Almazara Cocina de Rancho Olivares

Almazara. That’s Arabic for the “Place where it is squeezed”. Why Arabic in Mexico? I dunno, probably because it sounds cool. But “the place where it gets squeezed” makes all the sense in the word. It used to be an olive factory. It was THE...olive factory, where olives were squeezed and pressed, and where oil was made. Back in the day it was the very heartbeat of Guadalupe Valley. That was before Ruta de Vino came into being. Back in the day, olives provided more jobs than grapes for the average valley resident. But what do you care? You want to know about the food. Almazara is a restaurant that focuses on lamb. Sounds funny right in the middle of this place where people mostly like beef and fish and beans and wine. Me, myself and I am not a lamb guy, so I was in no rush to go, even though it is just around the corner from home. My bad. The lamb was delicious, no baas about it! My lovely wife got one fine rib-eye. That was succulent. The kids got pizza, they were happy, The setting, in the middle of what used to be the Western Hemisphere’s largest olive orchard, is serene. The restaurant itself feels more old factory than restaurant—and that is a high compliment. I think it is one of the places that most truly reflects the authentic culture of Guadalupe Valley. No, the shiny windowy wine factories are all new-fangled. Almazara still has the slow, rustic sense of the way things were done long ago. Olive presses and harvest boxes, old authentic photos and hand tools, tractors and heavy machinery. It’s all right there. The place is spacious and not overcrowded with tables. You can eat your lamb without being overwhelmed by the loudmouth at the next table. You can dine in, you can dine out. Either way, you will enjoy!

We had dinner at ALAMAZARA everything we ordered was deliciously made from appitizers to the fresh salads and finnaly the lamb and beef we had was excelent

The food is excellent, good service and the environment is perfect. I advice you to reserve a table before you reach the place since must of the times is booked.

Great job to transforming a former olive oil processing factory into a unique restaurant. Definitely worth the visit...

El dia de ayer, junto con un grupo de amigos, fuimos a Almazara. la experiencia fue realmente penosa, primero nos dieron una mesa grande, a los pocos minutos llegó quién dijo ser el gerente y nos dijo que por error nos habían dado esa mesa, que nos teníamos que cambiar porque acababan de llegar un grupo de jovencitos de esos hijos de papas que "tienen que gastar mucho dinero porque lo ganan misteriosamente fácil" y a ellos les darían nuestra mesa, frente a un restaurante lleno la pena de tenernos que levantar, cosa que no aceptamos, por supuesto no nos quisieron levantar la orden incluso, la mesera nos dijo que nos le habían dado permiso de tomarnos la orden. tuvimos que levantarnos a pedir una explicación y fué muy penoso como hacen diferencias y discriminan. cuando la chef principal se comprometió a servirnos, comida que por supuesto fue sin sabor, cara y de mal modo. el lugar es muy bonito, pero definitivamente no tienen respeto por la gente, nuestra cuenta fue de mas de 4,000 pesos y aún así lo atienden mal a uno. que pena por esa zona.