“ Visit Gish Bac on a cold night for a hearty nourishing meal. This tiny spot in Arlington Heights serves great Oaxacan cuisine while playing ranchera music. This is one of the neighborhoods in Oaxacalifornia, one of the largest Oaxacan communities outside Mexico. Remember to bring cash. Plato de Barbacoa: Barbacoa is usually a meal you have on the weekends. With this plate, you can order it with goat (roja) or lamb (blanco). The goat is marinated in a red sauce before it is slowly barbecued for many hours. You easily pull the juicy meat off the bones and the flavor is milder than lamb. Tear off pieces of the large blandita (corn tortilla) and dip it in the juices and consommé by the barbecued meat. The cabbage cilantro salad adds a refreshing crunch to the plate and the lime juice adds a nice zing. The green salsa is crisp and citrusy. Also on the plate are some black beans and rice. Champurrado: The big mug contains a hot chocolate beverage thickened with masa. It also has cinnamon and other spices. Parking: Street parking is easy to find here. Dining Area: There are a number of booths and little tables in this narrow dining room. ”

“ First time here. Me and my boyfriend decided to get some breakfast here after watching them on buzz feed. Food is great and the horchata is delicious, next level stuff. Employees are nice and welcoming. ”

“ It is very authentic Oaxacan food, the place is nice and clean and the service is very good too. ”

“ Good food. Portions are decent. Service is less than average but friendly. I'll be back to and I'm curious about some of the dishes. There were some dishes that weren't available as stated on the menu. Nonetheless when needed to make another choice it was ok. They only take cash or Zelle. And gratuity only by cash! ”

“ Went to an Oaxacan lunch with friends at Gish Bac, a restaurant serving Barbacoa and different kinds of Mole. We had the Barbacoa Roja (Goat) and Barbacoa Blanca (Lamb). Both were delicious, but for me, Blanca was a tad tastier. As for the Mole, my favorite was the Mole Negro. It had such a deep flavor and was so delicious! It's very hard to find a good mole, and this was the best I've ever had! The service staff are wonderful, very warm. ”

“ Barbacoa by a master, say no more. The consommé is a bright red balance, strong with chilies and savory like liquid meat. The meat itself has a gamey-er finish and slides off the bones in clumps of shredded bliss. Wrap in a warm tortilla, add a dab of salsa to add the heat, and top off with a cool squeeze of lime and a bit of cabbage slaw. Best thing I've eaten this month. ”

“ Opened in 2010 Gish Bac is led by third generation barbacoa master Maria Ramos, and along with husband David the Oaxacan spot in Arlington Heights turns out Meats cooked slow and succulent plus rich Mole and a top-tier Tlayuda all featuring fresh Tortillas. Roughly translated as "a place of abundance," an idea uncommon at Los Angeles' fanciest Mexican eateries, Gish Bac features casual environs plus friendly service across perhaps a dozen tables in full-view of a kitchen working almost non-stop. Lined in brick with Mexican tunes playing overhead it is a mistake to not start with Horchata featuring the works, a trio of Prickly Pear Sorbet, Melon and Walnuts adding depth to housemade Rice Milk that goes great with complimentary Chips plus Salsa and a side of Mole made with minimal sweetness and lingering heat. Well-known for Barbacoa, a dish novices may not associate with Oaxaca, rest assured that Mrs. Ramos is a master whether utilizing Goat or weekend-special Lamb and even those dining solo would be well-advised to not skip the monstrous Tlayudas offered "plain" or beneath a variety of tender cuts of Beef. ”

“ A hidden gem serving Oaxacan Mexican food. Unfortunately, this gem is too hidden! This is a cute restaurant along a busy street. There was plenty of free parking on the next side street. The interior has a mix of Art and local news clippings highlighting their features. We came at 7pm on a Saturday night (they close at 8) and we were the only ones here. And I have no idea why. To start, we had horchatas ($7). These are fancy with walnuts, sliced cantaloupe with a little dallop of sorbet - delicious! The house specials page were all barbacoa, with several entrees only served on weekends - so what's what we did we had a Barbacoa Blanca (lamb; I think $20), which was very tender and tasty and came with a flavorful consume for dipping. We also had the Plato de Tasajo (a salted beef; I think $17). This was a little less tender (which maybe makes sense for a thinly sliced grilled meat) but the flavor was good. We loved the rice and fresh tortillas, too. I'll also note that we paid with a credit card but when she brought it back to the table there was no tip line. They have a tablet at the counter so I'm sure you can tip that way, we luckily had cash! All in all, this is a local restaurant with casual but attentive service. I'd give it a 4.5 but rounded up to give them the boost. The food was great, I would definitely be back! ”

“ 4++ So I clearly I'm not the one who discovered this place, but this place feels like one of those neighborhood hidden gems. I think this place has been featured on some food shows for their mole in addition to getting recognized by the LA Times as one of the best restaurants in the city. I felt like I would regret not ordering their chicken in (black) mole sauce. Boy, was I not disappointed. Can't say that I eat mole sauce too often, but this may have been some of the best mole I've ever had. It was rich and the texture was silky with the slightest amount of spicy heat. I'm unfamiliar with the process, but you can just tell a lot of ingredients and method went into this. I also ordered the Horchata because the extra items looked fun. I must've been thirsty, because I drank it so fast. It was delicious and loved the bits of nuts and melon in it. The person who waited on me was super nice and helpful. It was also pretty low level of non-sense. I ordered, got my food, and was check on at least one more time. I came by myself at a really late lunch time or early dinner. So the place was not busy at all. It was just me at one booth, two folks in another booth and one family. The place itself was very clean and had Oaxacan banners hanging from the ceiling. Parking can be a little bit stressful because it is a very busy street, but again, I came at an odd hour, so there was plenty of street parking at the time. Just be prepared to do some quick parallel parking on a busy street at peak times or maybe there's ample parking off one of the cross streets. Definitely would love to come back to explore more items on their menu. The Barbacoa looked really delicious and it looks like it's only served on the weekend. ”

“ Wow. Run to this barbacoa. We ordered both the white and red Barbacoa. The red Barbacoa was similar to a consommé soup and delicious. The white Barbacoa is just flavored with a dry rub rather than the extra flavor from the soup, I would order the white if you just want more of a meat taste, but order the red is you want a more robust spicy flavor? We also ordered an appetizer the Tlayuda - it's a pizza-type thing, which was a base lay of beans topped with meat and cactus. I could have done without but it was a nice to try and presentation. I ordered a chicken empanada with red mole - kind of boring. ”