Food & Wine USA - (07)July 2020

JULY 2020 67

The COVID-19 pandemic hit shortly after

Nixta Taqueria celebrated five months of

being open. “January and February were

actually our best months so far,” says

Mardanbigi. The coronavirus brought

their momentum to a screeching stop.

Instead of figuring out how to manage

an overflowing dining room, Mardanbigi

and Rico had to quickly figure out how

to set up an online ordering platform.

“Before this, only 5% of our business was

takeout,” says Mardanbigi. They kept a

skeleton crew on to help fulfill online

orders for a pared-down menu of tacos,

tostadas, and paletas. And while other

people were stockpiling toilet paper,

Rico stocked up on heirloom blue corn

for the tortillas they make in-house. “I

was worried the borders might shut, so

I bought 250 pounds of corn.” While the

borders didn’t close, Nixta’s molino—the

machine used to grind corn into masa for

tortillas—broke down, forcing Rico and

Mardanbigi to pivot within their pivot.

They started selling tortas, which proved

so popular that they kept the sandwiches

on the menu even after the molino was

back up and running again. Though

they are surviving for now, Mardanbigi

says she feels like they are operating on

borrowed time: “It makes planning for

the future really hard.”

their pivot

from left: The roasted butternut

squash taco with scallions, pickled red

onions, and hot sauce (top) and the

enchilada potosina taco with duck-fat

refried beans and purple cabbage;

scenes from Nixta Taqueria in Austin

austin

nixta

Taqueria

DEVASTATINGLY GOOD

TACOS AND TOSTADAS ON

HEIRLOOM CORN TORTILLAS

why we love them

It’s bold to open a taqueria in Austin, a

town with no shortage of good restau-

rants and good tacos. But chef Edgar

Rico sets Nixta apart by grinding heir-

loom corn to create tender, fragrant

tortillas for topping with everything

from roasted beet “tartare” to rich

shreds of duck confit. He pulls from

co-owner Sara Mardanbigi’s Persian

heritage, topping tacos with “Persian

mole,” a sauce that draws inspiration

from a beloved Iranian chicken stew. If

it’s unconventional, Rico will find a way

PHO to make it taco—deliciously.

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