Went to Nixta with my friend from out of town. He saw nixta on somebody feed Phil and wanted to try! For background he’s from LA and I last took him to Un Mundo De Sabor when he was in town and he loved it. It’s counter service and you wait in line to order then they bring your food to your table. We got basically every taco in our group, a salsa flight, chips, and their special pork belly mole for 14 bucks.
The standouts: I love the bean and cheese taco. It’s so satisfying and I think the ratios are perfect. The duck carnitas were flavorful and very good. My only critique is it’s super oily and they put a large amount on one tortilla, it would be nice to serve it with an extra tortilla! The beet tostada is my favorite and I like the refreshing beets on top of the avocado crema. I didn’t order the tuna tostada but my table did because in the past I found it meh and kinda a weird Asian fusion tacos. The pork belly mole was really good and the pork belly was cooked well, the tortillas are really greasy in this one and can be a lot with the pork belly.
Negatives: I wasn’t a fan of the chips and salsa. They asked if I wanted to add avocado crema, the tiny cup in the photo and I didn’t look at the price and it made my chips and salsa 15 bucks lol. I asked for salsa and it was an additional 1 dollar which I felt salsa should come with tacos… at least everywhere I’ve gone. I like the salsas though and would buy them again. There’s also a 3% service fee.
So I feel like the taste and quality of the tacos I got were worth it but my table was pretty disappointing and felt they’d rather eat cuantos or discada. My friend said he enjoyed the taste of un mundos tacos alot more. I would say the ambience is def casual on you’re sitting on picnic tables but the price is more fancy restaurant vibes.
Edited to add: the chips were incredibly tough, and too thick. They were on the border of being stale and really hurt our teeth when trying to eat. I would recommend not ordering them personally. The bean dip was over seasoned and bitter and the avocado crema cup wasn’t great for chips as it was like yogurt consistency , so I wouldn’t recommend.
PaleFarmer
I really like the flavors of Nixta and was blown away by how they could make their sweet potato taco taste. However, their prices are a little on the high side, and this is coming from someone who blows a ton of money on food.
Doubt they will change anything as I live in the neighborhood and they consistently have a long line.
stevendaedelus
Next time just go to Texsueño at High Noon. Better than Nixta or Suerte, and definitely doing similar “elevated tacos.”
chriscucumber
Anybody else think this looks like that super fucked up krabby patty on that one episode
mawarren88
I really need to go back, I went probably two years ago and remember 3 things
1. Duck carnitas 2. Timing of food coming out was all over the place with random long periods where nobody had food 3. Seating was a messy free for all
mentirosa_atx
This sub occasionally asks what restaurants are worth supporting because they have good business practices — Nixta is absolutely one of those places. I encourage you to balance that against any criticism on the price of their tacos. It’s almost a community center on top of a very good taco spot.
wtfsachode
Just ate their last night with a friend from out of town. All of the tacos we tried were great, although I do think the duck was too greasy, and the cauliflower was a bit under-cooked. I agree with your point about the chips – they really need to work on making them less difficult to eat. Honestly, if they just served crushed up tostadas it would be leagues better than their current recipe. The highlight (as usual for me) was the beet tostada – just a very well executed dish.
On a separate point, I find comparisons to spots like cuantos/discada unhelpful and potentially problematic. Despite all these places having “tacos” on the menu they just fundamentally strive to provide different experiences, with different focuses. For instance, I really appreciate the vegetable-centric dishes that Nixta offers along with the focus on scratch-made tortillas/masa dishes and fusion specials. It’s kind of sad to me that people feel the need to directly pit their experiences at any of these places directly against each other; almost as if there isn’t room in the city for an entire spectrum of styles of tacos at different price points/ambiances. Put another way, I don’t typically see people pitting foods like pizza the same way – makes me wonder why tacos deserve such scrutiny.
macchinas
This place would not last more than 2 months in LA. I also made the mistake of coming here with a friend visiting from out of town because they had seen it on the show. I will gladly pay $$$ for good food, but this place is just not it.
I’ve said it before and it still stands—Austin has way below average Mexican/tex-mex food. The only people who enjoy mex/tex-mex food here are the locals unfamiliar with other food scenes.
jjlolo
meh. my tuna was off, cauliflower was over cooked…not worth the wait or the hype
Starbright108
That second picture does not look appetizing to me.
assistant2TRMngr
I respect Nixta’s effort to expose Austin to a more authentic Mexican food experience and giving the dishes a neat twist. Austin, after eating at Nixta book a flight to CDMX, Querétaro, or Oaxaca ect…and explore the variations in the Mexican cuisine and enjoy the warmth of mezcal. You will not regret it. Cheers ATX.
45isaLOSER
Good food but terrible execution.
KilruTheTurtle
I’ll pass based on the price of chips and salsa alone.
I wish more places made their own tortillas (not saying Nixta didn’t). That alone I’d pay more for the food.
13 Comments
Went to Nixta with my friend from out of town. He saw nixta on somebody feed Phil and wanted to try! For background he’s from LA and I last took him to Un Mundo De Sabor when he was in town and he loved it. It’s counter service and you wait in line to order then they bring your food to your table. We got basically every taco in our group, a salsa flight, chips, and their special pork belly mole for 14 bucks.
The standouts: I love the bean and cheese taco. It’s so satisfying and I think the ratios are perfect. The duck carnitas were flavorful and very good. My only critique is it’s super oily and they put a large amount on one tortilla, it would be nice to serve it with an extra tortilla! The beet tostada is my favorite and I like the refreshing beets on top of the avocado crema. I didn’t order the tuna tostada but my table did because in the past I found it meh and kinda a weird Asian fusion tacos. The pork belly mole was really good and the pork belly was cooked well, the tortillas are really greasy in this one and can be a lot with the pork belly.
Negatives: I wasn’t a fan of the chips and salsa. They asked if I wanted to add avocado crema, the tiny cup in the photo and I didn’t look at the price and it made my chips and salsa 15 bucks lol. I asked for salsa and it was an additional 1 dollar which I felt salsa should come with tacos… at least everywhere I’ve gone. I like the salsas though and would buy them again. There’s also a 3% service fee.
So I feel like the taste and quality of the tacos I got were worth it but my table was pretty disappointing and felt they’d rather eat cuantos or discada. My friend said he enjoyed the taste of un mundos tacos alot more. I would say the ambience is def casual on you’re sitting on picnic tables but the price is more fancy restaurant vibes.
Edited to add: the chips were incredibly tough, and too thick. They were on the border of being stale and really hurt our teeth when trying to eat. I would recommend not ordering them personally. The bean dip was over seasoned and bitter and the avocado crema cup wasn’t great for chips as it was like yogurt consistency , so I wouldn’t recommend.
I really like the flavors of Nixta and was blown away by how they could make their sweet potato taco taste. However, their prices are a little on the high side, and this is coming from someone who blows a ton of money on food.
Doubt they will change anything as I live in the neighborhood and they consistently have a long line.
Next time just go to Texsueño at High Noon. Better than Nixta or Suerte, and definitely doing similar “elevated tacos.”
Anybody else think this looks like that super fucked up krabby patty on that one episode
I really need to go back, I went probably two years ago and remember 3 things
1. Duck carnitas
2. Timing of food coming out was all over the place with random long periods where nobody had food
3. Seating was a messy free for all
This sub occasionally asks what restaurants are worth supporting because they have good business practices — Nixta is absolutely one of those places. I encourage you to balance that against any criticism on the price of their tacos. It’s almost a community center on top of a very good taco spot.
Just ate their last night with a friend from out of town. All of the tacos we tried were great, although I do think the duck was too greasy, and the cauliflower was a bit under-cooked. I agree with your point about the chips – they really need to work on making them less difficult to eat. Honestly, if they just served crushed up tostadas it would be leagues better than their current recipe. The highlight (as usual for me) was the beet tostada – just a very well executed dish.
On a separate point, I find comparisons to spots like cuantos/discada unhelpful and potentially problematic. Despite all these places having “tacos” on the menu they just fundamentally strive to provide different experiences, with different focuses. For instance, I really appreciate the vegetable-centric dishes that Nixta offers along with the focus on scratch-made tortillas/masa dishes and fusion specials. It’s kind of sad to me that people feel the need to directly pit their experiences at any of these places directly against each other; almost as if there isn’t room in the city for an entire spectrum of styles of tacos at different price points/ambiances. Put another way, I don’t typically see people pitting foods like pizza the same way – makes me wonder why tacos deserve such scrutiny.
This place would not last more than 2 months in LA. I also made the mistake of coming here with a friend visiting from out of town because they had seen it on the show. I will gladly pay $$$ for good food, but this place is just not it.
I’ve said it before and it still stands—Austin has way below average Mexican/tex-mex food. The only people who enjoy mex/tex-mex food here are the locals unfamiliar with other food scenes.
meh. my tuna was off, cauliflower was over cooked…not worth the wait or the hype
That second picture does not look appetizing to me.
I respect Nixta’s effort to expose Austin to a more authentic Mexican food experience and giving the dishes a neat twist.
Austin, after eating at Nixta book a flight to CDMX, Querétaro, or Oaxaca ect…and explore the variations in the Mexican cuisine and enjoy the warmth of mezcal. You will not regret it.
Cheers ATX.
Good food but terrible execution.
I’ll pass based on the price of chips and salsa alone.
I wish more places made their own tortillas (not saying Nixta didn’t). That alone I’d pay more for the food.