ATX Cocina
Build the kitchen on masa and the whole restaurant comes out gluten free, which is what happened here and nobody makes a speech about it.1
Why go
It has been the downtown room for upscale Mexican since 2017, and Nicolai McCrary scored it 8.4 for The Infatuation.1 The masa focus is the design decision the rest follows from: nixtamalized corn does the structural work wheat usually does, so the tortillas are the plate and the kitchen never needs a flour substitute. Bulevar in North Austin is the sister restaurant from the same team, and the menus overlap on the dry-aged steaks and large-format meats.
Order this / avoid
- Order: a crudo to open, which changes with the season and was running snapper with celery, green apple and hibiscus ponzu. Then order heavily off the masa section, which is McCrary's own instruction, and anchor on the pecan-crusted wagyu flank carne asada with chimichurri and grilled green onions.1 The whole roasted fish is the other one to fight over, for the skin.
- Drink: off the agave list, which is a large tequila and mezcal collection and sits in view a few steps from the entrance.1 Take a mezcal alongside the pecan-crusted flank on purpose. Both the crust and the spirit carry smoke and toasted-nut character, so the drink extends the char on the steak where a crisp white would just cut it away.
- Avoid: treating the sopes as a side. They come filled with cochinita pibil and they are the right kickoff.
What locals & experts say
- The Infatuation, Nicolai McCrary (page-dated 13 January 2025), 8.4:
ATX Cocina's roasted fish has some of the crispiest skin we've seen, covering a pile of tender, perfectly cooked meat.
On the gluten-free question he is blunt about how it is handled: the kitchen pulls it offwithout hitting you over the head about how bread is secretly evil.
1 - The same desk files it in two of its city guides, The Best Mexican Restaurants In Austin and The Best Restaurants In Downtown Austin. Bulevar in North Austin is the sister restaurant from the same team, so the menus overlap on the dry-aged steaks and large-format meats.1
Good to know
- Where it is: 110 San Antonio Street, Suite 170, downtown.
- The room: big booths, semi-private areas and tall windows, and it is busy. Book, or take the bar.
- Hygiene: Austin Public Health holds one business, scoring 84 on 13 February 2026 and 90 on 19 July 2023. Both sit well above the 70 that Austin's ordinance treats as failing, so neither is a safety finding. Worth knowing separately: only two inspections appear in the three-year window, about thirty-one months apart, which is thin coverage for a room this size.2
Verdict
should-visit — Downtown modern Mexican since 2017, with an Infatuation 8.4 and one genuinely interesting structural decision: the kitchen is built on masa, and the consequence is that the whole restaurant is gluten free without making a thing of it. Order heavily off that masa section, which is where the argument lives. The dish to anchor on is the pecan-crusted wagyu flank carne asada with chimichurri and a heap of grilled green onions; the whole roasted fish comes with skin the reviewer calls some of the crispiest he has seen. Start with a crudo, which rotates seasonally and was running snapper with celery, green apple and a hibiscus ponzu. The bar carries a large tequila and mezcal collection and it is on display a few steps inside the door, which tells you what they want you drinking.