Food Runner

Responsibilities

• Run plates from kitchen to tables
• Navigate Oaxacan colonial dining rooms and exterior terraces — rooftop and courtyard dining is common
• Communicate dish names and key ingredient information to guests
• Support service team with table care
• Assist with mezcal service recommendations — food runners in Oaxacan restaurants often field basic mezcal questions

Requirements

• Basic English — international food tourists are a significant market segment in Oaxaca
• Knowledge of Oaxacan dish names and basic mole types — guests regularly ask
• Professional and culturally engaged manner
• Physical ease in colonial building environments — stairs, uneven surfaces, rooftop terraces

Benefits

• IMSS, Aguinaldo, vacation + premium
• Staff meals, uniform
• Tips — Oaxaca's international food tourist market tips meaningfully

Work environment

Contemporary Oaxacan restaurant in the historic center or Jalatlaco neighborhood. Oaxacan dining rooms are some of Mexico's most beautiful — colonial-era architecture, local artisan decoration, mezcal and chocolate at the table.

About the role

Running a plate of mole negro to a food journalist from New York who has been reading about Oaxacan mole for twenty years and is tasting it for the first time. That delivery moment — the plate arrives, the scent of chile and chocolate and time — is one of the most important moments in Mexican food tourism.