Ben Poremba’s Mexican Joint Now Has a Name and an Opening Date

All Ben Poremba would tell us was “upscale Mexican.” We couldn’t wheedle any additional details about his new restaurant.

Until today.

In an email this morning, Poremba announced that Isabelli Media Relations, a Chicago-based PR agency, would be handling the details regarding Nixta, which will occupy the former Old Standard Fried Chicken space at 1621 Tower Grove Ave. Coincidentally or not, the news was first reported today in Food & Wine magazine.

In the article, Poremba said the reason for choosing Mexican cuisine was to promote one of his chefs, Tello Carreon, and “give him the chance to focus on his own style of cooking.” Carreon has risen through the ranks at Olio and Elaia, two of Poremba’s other restaurants, both in Botanical Heights. (Poremba also owns Parigi in Clayton.)

Nixta is a shortened form of nixtamalization, or the process of turning maize into masa, one of the building blocks of Mexican cuisine. The resultant grain is called nixtamal, which is used to make tamales, tortillas, and arepas. Carreon will produce those products in house, as well as tortillas made with discarded cauliflower stems instead of masa.

Nixta will present an elevated version of Mexican food (or “street food in a fine-dining way,” as Poremba says) with slightly elevated prices to match.

Mid-week diners can expect to pay $35-40 per person, Poremba says, which is “a little more than Olio, a little less than Parigi, and a lot less than Elaia.” See Nixta’s opening menu and prices here.

The 50-seat space will also include a small bar area—dubbed Bar Limón—where rum, tequila, mescal, pisco, and cachaça will be the predominant base spirits. And come spring, Nixta's patio promises to be festive as well. "I have 60 different ideas what to do out there," Poremba says, "and I've got all winter to think about them."

Nixta opens to the public (softly) on November 11.