#214: Mexta

The Bar

Mexta. 106 E 6th St, Austin, TX 78701

Visited 4/11/2025 @ 9pm.

The Drink

Mole Old-Fashioned. Bulleit bourbon, mole negro infused simple syrup, habanero bitters, dark chocolate, sea salt. $16.

My 17th old-fashioned! Not that I've been keeping up with my grading system, but I don't think I'm even going to try anymore, and this is the perfect example of why - there's just been too many of them, and they're all so different that often they share only the name. This is not as out-there or showy as some of the old-fashioneds I've had, but it's certainly one of the most distinctive. Bulleit bourbon is an old reliable, but given that Mexta is an upscale Mexican restaurant, they naturally put a Mexican spin on the classic, starting with an infusion of mole negro into the simple syrup. Mole negro is a classic Oaxacan sauce with infinite variations surrounding the core ingredient of charred peppers; its presence here was helped by the habanero bitters (I didn't ask the brand), but especially highlighted and livened up by the disc of dark chocolate. The old-fashioned should never be turned into a dessert cocktail like the espresso martini does so often, but I appreciated how they turned up the dial on both the spicy and sweet aspects of it. I was very tempted to order another one, but I was done for the night.

The Crew

Aaron.

Notes

The fifth stop of the night. I try not to visit too many bars in one night because my notes and thoughts get a little hazy, but Mexta was on the way, and the moment demanded it. Mexta replaced Simi Estatorio a bit over a year ago, taking one of the prime spots in the Littlefield Building, one of the many holders of the illustrious "Austin's tallest building" crown. They have not one but 2 Michelin star-winning chefs, so they serve very upscale Mexico City-style cuisine (call it "chilango" or "CDMX" for insider points), with foods I've never even heard of ("pork belly encacahuatado, tikin xic salmon with xnipec salsa") on the menu, in a really classy and inviting setting. It made a fascinating contrast with the more everyday decor and street tacos at Chupitos, which I'd just been to 2 stops ago - here you have both the high and low end of Mexico City-style nightlife instantiated a few blocks away from each other. I already talked about the ongoing demographic shifts in Austin in the Chupitos review, and the upscalization of the city in the BOA Steakhouse review, but the juxtaposition was just very striking to me when I was sitting at the bar at Mexta chatting with the bartender. "Mexican cantina" may not have the same definitive form as "Irish pub" just yet, but it will be interesting to see how the market segments work themselves out as the city changes.