I’ve been desiring a meal at Las Molenderas ever since my friend Bill wrote about it on Los Angeles Magazine‘s food blog.

I’ve got a thing for mole. I love how no two moles are the same. I love how every mole is incredibly complex, challenging even the most well-trained palates to identify its components. Most of all, I love the comfort and satisfaction of a beautifully made mole. It’s really something special.

I finally made my way to Las Molenderas a few weeks back along with some mole-appreciating colleagues. We started with house-made agua frescas—horchata and cucumber. Both were too sweet for our tastes, unfortunately.

The guacamole, on the other hand, was totally up our alley. It was spicy with an exclamation point and served with hot-from-the-fryer tortilla chips—a killer combination.

To help us decided which mole to order, our waiter kindly brought over two different kinds for us to taste—mole poblano and mole poblano de chipotle. It had been a while since we’d received such warm and attentive service.

We all favored the smokey and spicy mole poblano de chipotle. I ordered mine over chicken, along with rice and beans. My friend Thien ordered hers with an egg on top. It’s hard to go wrong, really.

While the chicken, rice, and beans were all suitable vehicles for the luscious mole, the thick and rustic house-made corn tortillas were tops.

As we finished up lunch, the restaurant’s proprietress brought out three additional pumpkin seed-based moles for us to taste—pipian verde, pipian rojo, and pipian de chipotle. All three were intriguing and worthy of further exploration on our next lunch adventure. 

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Las Molenderas Restaurant
635 Whittier Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90023
Phone: 323-269-2812

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