Nixtaco Mexican Kitchen and Distillery combines locally sourced ingredients with time-honored traditional techniques to create what many consider to be California’s best tacos. 

Agricultural abundance provided inspiration for Cinthia Martinez and Patricio Wise when they moved to California in 2010. They quickly discovered that while there were many Mexican restaurants, none of them featured cuisine from their native Monterey, Mexico. When they set out to recreate some of those dishes at home, they fell in love with the abundance of ingredients at their fingertips. Patricio recalls, “The first thing we noticed was how great the ingredients were and how easy it was to get amazing products.” Cinthia nods, recalling, “The amount of different ingredients – vegetables that we’ve never heard of or seen – that was incredible. We just wanted to cook with that.” Then with a sly smile she adds, “Well, he already knew how to, I had no idea how to cook.”

Traditional recipes, made with locally grown ingredients

Armed with an abundance of locally grown ingredients, Cinthia and Patricio were excited to give their traditional recipes a Californian-style spin. The pair frequented local farmers markets to source the freshest produce – the Auburn and Granite Bay weekend markets are two of their favorites. Patricio states, “Incorporating those ingredients into our recipes was just amazing. It was just very exciting for me to start experimenting with those.”

Before long, Cinthia and Patricio weren’t just regulars at their favorite farmer’s markets – they became fixtures. They started a pop-up at the Granite Bay and Auburn Farmers Markets, eventually becoming Nixtaco.

Now, over a decade later, Nixtaco has two Sacramento-area restaurant locations and is considered one of the best casual restaurants in the Sacramento region – with five consecutive Michelin mentions since 2021. 

Partnering with farmers to source the best produce

The Nixtaco team works with local farmers to source fresh, flavorful produce. Patricio explains, “We use a local company called Produce Express. We do deal directly with farmers, depending on the seasonality. Some grow chiles for us; we buy peaches from Twin Peaks, tomatoes from Uncle Ray’s.”

Because Cinthia and Patricio are committed to showcasing the flavors of Monterey’s regional cuisine, some specific ingredients are more difficult to source locally. For example, their homemade tortillas are made using a specific variety of heirloom corn. At first, they relied on importing their corn from Mexico. However, Patricio and Cinthia recently connected with a farm in Pleasant Grove that grows the very same heirloom variety – and now supplies all they need for the restaurant.

Check out Nixtaco’s CA GROWN Menu Items

Nixtaco is proud to feature seasonal CA GROWN specials on its menu. Listing some of the current offerings, Patricio states, “We have the vegan taco, a mushroom taco, the corn on the cob, the corn taco. Beverage-wise, we have a Chardonnay and a delicious watermelon Agua Fresca.” 

Visit Nixtaco

Ready to see what the fuss is all about! Visit one of Nixtaco’s two Sacramento-area locations!

Roseville 1805 Cirby Way, Unit 12 Roseville, CA 95661 (916) 771-4165

Folsom 185 Placerville Rd., Ste 150 Folsom, CA 95630 (916) 790-8479

Sacramento: The Farm to Fork Capital of the World

Cinthia and Patricio are proud to be a part of Sacramento’s food scene, and have fallen in love with their adopted hometown. Patricio raves, “Sacramento’s awesome – it’s the Farm-to-Fork Capital of the World. We have so many farms around us, and we have immediate access to whatever we need. I can pick up the phone and ask for special chili to be grown for me next year, or a special peach, or a special herb – whatever. Just last week, we had a meeting at the Center for Land-Based Learning, and they’re gonna provide us with a lot of the vegetables that we’re gonna be using at the Tower Bridge Dinner. At the end of next month, we’re hosting the first Terra Madre Americas. We’re all very happy and proud that this is happening. The whole idea is to showcase the bounty that Sacramento has to offer to the rest of the world.” Smiling, Cinthia concludes, “As a food lover, this is the best place to be.”

Check out a few of Cinthia and Patricio’s favorite Sacramento restaurants!

Article and photography by Hilary Rance.