A handful of Austin kitchens cook whole corn with lime, grind it that morning and press the tortillas they serve. Most of the city's best taquerias do not, and Texas Monthly's taco editor says where their corn tortillas come from instead.
Masa made in house.
how it is eaten · Austin's Mexican counters, trailers and bakeries
What it is
Whole dried corn is cooked in water with calcium hydroxide, steeped, rinsed and ground wet. That is nixtamalization, and what comes off the stone is masa rather than flour. A kitchen that does it owns the variety, the soak and the grind. A kitchen that does not buys tortillas, and both are ordinary in Austin.
Why it matters here
Veracruz Fonda and Bar folds house blue corn around queso fresco and
crispy epazote, and the MICHELIN inspector's line is that the tortillas are
made in house.
4
Taquicardia presses blue corn too, and Nicolai McCrary's advice there is
that "you'd be doing yourself a disservice by not ordering the excellent
house-made blue corn tortillas".
5
Mercado Sin Nombre runs a roaster, tortilleria, and bakery
in one room
and thickens its atole cortado with nixtamalized yellow corn.
6 Then
José R. Ralat cuts across all of it: "The best taquerias in Austin purchase
corn tortillas from Colonial."
1 Colonial
is a factory in San Antonio, and the state's taco editor is not being rude
about it.
How it is done
Nixta Taqueria runs the clearest version, and the MICHELIN inspector
recorded the schedule: "Roasted the day before. Ground each morning for that
day's service."
10 The kernels come
from Barton Springs Mill in Dripping Springs and from non-GMO heirloom Mexican
varietals. In February 2022 the room hired a director of masa development and
fermentation, Andres M. Garza, a molinero from the Rio Grande Valley
.
3
He has since opened his own mill in McAllen. At ATX Cocina the corn
arrives whole from Oaxaca and is cooked with cal on site, so the masa "is used
in everything from hand-made tortillas to sopes, tostadas, and other
street-style antojitos".
9
Who does it
The practice has spread past the taqueria. Fermin Nunez opened Suerte in
2018, and The Infatuation dates the room's national attention to the masa:
"When Suerte opened in 2018, they got national recognition for their housemade
masa and upscale Mexican dishes."
7 The
restaurant's own copy signs off hospitality prevails, homemade masa reigns
.
8 Four years later Nunez took corn to the
coast at Este, into a masa-battered swordfish taco and the chips under the
aguachiles.
11 At
Comadre Panadería it went into the pastry case, as masa in the sugar
cookies and corn flour in the alfajores.
12
On the list
best version at
Nixta TaqueriaRoasted the day before, ground each morning for that day's service, off Barton Springs Mill kernels.
“Roasted the day before. Ground each morning for that day's service.”
Texas Monthly, José R. Ralat, The 50 Best Tacos in Texas, 21 October 2024 [10]
best version at
Veracruz Fonda and BarBlue corn pressed in house, folded around queso fresco and crispy epazote.
“Blue corn tortillas are made in house and are delicious folded around queso fresco and crispy epazote, or a cochinita taco with tender braised pork, fried plantain, and red onion habanero lime escabeche.”
MICHELIN Guide Texas inspector, on Veracruz Fonda and Bar [4]
best version at
TaquicardiaBlue corn pressed at the trailer, and the reviewer's advice is to take it over the flour.
“while flour tortillas are an option for the tacos, you'd be doing yourself a disservice by not ordering the excellent house-made blue corn tortillas”
The Infatuation Austin, Nicolai McCrary, on La Taquicardia [5]
best version at
Mercado Sin NombreA roaster, a tortilleria and a bakery in one room, and the atole is thickened with nixtamalized yellow corn.
“It's a roaster, tortilleria, and bakery”
The Infatuation Austin, Nicolai McCrary, on Mercado Sin Nombre [6]
cooked with at
ATX CocinaMasienda's Oaxacan corn arrives whole and is cooked with cal on site, so the masa is made where it is eaten.
“The corn is nixtamalized in house, and the resulting masa is used in everything from hand-made tortillas to sopes, tostadas, and other street-style antojitos.”
CultureMap Austin, First Look, 28 July 2017 [9]
best version at
SuerteThe room that got national attention for its masa, and its own copy says so first.
“When Suerte opened in 2018, they got national recognition for their housemade masa and upscale Mexican dishes.”
The Infatuation, Nicolai McCrary and Matthew Jacobs, Iconic Dishes That Define Austin, 10 March 2025 [7]
cooked with at
EsteThe same kitchen team took masa toward the coast, into a masa-battered swordfish taco and house corn chips.
“Swordfish goes into a crispy masa-battered taco.”
The Infatuation Austin, on Este [11]
cooked with at
Comadre PanaderíaMasa in the sugar cookies, corn flour in the alfajores, corn-based donuts beside the pastry.
“masa in the sugar cookies, corn flour in the alfajores, and corn-based donuts beside the pastry”
The Infatuation Austin, on Comadre Panaderia [12]
cooked with at
Cuantos TacosThe tortillas come in from San Antonio at CDMX street size, and get a brush of lard before the filling.
“Rather than making their tortillas themselves, they bring them in from the Colonial Tortilla Factory in San Antonio, which produces 100% nixtamalized corn tortillas for some of the best taquerias in the state.”
The Infatuation Austin, Nicolai McCrary, 3 November 2023 [13]
Where to get it
Two suppliers stand behind most of this and neither is in Austin. Masienda imports non-GMO heirloom Mexican corn as whole kernels, and Ralat calls it "the first major purveyor of non-GMO heirloom Mexican corn to restaurants in the United States"; Jorge Gaviria founded it in 2014 and it trucks out of DeSoto, outside Dallas. 2 It also sells the countertop molino, the comal and the press, which is what puts a mill inside a small kitchen. Colonial Tortilla Factory in San Antonio presses the other half. Cuantos Tacos brings its tortillas in from there at about three inches across and brushes them with lard before the filling. 13
Also sold off the list
These shops and counters carry it, and none of them is on the list.
- cooked with at Bulevar, 9400 Arboretum Blvd, North Austin
“Masa is a cornerstone of Mexican cuisine, and Bulevar's comes from small family farms in Oaxaca, trucked in by Masienda.”
CultureMap Austin, 16 September 2022 [14]
- cooked with at Yellow Bell Tacos, 10300 Springdale Rd, on the Austin Beerworks lot
“The truck serves InterStellar's smoked meats in fluffy, house-made, beef-tallow flour tortillas as well as in corn tortillas from San Antonio Colonial.”
Texas Monthly, José R. Ralat, The 50 Best Tacos in Texas, 21 October 2024 [10]
The story
The corn arrived before the mills did. Masienda started shipping kernels to American restaurants in 2014, and Ralat's account puts it at the head of what its founder calls masa's third wave. 2 Austin's rooms then split. Some bought a molino and a payroll line, and Nixta Taqueria hired a masa director in 2022. 3 The rest ordered from Colonial, which is what the taco editor was pointing at when he wrote that Austin, in taco terms, "is best thought of as a San Antonio suburb". 1
Sources & mentions
- [1]Texas Monthly, José R. Ralat, taco editor, 12 January 2024
“The best taquerias in Austin purchase corn tortillas from Colonial.”
- [2]Texas Monthly, José R. Ralat, taco editor, 10 October 2022, on the importer
“a countertop molino manufactured by Masienda, the first major purveyor of non-GMO heirloom Mexican corn to restaurants in the United States”
- [3]Texas Monthly, José R. Ralat, on Nixta's molinero
“Andres M. Garza is a molinero from the Rio Grande Valley.”
- [4]
- [5]
- [6]The Infatuation Austin, on Mercado Sin Nombre's atole
“the atole cortado, lightly sweetened with piloncillo and made rich with nixtamalized yellow corn”
- [7]
- [8]Suerte, own site
“hospitality prevails, homemade masa reigns”
- [9]CultureMap Austin, First Look, 28 July 2017, on ATX Cocina
“Taylor strives to reproduce the flavors of Mexico by using the best ingredients possible, like corn from Masienda, an import company that sources non-GMO, heirloom varietals from small villages and farms in Oaxaca.”
- [10]
- [11]
- [12]
- [13]
- [14]