AUSTIN (KXAN) — For local restaurant owners, landing a mention from the New York Times can be a big deal, and an east Austin taquería just landed on the publication’s new list: “41 of the Greatest Mexican Restaurants Across the United States.”
“There has never been a better time for Mexican food in the United States,” the NYT wrote at the beginning of the article. “A culinary renaissance over the last 15 years has expanded the American palate well beyond Tex-Mex, tacos and game-night nachos.”
According to the article, a team of NYT reporters, editors, and photographers traveled around the country for over a year in search of the best Mexican food.
The NYT added that the list “is not an attempt to rank the best Mexican restaurants,” but that it’s a “mosaic of great places to eat.”
Three Texas restaurants made the list, and one is in Austin. That’s Nixta Taqueria, an east Austin restaurant that has won Michelin and James Beard awards.
NYT writer Priya Krishna wrote that the “taquería is like no other that you’ll find in this taco-packed town.”
Krishna also praised co-owner Edgar Rico’s tortillas, which he makes fresh using heirloom corn and nixtamalization.
Nixta posted about the NYT mention on social media, saying in part, “Greatness is never a solo act.”
We’re incredibly honored to be recognized by The New York Times as one of the best Mexican restaurants in the country. This recognition belongs to our entire team, past and present, and to the farmers, producers, collaborators, neighbors, and guests who have given us the space to keep experimenting, learning, and telling our story through food.
Nixta isn’t a typical taquería, and for us, it was never about trying to make food that fit someone else’s definition of ‘authentically Mexican.’ It was about making food that was authentically us.
That means being deeply rooted in the traditions and techniques that shaped us while giving ourselves the freedom to build on them. At the heart of Nixta is maíz: we nixtamalize heirloom corn and make our masa and tortillas in-house every day, using an ancient process as the foundation for food that reflects who we are – Mexican, Mexican-American, Persian-American, Texan, and shaped by all the places, people, and experiences that have influenced us along the way.
We’re deeply grateful to The New York Times for seeing what we’re building and for including Nixta among so many restaurants we respect and admire. More than anything, we hope recognition like this continues to expand the conversation around Mexican and Mexican-American food – not by defining what it has to be, but by celebrating just how much it can be.
The other two Texas restaurants that landed on the list were Burnt Bean Company in Seguin and Hugo’s in Houston.
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