Considering our proximity, many of Oklahoma’s Mexican restaurants skew more Tex-Mex than Oaxaca. In Edmond, though, one newcomer is a lone wolf.
Located in the Edmond Railyard, La Loba Cantina + Grill is the latest venture from Robert and Lori Black, whose Edmond empire includes Cafe Evoke, Twisted Tree Baking Company and Bluebird Books. Though they initially planned on opening a steakhouse concept somewhere in Edmond, fate brought a cantina into their lives when a Latin restaurant tenant fell through at the Railyard, inspiring them to pivot to their favorite type of cuisine.
Open since March, La Loba is the Blacks’ most ambitious restaurant concept yet, offering full-service lunch and dinner menus in an immersive space decked out with Mexican-inspired artwork, a wall of artisanal agave spirits and chile ristras. And the menu, focusing on coastal and central Mexican cuisines, is as colorful as it is original.
“In our region, Tex-Mex is the predominant version of Mexican food,” explained Robert Black. “It’s a subculture of a type of cuisine, and it’s ubiquitous in our market, but there are so many other subcultures of Mexican food we don’t get to experience here.”
Citing central, southern and coastal Mexico as inspiration, La Loba is more vegetable- and seafood-focused, offering authentic interpretations of everything from corn esquites to salsa. “Some people picture salsa from a Tex-Mex place, and that’s the salsa that we all know, but Mexican culture has so many great salsas,” he said. “We have mango-habanero salsa, which highlights the ingredients from coastal Mexico, and salsa verde and roja are more indicative of what you’d find in Mexico City—more of a puree than a chunky picante sauce.”
That diligent approach to salsa is indicative of every aspect of the menu, offering a more authentic approach to misunderstood favorites.
“You might have to coach people when they come in,” Lori noted, calling their brand of cuisine “casually awesome Mexican,” and their favorite type of food to eat. “Because they’ll picture a quesadilla cut into fourths, and ours are empanada-style, with masa that we’ve made back here, deep-fried and served with salsa verde.” If the response from customers is any indication, that authenticity is working.
The Blacks reminisced about a family who visited from Los Angeles, calling La Loba’s food “just like my abuela’s,” and a Mexican vaquero who told them he had never eaten anywhere that reminded him so much of home. Said Lori, “Whether it’s here, or Evoke, or Twisted Tree, people have an emotional connection with something that brings them joy.”
Expressing gratitude for their team, including general manager Giovanni Vignola (of Vignola’s Italian Kitchen, right next door) and chef Andrew Landrith, the Blacks helped guide a menu of regional specialties rarely seen in the metro. For starters, Guacamole “La Loba” comes flecked with toasted pepitas and juicy pomegranate seeds, and lime-cured shrimp ceviche packs a zesty punch from serrano chile, cilantro, mint and avocado. The Ensalada de la Casa, too, is an edible rainbow of black beans, charred corn, cucumbers, pickled red onions, cotija, pepitas, blue corn tostadas and creamy avocado vinaigrette (pro tip: It’s even better with grilled shrimp added).
Among the “platos fuertos,” you won’t find fajitas or chimichangas, but rather regional recipes like Oaxacan-style slow-braised pork shoulder, enrobed in mole negro, served with cilantro rice and fried plantains; and garlic-laced grilled chicken — marinated in cilantro and lime — paired with black beans, poblano-onion rajas and chipotle cream. For sides, the esquites are the real deal, featuring plump corn kernels laced with cotija cheese, lime crema, tajin and chile.
The drink list emphasizes cerveza-style lagers and agave spirits, including regional sipping tequilas and mezcals, and a selection of specialty hand-crafted margaritas—“none of which are frozen or swirled,” Robert assured. It’s all served in a space as vibrant, and as richly storied, as the menu.
“The idea of the spirit of La Loba is it’s an older woman that goes through the desert at night, and she gathers up bones, and over a full moon she brings them back to life,” Lori shared of the restaurant’s name, “she wolf,” and the folklore that inspired it. Much of downtown Edmond, she continued, used to be dead, like many American main streets. “But what we’re seeing is this renaissance of people moving in with new retail and restaurants, so I thought it was fun to tell that story.”
Marking their closest collaboration yet, the husband-wife team designed a restaurant befitting a girls’ night out or a double date night; one that feels like dining under a starry night sky, with a wolf mural Lori painted herself, and a color palette she described as a therapeutic feast for the eyes.
“This is something fun and new for us, and it was fun to do it with Robert,” Lori said. “The vision was clear for both of us: When you come, you feel the spirit of La Loba, wherever you are in life, and it just takes you away for a little while.”
