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hadn’t intended to leave Mexico, he
came to the United States in 1989 to
help his brother establish a restaurant.
After working with his brother for a
while, he began to create his own recipes
and later opened a restaurant of his own
in Emeryville, which was named Cocina
Poblana. As he continued to develop
and experiment with recipes, he created
a variety of moles. He later decided to
change the name of the restaurant to
Los Moles, and incorporated the mole
selections onto the menu.
Chef Lito is proud of his culture,
and his passion is to share with customers
the distinct flavors from the traditional
Mexican pueblos such as those in his
home town. His strong Mexican roots
and upbringing have inspired him to
use many family recipes, in addition to
creating his own. Los Moles currently
offers eight different varieties of moles,
one of which boasts up to 50 ingredients.
Two of the featured moles are named
after Lito’s mother, Mama Luisa, and
his grandmother, Mama Elena. A
third, Pipian Mole, is inspired by his
grandfather’s recipe, made with pumpkin
seeds and essence of chile guajillo and
contains over 30 ingredients. Besides
moles, there are many other traditional
Mexican dishes available on Los Moles’
menu. Every item served is made from
scratch in house, and everything is 100%
gluten free. The moles are also free from
animal products—they are made from
a homemade vegetarian base combined
with and other natural ingredients.
Only fresh, locally grown, and organic
ingredients are used at Los Moles, and
all meats used are free from hormones or
antibiotics. In addition, most all entrees
offered can be modified to accommodate
customers following a vegan diet.
Our Friday evening visit to Los
Moles was very enjoyable. The cosmetic
changes made to the interior of the
former Carrow’s restaurant transformed
the space into an open, spacious dining
area with plenty of Mexican accents.
Lito informed us that everything used to
transform the space is made of recycled
materials. There are plenty of wooden
tables and chairs, as well as a few booths
built along the interior walls. The back
of the restaurant can accommodate large
parties and banquets but is otherwise
used for general seating. The ceilings
have open beams, and during the day,
the glass windows surrounding the
restaurant afford plenty of natural light.
In the evening, lighting in the dining
room is provided by rows of small
light bulbs lining the wooden beams,
which emit subdued golden ambient
lighting for the diners. To the right of
the entrance is the liquor bar, boasting
plenty of wooden stools both at the bar
and along the opposite wall. Outside is
the beer garden (patio), which has a large
brick firepit on one side. There is plenty
of seating on the patio, mostly wooden
tables with chairs or tree stumps for
sitting. There is subtle lighting as well as
plenty of space heaters to keep customers
warm as they enjoy their beverages.
We arrived during Happy Hour
which occurs every day at Los Moles
from 3:00 – 6:00, featuring drinks
and appetizers at reduced prices. We
started with Margaritas and sipped
these while interviewing Chef Lito and
enjoying homemade chips and salsa. Lito
suggested that we sample all of the moles
instead of each of us ordering a single
entrée. We thought that was a great
idea, and soon our table was covered
with traditional clay plates, each with
a different mole sample. Six of these
were served with tender organic chicken
breast, one was served with prawns and
one was served with Tilapia. We also
were served a generous portion of green
rice (made with Chile Poblano, cilantro,
garlic, spinach and oregano) and a
container of freshly made tortillas.
We spent the next hour or so
savoring the moles. Lito had explained
to us that eating moles is not about just
eating the sauce, but rather eating it
together with other foods, such as rice,
beans, meat and tortillas. So, we sampled
each mole wrapped in a tortilla with
rice and a bit of the chicken or fish.
Even though each plate only had small
portions, we were extremely full by the
end of the experience! Our wonderful
server for the evening, Roman Becerra,
kept us supplied with rice and tortillas
(and margaritas) while we sampled each
of the delicious moles. Roman was kind
enough to stop by our table to show us
many of the delicious-looking entrees he
was delivering to other customers. The
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