Leticia Chavez's organic Mexican restaurant takes over Shakewell's space with a craft-cocktail agave bar

Leticia Chavez's pozole doesn't need the tiny container of habanero sauce that comes with it. Made with a tomato and cilantro broth, the spice levels in the verde version ($18) are delicious on their own. Giving into temptation, I decided to add the sauce anyway even though it was the color of molten lava. Regrets, I've had a few. At 12:30am that night, spooning in the habanero sauce felt like another big one. But that caveat shouldn't deter fearless diners from attempting that perilous climb up the Scoville scale.

In addition to comforting pozole and the spiciest of sauces, Chavez makes sopes; enchiladas with mole, verde or rojo sauces; chile rellenos; ceviches and fajitas. I also tried one of the tacos and could immediately taste how fresh the tortillas were. Whether crispy or soft, they're all handmade.

Obelisco is the third incarnation of Chavez's restaurant. She started Taco Grill in 2007 across the street from the Fruitvale BART station. Several years later, she changed the name to Obelisco, after the hibiscus flower which grows abundantly in Puerto Vallarta, her hometown. This more evocative name suggested that the restaurant was making many other traditional Mexican dishes beyond the beloved taco. Chavez, who spoke with me on the phone with her helpful son Alain, told me that from the start the dishes have been made from a combination of family recipes and ones she's adapted with California ingredients.

When she first opened Taco Grill, Chavez was one of the first Oakland chefs to adopt the practice of using organic, hormone-free meats. At the time, she had to explain what the term "organic" meant, that it was healthier than eating foods processed with chemicals. "People were so used to having greasy Mexican food, it was hard in the beginning to get people on board to eat 'healthy food,'" Alain said. "Not realizing that real Mexican food is made fresh."

Alain and his two sisters don't have formal roles at the family-run Obelisco. They all do "a bit of everything" to help their mom out. "It's not even a mom-and-pop shop," Alain said. "It's a mom shop, and she only has so much capacity and bandwidth." He and his siblings have been her able assistants since the Taco Grill days. "People who've been coming back to us, they remember me when I was in high school," he said.

The move from Fruitvale to Lakeshore took several months to complete. "It's a really big change from Fruitvale, which was more of a taqueria-style restaurant," Alain said. "Now we have a full, craft-cocktail agave bar." Chavez decided to close the original location at the end of 2024 after sales declined in the neighborhood. People there began working from home after Covid.

When she was offered an opportunity to take over Shakewell's space, the move made sense. Alain said many of their longtime customers live in the Dimond, Montclair and Piedmont neighborhoods. Another big plus -- Chavez lives right down the street.

"Twenty years ago, the possibility of a Latina immigrant opening an expensive restaurant on Lakeshore was not possible," Alain added. He noted that in all the years they've been in the neighborhood there's never been a sit-down, family-style Mexican restaurant on Grand Avenue or Lakeshore. And no, Chipotle doesn't qualify in this category.

"I keep hearing from all our neighbors who've lived here for years -- they've never had an authentic Mexican restaurant that's true to my grandmother's recipes," Alain said. "And they're saying they're so happy that we're finally providing that for them."

Chavez worked diligently to get the restaurant's paperwork approved by the City of Oakland during the course of this year. If not for her perseverance, the review process could have been prolonged. Having said that, when Obelisco's doors reopened for business Alain said they weren't 100% ready.

"Even now, we're still not quite prepared for the number of clients who are visiting us," he said. "But we need to have the doors open." The plan is to hire more staff and to stay open longer in order to create a sense of community, the way that Tim Nugent's Shakewell used to do.

Obelisco, 3407 Lakeshore Ave., Oakland. Open Tue-Sun, 4-9pm. 510.817.4640. obeliscorestaurant.com