Once Nixta opened, we learned another important business lesson: Play the cards you're dealt.

When we started, our 25-seat dining room couldn't meet all the demand. We had 10,000 square feet of dirt in the backyard that we never planned on touching. We had to be resourceful, though, so we added outdoor dining.

That outdoor space saved us during the pandemic. Over time, it expanded from 30 seats to 100. Nixta became known as an outdoor restaurant.

This success created a new challenge: What do we do with our indoor dining room?

Sara and I decided to introduce our masa omakase. That style might seem unconventional for a neighborhood taqueria, but it made sense for a few reasons.

First, until that point, our restaurant hadn't accepted reservations, and customers kept asking us when that would change. Establishing the omakase allowed us to act on their feedback and start taking reservations. 

Second, the tasting menu expanded the range of offerings to customers. You can still come in and get delicious tacos from the counter. But now if you want to have a fancy dinner, you can get that, too. A lot of folks enjoy both styles, depending on their mood and the occasion.

Third, from the beginning, Sara and I saw Nixta as an expression of who we are and what food means to us. With the tasting menu, we incorporate dishes that are personal to our lives and our families. We blend elements of my Mexican heritage with Sara's Persian roots, and we give customers an inside look at where we come from. We also showcase seasonal produce from our garden. 

Simplify operations

Another critical lesson we've learned? Keep operations as simple as possible. Restaurant work is so fast-paced that you need to make things efficient wherever you can. After experimenting with various point-of-sale (POS) systems, we found one that bundles everything together—sales reporting, employee timekeeping, and more. That means employees can focus on delivering exceptional customer experiences. 

Operational details like this don't usually make it into James Beard Award acceptance speeches. But getting them right frees up so much time and energy for your whole team.

And simplifying operations has let me focus on what I love most: creating memorable dining experiences every day. It's the coolest job in the world.

Chef Edgar Rico, a James Beard Award winner and TIME100 recipient, aims to transform the landscape of what Mexican-American cuisine can be by providing imaginative creations that are steeped in technique, history, and a maíz revolution. His culinary background is extensive—Craft (LA), Sqirl (LA), Son of a Gun (LA), Trois Mec (LA), and Pujol (Mexico City).