Edgar Rico grew up in California’s Central Valley, and would regularly visit Mexico with his family. At 17, he found work in the kitchen of a local steakhouse, where the chef encouraged him to apply to the Culinary Institute of America in New York. After completing his externship at Craft in LA, he joined the opening team at Son of a Gun, a new LA seafood restaurant created by award-winning chefs Vinny Dotolo and Jon Shook. Then he helped the pair, with chef Ludo Lefebvre, open Trois Mec, a new concept focusing on French ‘bistronomy.’ Next came a period at hip brunch joint Sqirl with chef Jessica Koslow. After six years in LA, Rico left to travel around Mexico, on a journey that included a stint at legendary fine-dining restaurant Pujol. In 2016, Rico moved to Austin, Texas, where he met his partner Sara Mardanbigi, with whom he opened Nixta Taqueria in 2019.
In 2022, Rico won a James Beard Emerging Chef Award and was featured in TIME100 Next, which recognizes rising stars in different industries around the world. He went on to win a StarChefs Rising Star Award in 2023, also being named one of Food & Wine’s Best New Chefs.
Restaurant
Rico and Mardanbigi opened Nixta Taqueria on Austin’s East 12th Street in October 2019, and it rapidly became a hit among food critics and locals, with a queue frequently stretching around the block. Nixta is known for its imaginative, vegetable-forward menu and its artisanal approach to tostadas and tacos. Rico uses heirloom corn from Mexico to prepare his tortillas, and the process of nixtamalization (a traditional way of preparing the maize) that gives the taqueria its name is carried out in-house.
In 2020, Nixta was recognized by Food & Wine magazine as one of the Top 10 Best New Restaurants in America.
It is popular not only for the food, but also for the role it plays in the local community. Nixta’s large outdoor space is used for pop-ups and performances by staff and community members, and was also the pilot location for the ATX Free Fridge Project, set up during the pandemic to help people facing food insecurity. This willingness to go the extra mile for the local community was repaid in 2023 when Nixta was forced to shut down pending significant electrical repairs, with local donors rapidly contributing over $100,000 to a GoFundMe page to finance the renovation.
Recipes and dishes
Nixta’s trademark tortilla flavor begins with the heirloom corn it uses, which is sourced from a farm in Oaxaca and nixtamalized in-house. But what Nixta really stands out for is the creativity of the vegetable-forward fillings used in its tacos and tostadas.
One signature dish is the enchilada potosina taco, which was inspired by the love story of Rico’s parents in their hometown of San Luis Potosí, Mexico. The white corn masa for the tortilla is infused with guajillo chili, topped with duck-fat-refried heirloom black beans and a rich potato puree with savory chorizo, then garnished with shredded purple cabbage and plenty of mature cheese.
Specialties like this have helped spread Rico’s reputation far and wide. He has cooked for celebrities from President Obama to Jay-Z and Beyoncé, and Hollywood actress Anne Hathaway became a fan when she visited Nixta after a movie premiere.
But Rico is not the only one making great tacos in Austin. He is part of an informal ‘Taco Mafia’—including Nixta, Cuantos Tacos, and Discada—who support the local community and each other. The protagonists of the Taco Mafia are the stars of an eponymous eight-part documentary series launched in October 2023 on Austin PBS.
