Oro by Nixta

Oro by Nixta builds its entire kitchen around masa, and that choice does more work than any garnish could. This is the tortilleria line from the Nixta family of restaurants, planted in Northeast Minneapolis, and the corn program means most of the menu sidesteps wheat entirely, tres leches being the plain exception. That is not a dietary accommodation bolted on after the fact. It is what happens when a kitchen commits to nixtamalized corn as its actual foundation rather than a garnish or a special. The room runs small, with a mezcal bar sharing the back space, which sets up two different nights out under one roof.

There is the regular menu for anyone walking in off the street, and there is a five course tasting collective format that rotates through a special build, the kind of menu that gives a kitchen room to show technique beyond the tortilla basket. Diners who caught one of those tasting nights describe a sequence of small, considered bites rather than a single showpiece plate, which tracks with a kitchen more interested in range than spectacle. That mezcal bar matters to who this room is for. Oro reads as a destination for a slower dinner, agave spirits alongside corn based small plates, not a fast tortilla counter despite the tortilleria framing. Northeast Minneapolis already carries real weight in the city's modern chef tier, and Oro's corn focused approach gives it a clear lane distinct from anything else on that stretch.

The gluten free framing deserves to be said plainly rather than buried: a menu built almost entirely around masa opens the door wide for diners who spend most tasting menus in this city checking ingredient lists first. Price and format suggest a room for an occasion rather than a weeknight stop, especially on tasting collective nights when the kitchen is working a set menu instead of an à la carte one. Reserve accordingly if the five course format is the draw.