After the lunch-hour rush, Jack London Square empties out. It’s not post-apocalyptic, ghost-town quiet, but it’s also not a bustling hub of activity. The Waterfront Hotel’s closure at the end of January contributed to the decrease in pedestrian traffic. When Alfonso Dominguez signed the lease to open Mia, a taqueria and mezcaleria, there was a 50/50 chance that the Oakland A’s ballpark would also be built nearby. Without a hotel and sports complex to anchor the area, the neighborhood now drifts through a patch of doldrums.
Dominguez and his mother Gloria closed Tamarindo at the end of 2019. During our phone interview, Dominguez was philosophical about the realities of running a business in 2025, which he forecasts as a recession year. “I’m old enough to see that life is a pendulum,” he said. “When it’s bad, people become resilient and do different things and finally change. I guess I have that inner hope.”
But he’s also a pragmatist. Mia is a small taqueria compared to Tamarindo, but he designed it with a full mezcal bar. “I still love Oakland,” he said. “And I’m going to tell you, right now, it’s completely hard to run a business. The margins are even smaller.”
Dominguez said the weekends are good and so are the prospects for summer. To differentiate Mia from some of the other high-end restaurants in the Square, he conceived it as a place for diners to have a $20 lunch. “Agua fresca, fresh jicama and a good steak burrito. Where the hell are you going to get that?” he asked.
Mia’s menu is a take on taquerias from all over Mexico. “We have different styles of tacos from Tijuana to Mexico City,” he said. “Recipes from the Yucatan and Puebla.” But the restaurant also makes a “gringo burrito” served with guacamole and sour cream, two ingredients Mexicans wouldn’t traditionally include.
Dominguez’s parents have operated Taqueria Salsa in Antioch since 1989. As the son of restaurant owners, he watched many culinary trends come and go. “People from Jalisco, they will never put cheese on birria,” he said. “Everybody loves cheese, but there are certain things I tend to be stubborn about. And I’m not going to do trends here.”
The regular menu offers diners four types of tacos to choose from: De La Calle ($4.50), with a soft corn tortilla, meat, whole beans, onion and cilantro. Tijuanense ($6), with a hand-made corn tortilla, meat, whole beans, guacamole. Sonorense ($5), with a hand-made flour tortilla, meat, whole beans, cabbage and salsa fresca. And Tacos De Papa (4 for $14), with crispy corn tacos filled with potato and topped with cabbage, cotija cheese and salsa.
The Tijuanense hand-made tortillas are worth the additional $1.50. The cook warms them on the grill until they’re tender. I also tried all of the specials of the day when I visited. A crispy-shelled tinga tostada ($12) was layered with shredded chicken, cabbage, sour cream and cotija cheese. Papas bravas ($8) is a small plate of crispy potatoes, tossed in salsa macha and topped with an eye-opening spicy cilantro salsa that awakens the senses but also tastes good.
Everyone’s favorite dish was definitely a trio of crispy shrimp tacos ($16); a perfect combination of melted cheese, cabbage and guacamole. When he’s taken these tacos off the menu, people wrote angry letters to Dominguez asking him to bring them back. “I remember we got this one from a corporate head at Chevron; he used to come in, and he wrote a letter,” Dominguez said. “It was hilarious so we had to bring them back.”
Those crispy tacos and the chilaquiles are his mother’s recipes. “We do specials all the time,” he said. “She loves to come in and consult, so we sometimes revisit dishes from Tamarindo.” Dominguez added that Tamarindo was the first mezcal bar in the East Bay. “Maybe in the Bay Area,” he said. “I don’t think anybody was doing that. And this bar is only agave, too, so I think that’s special, right?”
He remains hopeful that The Waterfront will reopen. “We have a lot to deal with as far as people’s feelings about coming to Oakland to eat,” he said. “It’s definitely better now, and there’s a new mayor, but a huge marketing campaign needs to happen.”
Mia, 439 Water St., Oakland. Open Tue 5-9pm, Wed-Sat 11am to 9pm, Sun 11am to 4pm. 510.701.6455. miaoakland.com
