1999
A small torta counter opens on Fremont Boulevard, serving Oaxacan recipes to Seaside families.
Family-owned since 1999
A Seaside favorite built on family and Oaxacan flavor
La Tortuga started as a small torta counter on Fremont Boulevard and grew into one of the Monterey Peninsula's most dependable places to eat.
The recipes came from Oaxaca and haven't been softened for anyone. Mole negro is simmered down with chiles, seeds and chocolate until it turns almost black. Tlayudas go on the comal until the edges blister. Black bean paste, queso fresco, epazote, cecina — the things a Oaxacan kitchen should have, we have.
The family still runs the place. After the founder's passing, his son Elijah took over the kitchen and the legacy that came with it — a story Monterey County NOW covered, and one See Monterey has highlighted among the region's Hispanic-owned businesses.
What hasn't changed: doors open at 6AM, portions stay generous, and the people behind the counter know the regulars by their order.
From Oaxaca to Seaside
A short history of La Tortuga
2000s
Word spreads about the mole and tlayudas. Regulars start driving from Monterey, Marina and Salinas.
2010s
The menu grows to more than 140 items while the kitchen stays family-run.
Today
Second-generation leadership keeps the recipes intact and the doors open at 6AM.
The people behind La Tortuga
A family history, shared around the table
For the family behind La Tortuga, the story is more than a date on the sign. It lives in the people who built this place and the generations who keep gathering around it. These family photographs are a glimpse of that history.
Today, the next generation carries La Tortuga forward in Seaside, keeping the family kitchen connected to the community that has grown up with it.
What sets us apart
Why guests keep coming back
There are plenty of places to eat on the Monterey Peninsula. Here's why La Tortuga has stayed busy for more than two decades.
Oaxacan, not generic
Tlayudas, enmoladas, memelas, cecina and mole negro — regional cooking you rarely find on the coast.
Breakfast from 6AM
Chilaquiles, huevos rancheros and 14-inch breakfast burritos before most kitchens are warm.
Portions that travel
Everything is packed for takeout the same way we plate it in the dining room.
Family at the register
The people taking your order are the same people prepping the food. No corporate playbook, just consistency.
What "Oaxacan" actually means
The cooking behind the menu
Oaxaca is often called the culinary heart of Mexico, and its food looks different from the Tex-Mex most Californians grew up with. It leans on dried chiles, toasted seeds, herbs like epazote and hoja santa, fresh masa, and cheeses such as quesillo and queso fresco.
Mole negro alone can take more than two dozen ingredients — chiles toasted just short of burning, seeds, spices, plantain and a little chocolate — cooked down slowly until the sauce is glossy and almost black. It is not sweet, and it is not a shortcut sauce out of a jar.
That's the standard we hold the rest of the menu to. If a dish takes all morning, it takes all morning.
Tlayuda
A large tortilla crisped on the comal, spread with bean paste and layered with quesillo, meat and salsa.
Mole negro
The signature Oaxacan sauce: chiles, seeds, spices and chocolate, simmered for hours.
Cecina
Thin pork marinated in chile, grilled fast and served with nopales and lime.
Memelas
Thick masa rounds pinched at the edges, topped with bean paste and cheese.
Come taste the difference family makes
We're at 1257 Fremont Blvd, Seaside, CA 93955, open every day except Wednesday. Call (831) 394-8320 to ask about the daily specials or place a takeout order.