yxta cocina mexicana bringing flavor (and margaritas) to the industrial district
This blog has moved to Twitter! Check out my twitter feed for the latest restaurant, retail, and cultural news in the neighborhood.
Opening in mid-February, Yxta Cocina Mexicana is a fitting replacement for the defunct Sixth Street Bar & Grill that closed after less than a year in operation.
Owner Jesse Gomez of Highland Park’s El Arco Iris — a family-run institution for over 40 years — tells angelenic he plans to bring mid-range, well-presented, filling Mexican food to the neighborhood.
In repositioning the space, the floors have been sanded for a warmer feel, and new family-style tables and booths are being installed.
With lunch options in the area slim pickings at best, previous restaurants in the space at 6th and Central had drawn a wide range of truck drivers, factory workers, Bunker Hill suits and City Hall pols.
For dinner, however, Yxta will be offering serious happy hour specials and margaritas with house-made sweet & sour.
“It’s a lot harder to do,” said Gomez of the fresh-squeezed juices. “But it’s well worth it.”
Expect a full bar with margaritas as the centerpiece.
A former law student, the restaurant’s name comes from the name of Gomez’s first-year professor, Yxta Murray (pronounced ‘eexta’). “It just stuck with me,” he says.
Lunch prices will range from $9-$16; large dinner plates from $11-$21. Free parking after 5:00pm; $2.00 valet during lunch.
Yxta Cocina Mexicana
601 S Central Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90021
Opening mid-February, 2009
yxta.net
6 comments
hmm sounds Yummie!
Can’t wait to spend my disposable income at Yxta!
former law student and mexican food don’t mesh well….
well, unless he dropped out of law school….
then it sounds frickin great!
house made sweet n sour sounds awesome… never had it….
Grew up eating at El Arco Iris for over 30 years in Highland Park. Saw the restaurant expand and watched the newer generation of the family business grow along with it. Good food. Good memories. Looking forward to Yxta.
of course he dropped out of law school! who would be so crazy to stick it out and then go into the restaurant biz anyway?
stay tuned for for an eclectic wine list populated by spanish, argentinian, californian and (if available) mexican wines to go along with the great margaritas.
oh, and meat blanket may be offered. per jesse’s request.
cant wait
In addition to being a professor at Loyola Law School, the restaurant’s namesake, Yxta Maya Murray, is also an award winning author of Chicano/a fiction. Her books,”What It Takes to Get to Vegas” and “Locas” are popular reads for many of my students.