Las Molenderas

Las Molenderas Restaurant Review:

Estela Morales, husband Lucio, son Moses and daughter Marisol Feregrino debuted their Boyle Heights restaurant in 2014, specializing in Puebla-style mole dishes. Las Molenderas has since relocated to a larger space in Huntington Park. Among the varieties of mole are the sesame-centric pipian rojo, pumpkin seed-based pipian verde, pipian de chipotle and mole poblano. For breakfast, opt for huevos con mole, with two over-easy eggs blanketed with mole poblano, or possibly even better, potent pipian de chipotle. Each plate comes with fluffy orange rice folded with peas, stewed pinto beans and thick hand-made corn tortillas. Mole nachos are particularly fun, with tortilla chips loaded with grilled dark meat chicken, molten Monterey Jack cheese and mole poblano crafted from toasted and ground chilies. Pipian verde is a gritty green sauce served over oven-baked pork ribs, or if you prefer, chicken. In both cases, pumpkin seeds serve as a garnish, and the plate comes with more rice and beans. To drink, expect sodas like Coca-Cola and Jarritos, plus house-made aguas frescas.