Did you ever notice how everybody gets hyped up when someone refers to cuisine as being authentic? Well, have no fear lovers of Mexican – there is authentic, and it’s close to you!
Nestled onto a quiet street in the primarily residential Corona is Tortilleria Nixtimal.
Although it doesn’t have the fancy cake slice appearance, this tresleches is something you need to eat at Nixtimal. The white marshmallow like frosting is a perfect topping for the luxuriously rich cake beneath it.
One of the co-owners, Fernando Ruiz says he decided to open the restaurant because as a child, he and his family would cross the border into Mexico to get the tacos he says tasted “so much better than anywhere else.” He decided the problem with all other tacos began in the same place – with the tortilla.
The crown jewels of Nixtimal, the white corn tortillas, between 3 and 6 thousand of them every day, are delivered to restaurants throughout New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. Hey, if you think it’s starting to sound like you’d be eating in the middle of a tortilla factory, you’re correct – Tortilleria Nixtimal is just that.
When colorful, neatly arranged plates appear before you, your mind automatically wanders to familiar memories. I too, remember the offerings in open-air stalls in Mexico; piles of peeled avocados awaiting their debut – and very short-lived performances – as the crown on a stack of perfectly charred, shaved beef, cilantro, diced tomato, jalapeños, and onion. Yes – the AUTHENTIC taco – the small, generally inexpensive perfect combination of meat, vegetable, herb and or fruit, all sitting in the fold of a warm corn tortilla. The real deal.
And oh yes, Tortilleria Nixtimal is the real deal. It’s decidedly small, colorful dining room doesn’t house many tables but service is quick and turnover is pretty fast. The menu includes tacos with pork, steak, chicken, shrimp and fish, quesadillas, and tamales as well as soups and salads. For dessert, we would like to have seen a little more flavor from the flan but thetresleches cake oozed delicious milk every time the fork got near it.
Part of the impressive line-up of tacos: the Cameron features cubes of gently sautéed mango on top of seasoned, grilled shrimp. Next up is homemade chorizo sausage topped with cilantro, rich plump tomato and cheese. And finally the carnitas—among the best we have ever had—an ample portion of slow cooked pork with the traditional accompaniments. Honestly it does not take a Mexican aficionado to recognize that this particular taco is one of the hallmarks of Mexican cuisine and thesecarnitas could hold up against any challenges.
As far as the tacos, for the sake of our readership of course, we were forced to try every one of them. The carnitas, filled with slow-cooked pork that was marinated overnight in orange juice, sweetened condensed milk, oregano, cilantro – and some secret things they won’t tell you – were absolutely delicious. The other varieties: chicken, steak and shrimp did not leave anything to be desired – they were excellent, very flavorful and undeniably made with extremely fresh ingredients.
Straying from just tacos – which we highly recommend here – you would be going in the right direction especially if you were to order the specialty platter featuring the sincronizada. This layered, grilled delight starts out with a tortilla base, then a layer of beans, Mexican string cheese, a second tortilla topped with shredded chicken that is tossed in oil and vinegar, peppers, roasted jalapeños, carrots, onion and then a third tortilla. The whole thing is then placed on the grill to meld all the flavors and melt the cheese. The result is a stunning burst of flavor and texture that is absolutely fantastic. You can also try the shrimp or steak version. Both arrived at the table next to ours and judging from what was left on the plates after about four minutes, I’d have to say they were at least as great as our chicken choice.
Another noteworthy part of the Nixtimal experience is the staff. Really, really great would be the best description but if we had to offer a little testimony in support it would be that from the minute you walk in, you feel welcomed. We were travelling with granddaughter in tow and they immediately assumed the task of entertaining a two-year-old as part of serving the meal. She was thoroughly delighted with them and after she finished eating they wondered whether or not she was actually a twenty-year-old in the body of a toddler. You know children can be a very reliable meter when it comes to taste and texture and if Gigi were writing this review she could do it in one word…“more.”
Bottom line is that although foodies are used to flocking to Manhattan in search of “the best whatever,” Corona is home to some of the best Mexican food in the entire city.
While we do encourage you to do some of your own explorations and assure you there are other restaurants in Corona worthy of praise, Nixtimal is somewhere that everyone should go to – it is a place that sets the bar of what should be expected when eating authentic Mexican food. In a word – wait we need two to describe Tortilleria Nixtimall – Muy bueno!
TortilleriaNixtimal
104-05 47th Avenue
(between 104th and 108th Street)
Corona, NY 11368
Monday-Wednesday 11am-6pm
Thursday and Sunday 11am-9pm
Friday and Saturday 11am-11pm
Tel: 718-699-2434
Story and Photos by Patricia Adams
