About Us

It all started with Carmen’s mother Gloria. “Mama Gloria”, always prepared the family meals and Carmen loved being in the cocina (kitchen), helping Mama Gloria. Mama Gloria only used fresh ingredients from their garden such as tomatoes, tomatillos, parsley, cilantro, garlic, onions, and the many types of chiles and mole. Mole is a traditional marinade and sauce originally used in Mexican cuisine, and made famous in Oaxaca. With these ingredients Mama Gloria taught Carmen her secrets to Oaxacan Cuisine. Even today Carmen uses the chiles and mole from Oaxaca to prepare her famous salsas. Carmen moved to Oceanside in 1991 and while working with her church group, she learned to prepare food for large groups and events of 300 or more people. It was then that Carmen realized she was able to prepare food for large groups, all the while still maintaining the home cooked taste and quality she learned from Mama Gloria’s kitchen in Oaxaca.

In 2005 Carmen started “Cocina Del Carmen Catering” and was preparing food for large events such as weddings, Quinceañeras, birthday parties, and corporate events. Carmen’s food was so delicious that she became very popular and word spread quickly. The business grew and Carmen and her family started dreaming about opening a real restaurant.

With love and joy Carmen is happy to prepare Oaxacan Cuisine for you and your family too now with her restaurant Cocina Del Carmen.

The secret is to always use the freshest ingredients, nothing is from a can or frozen. Hence our slogan "Always Fresh, Naturally Healthy".

Location

1350 East Vista Way
Vista, CA, 92084
United States

Hours

Tuesday - Friday, 10 am - 9 pm

Saturday - Sunday, 9 am - 9 pm

Closed Mondays

Contact

+1 760-295-3311

garyjacobson@yahoo.com