Gustavo Romero Veytia – Top Latinos
Minneapolis, MN /LWW/ Mr. Gustavo Romero Veytias, Professional Chef & Owner of Nixta Tortilleria, oro by Nixta & Tixtli by Nixta, has been recognized by the Top Latinos in the 2026 edition.
The Corn Evangelist: How Gustavo Romero Veytia Is Feeding Minneapolis and Honoring Mexico
There are chefs who cook for applause, and there are chefs who cook because something inside them demands it. Gustavo Romero Veytia belongs entirely to the second kind. Born in Tulancingo, Hidalgo, Mexico, he carries his homeland not just in his memory but in every tortilla he presses, every kernel he sources, every plate he sends out into the world. Over more than 25 years in professional kitchens, he has built something rare: a culinary identity that is equal parts personal history, cultural stewardship, and quiet revolution.
His path to Minneapolis was anything but straight. Gustavo cooked across Mexico, then Italy, then Miami, then San Francisco, absorbing techniques and traditions with each stop, sharpening his instincts, and learning what food could do when it was made with real intention. He trained at Le Cordon Bleu, earning his culinary arts degree and grounding his natural talent in classical discipline. But the most important education he ever received did not happen in a classroom. It happened in the corn fields of his home country, in the hands of the people who had grown and prepared heirloom corn varieties for generations before any culinary school existed.
Somewhere along that long journey, Gustavo became something more than a chef. He became a maize-ologist. He became an evangelist for Mexican heirloom corn, a man who understood that the diversity of corn varieties native to Mexico represented not just culinary treasure but living history. These varieties, many of them ancient, carry the stories of indigenous communities, regional landscapes, and centuries of agricultural knowledge. When they disappear, something irreplaceable disappears with them. Gustavo decided he would spend his career making sure that did not happen, one tortilla at a time.
He also became a serious student of agave, developing a deep expertise in one of Mexico’s most complex and storied plant traditions. As an agave connoisseur, he brings that same reverence to the spirits and flavors that come from the plant, weaving them into his menus and his broader vision of what Mexican cuisine can express when it is treated with full respect and curiosity.
In 2020, Gustavo opened Nixta Tortilleria in Minneapolis. The timing was extraordinary, arriving at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic when the hospitality industry was in freefall and uncertainty defined everything. He launched it as a takeout kitchen, a decision that was both practical and quietly defiant. While others waited, he built. Nixta produces superfood corn tortillas and tostadas made entirely from scratch using authentic nixtamal techniques. Nixtamalization, the ancient process of treating dried corn with an alkaline solution, unlocks nutrients, deepens flavor, and transforms raw corn into something alive with possibility. The tortillas that come out of Nixta are not a side note. They are the point.
The name Nixta is itself a tribute. It nods directly to nixtamal, to the process, to the corn, to the culture. Every element of the operation reflects Gustavo’s commitment to doing things the right way, not the fast way. He sources heirloom corn varieties with care, studies their distinct flavor profiles, and handles them with the same attention a winemaker brings to a rare grape. The result is a tortilla that tastes like something, that holds its own on the plate, and that tells a story anyone willing to pay attention can hear.
Three years after Nixta opened, Gustavo expanded with Oro by Nixta, a full sit-down, table-service restaurant that opened next door in 2023. Where Nixta is a focused, devoted production, Oro is an expression. Vibrant and seasonal, it brings the full range of Gustavo’s cooking to the table: Mexican cuisine that is alive with color, rooted in tradition, and open to creative evolution. The recognition came quickly and meaningfully. Oro by Nixta was named a finalist for Best New Restaurant by the James Beard Foundation, the most prestigious culinary award body in the United States. Gustavo himself was named a semifinalist for Best Chef Midwest. Bon Appetit and The New York Times have both recognized what he is doing in Minneapolis, drawing national attention to a city that, through his work, is becoming a genuine destination for Mexican food done with depth and integrity.
He has since continued building with Tixtli by Nixta, further expanding his vision and his reach. Each restaurant is different in format but unified in spirit. They all carry the same DNA: corn, culture, care, and a fierce pride in Mexican culinary heritage. Together, they form something larger than a restaurant group. They form a statement about who gets to define fine dining, whose traditions deserve celebration, and what it means to cook from a place of deep cultural love.
Gustavo’s superpower, as those who know him will tell you, is his ability to cook nearly anything. His palate and his technique cross traditions and geographies with ease. But what truly distinguishes him is not technical range. It is his passion for feeding people, a hunger to nourish that feels almost elemental. He feeds neighbors, he feeds strangers, he feeds the city that has become his home. That impulse, generous and grounded, runs through everything he does.
And then there is the harder story, the one that demands to be told alongside all the accolades and the beautiful food. Minneapolis, like many American cities, has not been spared the fear and trauma of immigration enforcement. As federal agents have occupied streets and communities have gone into hiding, Gustavo and his partner Kate have responded not with silence but with action. They have bought groceries for employees and neighbors who could not safely leave their homes. They have shown up, quietly and persistently, for the people around them.
Running a restaurant in that environment is not just a business decision. It is a declaration. Every table set, every tortilla pressed, every shift worked by a team that knows it is seen and supported by its leaders becomes part of something larger than service. It becomes an act of resistance. It becomes proof that community can hold, that culture cannot be raided away, and that feeding people is, in the right hands, one of the most powerful things a human being can do.
Gustavo Romero Veytia started in Tulancingo with a love of corn and a desire to cook. More than 25 years later, he stands in Minneapolis as a James Beard-recognized chef, a nationally acclaimed restaurateur, and a man who has made his kitchen into common ground. He preserves what others overlook. He elevates what others underestimate. And in a moment when many people are afraid, he keeps feeding the people around him, because that is who he is, and because that, too, is how you fight.
Top Latinos is a prestigious New York publication dedicated to honoring the achievements of the Latino community. They meticulously identify and honor outstanding Latino professionals nationwide who have reached impressive levels of success in their respective fields. By showcasing their accomplishments, they aim to foster growth and appreciation of the Latino industry and culture. Since their establishment in 2010, Top Latinos has been wholeheartedly committed to fulfilling their mission of bringing awareness to the exceptional contributions made by the Latino professional and executive community.