Nixtamalito Makes Jury Duty, Working At City Hall So Much Better

The new kiosk venture from Tortilleria Nixtamal, Nixtamalito, opened late last week where Choza Taqueria used to be. They opened so quickly, in fact, that the signs for Choza are still up as well as a menu from something that was there selling breakfast sandwiches before that. I really liked the tacos at Choza and was sad to hear that they closed. When I heard that Nixtamalito was coming from the people making some of the best corn tortillas out there, I really wanted to run over and get a tamale, but alas President Obama was in lower Manhattan that day, and large crowds of people plus barricades meant no tamales for me. The following day I was determined to eat there, and so were a lot of other people judging by the line that stretched long even after 1 p.m.

It was Nixtamalito’s first real day of being open after the word got out on various blogs, so a little disorganization was understandable. There’s one person working the window who takes orders and doles out food. There was also no menu posted so you had to wait until you got up to the counter to look at the one copy they had (which almost blew away a couple of times). Hopefully they’ll get some of these problems fixed, (as well as a sign) in the near future.

But what about the food, you ask? I went to order a tamale and was told they were out until later that day. So it was on to plan B which was a trio of tacos: one pork, one fish and one bean and avocado ($2). They have a good variety including nopales, barbacoa, carnitas and shrimp. Most are $2.50 except the seafood ones which are $2.75. My total came to $7.25 which is a steal compared to most places where you’d pay $9 for the same amount of food.

On top of the tacos they have tortas ($7), quesadillas, seafood cocktail ($12), two kinds of enchiladas ($8) and five kinds of tamales ($3.50). And did I mention they sell Mexican Coke in a glass bottle?

The clear winner of the three for me was the fish. It was fried and seasoned just enough and the tomato, onion and green pepper alongside were great. The pork was juicy but a little bland and the bean and avocado was more salty white cheese than anything else. The awesome chipotle salsa they give you helped out any flavor issues. These are single tortilla affairs (griddled, not steamed) which was fine since I ate my food right away. I would imagine if you waited 15 minutes they may get soggy and fall apart.

I’m excited to try the other offerings here, and for a paleta from LaNewyorkina that will be sold at the kiosk. Really that little village of kiosks around 1 Centre St. is going to be a lunch destination soon, and not just for tourists coming off the Brooklyn Bridge.

Nixtamalito kiosk, south side of 1 Centre St. building

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