Visit
The Abuela’s Table storefront on Centre Street — red brick, a hand-painted yellow and blue sign, marigolds in a pot and an OPEN sign hanging in the door.

Centre Street · Jamaica Plain, Boston

The way your abuela made it.

A small kitchen on 416 Centre Street cooking Mexican food the slow way. Mole ground from more than thirty ingredients, birria left overnight, tamales, salsas and horchata all made here. Open every day from 11:30.

Find usWhat to order
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Hands pressing fresh tortillas onto a hot comal in a kitchen.
A ladle lifting rich red birria out of a pot.
A shared platter of flautas with guacamole on a woven cloth.
A table spread with tamales, salsas and side dishes, part-eaten.

How we cook

  1. 01

    Masa, made by hand

    Corn cooked down with lime, ground, and pressed into tortillas on the comal. It takes most of the morning. It is also the thing everything else sits on.

  2. 02

    Simmered the way she taught us

    Mole from more than thirty ingredients, each one toasted and ground before it goes in. Birria left on low overnight. Nothing in this kitchen comes out of a can.

  3. 03

    Served the way family eats

    Plates in the middle, salsas on the table, everybody reaching across somebody. We would much rather you shared than each ordered one thing.

  4. 04

    The foods of your memories

    The point was never to be clever with it. It is that somebody tastes the mole and goes quiet for a second, because it tastes like a kitchen they remember.

What to order

The dishes people come back for

Almost everything is made in this kitchen from scratch — the moles, the birria, the tamales, the guacamole, every hot sauce on the table, and the horchata, agua de jamaica and cactus juice too.

  • Three crisp birria tacos on a dark plate with a bowl of consommé, lime wedges, pickled onion and salsa.

    Tacos de Birria

    Tortillas dipped in a rich consommé, filled with beef birria and melted cheese, and crisped on the griddle. The consommé comes alongside, and it is the point — dip every bite.

    $15.99

  • Two charred cobs of Mexican street corn dusted with Cotija, chilli and cilantro.

    Elotes — Mexican Street Corn

    Grilled corn under housemade chipotle sauce, Cotija, cilantro, lime and tajín. Messy on purpose. There is a stack of napkins on the table for a reason.

    $7.00

  • Two scoops of fresh guacamole on a blue plate with tortilla chips standing in them.

    Guacamole & Chips

    Avocado, cilantro, salt, lime and white onion, and nothing else in it. The table always ends up ordering a second one.

    $10.95

  • Crisp rolled flautas topped with lettuce, sour cream and pickled onion, with a cup of red salsa.

    Flautas de Birria

    Three crisp rolled tacos stuffed with beef birria, under lettuce, onions, sour cream and cheese. The snack people order and then order again.

    $8.95

  • A breaded stuffed poblano pepper on a white plate under cheese sauce, topped with pico de gallo.

    Chile Relleno de Vegetales

    A poblano stuffed with vegetables and cheese under a creamy guajillo and red pepper sauce. The one to order if you are not eating meat, and often the one to order anyway.

    $17.95

  • Three crispy fish tacos with chipotle sauce, pickled cabbage and pico de gallo, with a pot of black beans.

    Tacos de Pescado

    Crispy tilapia on warm corn tortillas with a mild chipotle sauce, fresh cabbage and pico de gallo, with black beans on the side.

    $16.50

A platter of five tacos — al pastor, carnitas, chicken, carne asada and a crisp vegetarian one — with lime wedges and a pot of green salsa.
One order of almost everything, which is how most tables do it.

Our story

Recipes that came down
from somebody’s grandmother.

Abuela’s Table is named after exactly what it sounds like. The recipes came down through a family — written down by nobody, taught by standing next to somebody at the stove — and that is still how this kitchen runs.

Almost all of it is made here: the moles, the birria, the tamales, the guacamole, every hot sauce that reaches the table, and the horchata, the agua de jamaica and the cactus juice as well. It is slower that way. That is the entire point.

It is one small room on 416 Centre Street, and we like it that way. Come in hungry, order more than you meant to, and stay at the table a while after the plates go.

  • 30+Ingredients in the mole, toasted and ground here
  • 2025Best of Boston, Best Mexican Restaurant
  • 7Days a week, kitchen open from 11:30

The table

A few more things worth ordering

Four tacos on a grey plate — al pastor, carne asada, crispy fish and chicken — with a lime wedge.
Abuela’s salad topped with sautéed shrimp, avocado and pickled cabbage.
Abuela’s salad topped with grilled salmon, avocado, pickled cabbage and queso fresco.
Abuela’s salad topped with carne asada, avocado and pickled red cabbage.

Visit

416 Centre Street,
Jamaica Plain

416 Centre Street
Boston, MA 02130

On Centre Street between Hyde Square and Jackson Square. A lot of the menu is gluten-free and there is more than a page of vegetarian dishes — ask and we will point you at them. No liquor licence: the horchata, the agua de jamaica and the cactus juice are all made here instead.

Call (617) 524‑6464Get directions

Open

Monday – Sunday
11:30 AM – 9 PM

The same hours every day of the week. Brunch is served 11:30 to 2 on Saturday and Sunday.