, moles, tamales, and barbacoa tacos. What’s more impressive is that Madre is the proud owner of the largest mezcal selection in the United States with more than 400 different bottles. The restaurant also offers signature cocktails, beer, and wine.
“I am here to bring you a taste of my culture, a food that is deep with soul from the people who cook it and the family recipes it was passed from,” Vasquez told Resy earlier this year. “We are more than some chiles and spices on a molcajete. We are a people with a passion. While we have witnessed our cuisine undergo a renaissance throughout the city, we have also witnessed certain appropriations.”
