Mixtli

What it is: An innovative restaurant serving regional Mexican tasting menus and the only restaurant in San Antonio to have received a Michelin Star. Why we love it: Dining at Mixtli, which is the spoken Aztec word for “cloud,” is like traveling to different places and time periods. Operating under the premise that Mexican food can’t be defined because of Mexico's vast diversity, Mixtili challenges your preconceived notions about what Mexican food is.

No single restaurant made a bigger transition during the pandemic than Mixtli, the modernist Mexican restaurant that ranked No. 1 on 2019’s list. Chefs and owners Rico Torres and Diego Galicia closed their original location in a 12-seat boxcar near Olmos Park in 2020 and reopened Mixtli last summer in a Southtown restaurant space with room for a cocktail bar and more than triple the capacity, affording the luxury of multiple seatings rather than one communal service a night. While Mixtli lost some of its intimacy and storytelling spark in the move, it preserved the same attention to detail and creative flair, with dishes like scallops presented with coconut foam and dry-ice, a radiant shrimp tamal and chopped mussels on squid ink masa.

Mixtli, the best Mexican restaurant in San Antonio, is unique, in that its quarterly menu focuses on the past and present of a selected region of Mexico and the flavors and ingredients that derived over the years from that area. This results in an animated 10-course, prix fixe menu that serves up an extensive history of flavor, dish origins, and ingredients that will leave you with a newfound knowledge of Mexico and have you questioning if you ever really knew anything about Mexican food at all. Its current menu, focusing on the Puebla region, boasts four different and intricate mole sauces, black bean garlic soup with frothed Guayanés cheese, poblano sorbet, and the most tender beef tongue shrouded in mesquite smoke.

Speaking of Michelin, Mixtli (an Aztec word for cloud) holds the city’s only coveted star after the guide’s inaugural foray into Texas cuisine in 2024. While spots for dinner fill up quickly, the bar is the best way to glimpse into the world of Mixtli without a reservation. Bar director Lauren Beckman has built a creative program filled with historical references, like the spruce air foam atop the Ponderosa Rivers cocktail which represents the aromas Mexican forces may have smelled while standing beneath the pine trees for shade in Northern California during the Mexican-American war.

Named after the Aztec word for "cloud," the culinary concept at Mixtli seeks to take diners on a trip across Mexico, exploring its immense culinary landscape. Mexico City and Puebla have inspired past menus, while the current one centers around Guatemala. The food can be enjoyed a la carte or as a seven-course tasting menu and currently includes prawns with chile, chocolate, and sweet potatoes; churrasco of grilled mushrooms and black beans; and Korean short rib with pacaya kimchi.

For an epicurean experience, make a reservation at Mixtli which recently received a James Beard Award nomination for Outstanding Restaurant in 2022 (the sole Texas restaurant in that category) and Outstanding Pastry Chef for Sofia Tejeda’s incredible work. The Chef’s table seats 12, and you’ll linger over eight courses with beer, wine, spirits (Sotol, tequila, Mezcal, to name a few) and aguas frescas. Diners at Mixtli can expect to find new items on the menu every 45 days.

The artist who’s recognized for their art while they’re still around to see it is a lucky soul. That’s true for the restaurant world, where the lives of even the best places are so often measured in abandoned leases and broken dreams. Mixtli founders Diego Galicia and Rico Torres hit the decade mark with their progressive Mexican cooking experiment in 2023, in the middle of an ascension that included a new and nicer restaurant space in Southtown.

Mixtli 5251 McCullough Ave, (210) 338-0746, restaurantmixtli.com Headed by dynamic duo Diego Galicia and Rico Torres, Mixtli is by all means a hot spot with innovative dishes inspired by regional Mexican fare. Complete with drink pairings, Mixtli is just one of those spots you need to visit in order to say you’ve dining at San Antonio’s best spots – even if that means making arrangements to do so. Photo via Instagram / b.present.sinq

Mixtli is so much more than just a satisfying meal, it's truly a journey of the spirit and senses. Owners Diego Galicia and Rico Torres, also chefs, have developed a unique dining experience they're calling "progressive Mexican culinaria," which is unlike anything in San Antonio, perhaps even in the U.S. The duo know how to make great food, that's a fact, but what's more enticing is they know how to entertain you.

Mixtli puts on a modern twist with their innovation in regional Mexican food. Located in a small and charming repurposed and renovated railroad car in Olmos Park, you wouldn’t expect the big flavors coming out from this gem. Mixtli is a multicourse, ticketed, tasting experience that takes your tastebuds on a deep dive through the different regions, styles and inspirations from Mexico.

After making plenty of “best of” lists, Mixtli has become a San Antonio hot spot. The menu “travels from place to place offering a tour in Mexican gastronomy” and is currently focused on Mexican and Japanese fusion. After a dinner that will certainly knock your socks off, wander over to the cellar to explore their wine collection and pick up some pantry delights.

San Antonio’s best modern Mexican restaurant moved from a boxcar to a stylish new space in Southtown this year, bringing a progressive spirit and agile menu that gave rise to scallops served on dry ice, a fog-machine bowl with the scallops poached in chile-garlic butter with green apple and coconut foam, a euphoric one-bite “whoa” to match the show.

Mixtli is a creative tasting menu experience that draws inspiration from traditional Mexican recipes. In 2022 it was short-listed for the James Beard category of “outstanding restaurant”. Their menu changes according to themes and different seasonal celebrations; for instance, the current menu celebrates the restaurant's ten year anniversary.

On land, Mixtli is a culinary exploration of Mexico with 10 courses that double as edible art, masterminded by the chefs Diego Galicia and Rico Torres. The hard part is snagging a seat—you must buy tickets to dinner in advance — but once that’s out of the way, the only thing left to worry about is where to start on the extensive mezcal menu.

Mixtli (pronounced MEESH-lee, and means “cloud” in the Aztec language) is a Mexican restaurant that offers a seasonally rotating 10-course tasting menu which highlights the different regional cuisines of Mexico. But seriously, to call it a “Mexican restaurant” is way too restrained. Mixtli is more of a total Mexican gastronomic experience.

For more than a decade, Mixtli has been preparing progressive Mexican cuisine ranging from pre-Hispanic to modern, avant-garde techniques. The restaurant’s bar and accompanying wine cellar offer equally impressive programs. “Adjacent to the dining room, The Cellar holds more than 1,200 wines from around the world,” says Galicia.

In San Antonio, there is a contemporary Mexican eatery called Mixtli that serves food from Mexico City. It is renowned for its wide variety of tequila and mezcal as well as for its inventive and unique meals. Where:812 S Alamo St STE 103, San Antonio, TX 78210Operating Hours: Tuesday – Saturday 5:00 pm – 12:00 am

As I mentioned, Mixtli was one of the big adventures we were looking forward to in San Antonio. To dine here, you must reserve and pre-pay your spot online. By serving 12 people every night they’re open, the restaurant is full every night, so get your tickets early if you want to try it.

Mixtli is a romantic restaurant located in the Olmos Park neighborhood that serves modern Mexican cuisine. The restaurant has a minimalist decor with a communal table and an open kitchen. Some dishes to try include the masa crusted shrimp, the lamb barbacoa, and the tres leches cake.

Named after the Aztec spoken word for cloud, Mixtli drifts effortlessly across the vastness of Mexico via a food menu that changes quarterly. Its beverage program is equally impressive. David Young, lead bartender at The Sternewirth, inside Hotel Emma, offers high praise.

You’ll need tickets to grab a place at the 12-seat table for the 10-course prix fixe dinners at Mixtli. But a meal here is like a night at the theater, complete with a trip back in time via indigenous ingredients and pre-Hispanic cooking techniques.

A progressive Mexican experiment in cuisine, Mixtli, serves up some of the best tacos you’ll ever want to eat. While the menu changes seasonally, they have served a tacos de canasta that you’ll want to grab before it goes off the menu.

Mixtli has a rotating menu of Mexican cuisine and blends modern, fine-dining techniques with pre-Hispanic culinary traditions, making it a go-to for those wanting to try a twist on dishes served south of the Texas border.

812 S Alamo St STE 103, San Antonio, TX 78205Phone: 210-338-0746 Visit Website. View this post on Instagram. A post shared by Mixtli (@mixtlicloud)

- Rating: 4.4/5 (112 reviews)- Price level: $$$$- Address: 812 South Alamo St. Ste 103 San Antonio, Texas - Categories: Mexican- Read more on Yelp