Help Nixta Taqueria Stay Open

Hi, y'all - we're Sara Mardanbigi and Edgar Rico. We co-own and operate Nixta Taqueria in Austin, Texas as a husband-and-wife duo.

We opened Nixta in October 2019 without any investors.

Leading up to that for 9 months, we spent hours trying to figure out how to open a business when you can’t afford an architect, MEP, contractor, or permit expediter to handle industrial waste, site plans, and the general give-you-the-run-around attitude of navigating the different departments.

By some miracle, we did it.

5 months later, COVID happened. Like many other small businesses, we were just hoping to survive.

By some miracle, we did it.

A year later, the Texas freeze shut down our power for 2 weeks. Even though we couldn’t operate as a restaurant, we still managed to feed thousands of people, using propane tanks and with the help of countless friends.

By some miracle, we did it.

On August 16th, our electricity was abruptly disconnected from the majority of our building due to higher-than-usual amp usage (no surprise, considering we've had the hottest summer on record and every business is running way more power). We were told it was going to be an easy-ish fix, but it has now escalated to a place we could have never imagined. The City of Austin is now requiring us to immediately halt the majority of our operations and do a full site plan before resuming operations. What is generally a 24-hour repair that would have cost around $10k has now ballooned to a 3-6 month project that will require upwards of $100,000, the displacement of our team, and a shell of what our restaurant operations are. An AC unit was installed in 2018 before we took over the lease, and that's what triggered the discussion of re-permitting. This is classic bureaucracy and red-tape. We’re still reeling.

By some miracle, we’re hopeful we can survive this, too.

We’ve seen guests go from dating, to getting engaged and married, to getting pregnant, and then bringing in their sweet babies into Nixta over the past 4 years. We won a James Beard Award for our city. We were the pilot location of Austin’s Free Fridge Program , which feeds hundreds of people daily. We’ve built a team of some of the most wonderful people with such kind hearts.

Nixta will still be here, but it is going to look very different these next few months. Because one thing we’re not going to do is give up.

This is important to us because we built something from the ground up. It's been a place that has always uplifted and supported our community. Restaurants operate on a super thin margin of roughly 5%, and with inflation, a rise in cost of goods, high labor costs, and general operations, it's not the easiest industry to be a part of. We do it because we love taking care of people and creating a space that makes everyone feel welcome.

The funds will be used for the following:

There’s a long road ahead, but we’re going to keep trying and fighting. That’s all we can do.

Love you all.