where the Holbox team eats (that isn't Holbox)
Plus, meet Lucy, the badass server who demoted herself
If you haven’t been to Holbox, please DO NOT GO because I can’t bear the lines getting any longer.
The good news is that I went, spoke to many of the crew and collected a list of their favorite restaurants in Socal, so there’s no need for you to ever visit this Michelin-starred restaurant serving exceptionally fresh, beautifully dressed Mexican seafood.
It was the night of the Mexico vs. Czech Republic game (i.e., yesterday), and I took a dear friend there for her birthday dinner. But instead of connecting with her in a loving and meaningful way, I burned my mouth off with Holbox’s Kut Habanero hot sauce1 (which they should really market as a lip volumizer) and spent the majority of the evening taking the ice cubes from our plate of blood clams and rubbing them all over my face, doing my best to avoid eye contact with everyone around because I hated myself.
Thankfully the Holbox staff were too busy to notice how bad I was at eating — they were all buzzing around the kitchen trying to listen to the Mexico game announcements on the radio. A server told me the landlord wasn’t in the building, so there was no way to play the game on any of the TVs in Mercado La Paloma (where Holbox is located alongside other excellent food stalls). They would have to live all the drama by ear. Everyone had on some kind of Mexico swag, and the joy and national pride would have been heartwarming had I not been in such extreme physical pain.
After my lips deflated back to their normal size, my friend and I awkwardly waved to the friendliest-looking server, hoping she’d give us the inside scoop. Given how incredible the food is at Holbox, I imagined everyone working there would know how and where to find other incredible food in LA.
Her name was Itzel, and she’d been working there almost a year. Itzel told us, “Holbox taught me good food. After eating here, my standards are so high. I won’t settle for bad food anymore.” She drives from Long Beach every day to work there but doesn’t mind the traffic as long as she has good music playing.
I asked to take her portrait, but she declined because her hair “is a whole thing,” and she didn’t think the Holbox baseball caps were flattering enough (honestly, fair).
Not only was Itzel generous enough to share her recommendations, but she also convinced other staff members to talk to me. Whether it was out of kindness or pity is irrelevant because I’m just so glad they were willing to share.
The first person she dragged over was Leonel, the supervisor. I said the exact weird thing on my mind, which was that he looked really intimidating and important. He laughed but did not disagree. We congratulated him on their Michelin star, and he responded, “I really hope we get one this year. Let’s see.” He gave us a good list of recommendations, including a taqueria in South Central that sounded so cool we had to drive by and see it immediately (photos are below).
Undoubtedly the coolest person Itzel introduced us to was Lucy, a server who seemed to have an impeccable relationship with work and good living.
LUCY: I’ve been at Holbox since it opened, but before that, I was at Chichen Itza. I’ve worked with Chef Gilberto for almost twenty years, since 2007. I was a supervisor for three years, but I didn’t love the stress. You have to manage so many people. If someone doesn’t show up, you have to call them, figure out why — it’s a headache. Much less fun than being a server. Plus, dealing with clients and their complaints was always tough with my English (FYI her English is perfect), so one day I told them I just wanted to be a server. I love this job so much more.
The full list of restaurant recommendations is below. Interestingly, everyone we talked to really struggled to think of places worth eating at outside of Holbox, which seemed wholly genuine because I was already on the hook for the bill, and they don’t need any more promotion. It seems like everyone who goes to Holbox falls in love with Holbox. I can’t wait to go back and ask more of the crew for their recs.
