How an Austin Mexican Cafe Thoughtfully Honors Coffee and Masa

The essence of Austin Mexican cafe Mercado Sin Nombre is reflected in its atole cortado, aka the masa milk shorty. The espresso, topped with a candied orange slice, is paired with a sidecar of atole, a masa beverage made with Oaxacan bolita corn and oat milk. It’s the cafe’s core concepts in a drinkable form: coffee and corn. “There’s intricacy in the coffee and the corn itself,” explains owner Julian Maltby. “We don’t have to be showy. It’s already doing it for us,” he says.

Mercado Sin Nombre is found in East Austin’s Holly neighborhood on 408 North Pleasant Valley Road, where the cafe serves up daytime coffee and food. Although it opened in early July, it’s been operating with limited services. Full services will begin in September.

Before the cafe, Mercado was foremost a coffee roasting and masa nixtamalization operation, using products sourced directly from families, farmers, and small producers in Mexico. Opening a physical restaurant made sense to the family-run company because it’s a way to show off the beauty of what can be accomplished with the ingredients. (Maltby’s uncle Michael Stimets has been its head roaster since the beginning.) Its name — Spanish for “market without a name” — is intentional. It’s not about the business itself; rather, the family wants to highlight and forefront the families and farmers actually growing everything. “I’m hoping we bring a new side of Mexican coffee and corn,” Maltby says, “a new way to experience it.”

Miguel Dean-Martinez

Miguel Dean-Martinez

Maltby discovered the magic of Mexican coffee and corn while he was getting his master’s degree in architecture in Mexico City in the late 2010s. He even dedicated his thesis to the processes of producing those ingredients. He sees a huge correlation between coffee and corn with architecture. “Corn is so specific to a place and a time,” he says, and the “people who grow them and coffee are the same way.” The country has so many microclimates where terroirs influence the flavors of everything grown on the fincas, he explains.

Learning more about these ancient processes was also a way for Maltby to reconnect with his family. He recounts inheriting his grandmother’s metate (a stone vessel used to grind corn), which dates back 130 years when his great-great-grandmother used it in Mexico before the family came to Texas in the early 1900s. “It became a bodily fulfillment because I was grinding corn with something that somebody had done 100 years ago.” And now he gets to continue that family tradition and legacy. “Making a business out of that is really, really cool,” he says.

The next step for Mercado was always going to be a cafe rather than a food truck because the former suited the intended vibes. Previously, the North Pleasant Valley Road address was Royal Blue Grocery’s commissary and a Brazilian restaurant. Maltby received a culinary grant from the Texas Food & Wine Alliance earlier this year to help fund the construction. The resulting physical alfresco-for-now space is so vibrant with a counter window, alleyway seating, and a grassy front yard. He used his architectural background to build the cafe, from the colorful crate tables and shelves to the indoor wooden bar.

“I’m really trying to do right by the neighborhood,” Maltby says, “not change it and keep that vibe.” The cafe’s already got its regulars, which makes him happy: “I feel like I’ve gotten their blessing.” It’s a very casual inviting space with affordable prices; “the intricacy is going to be in what you eat.” he says.

The food is meant to feel the same, too: comforting, and reflective of its location. “Even though we’re highlighting these places in Mexico, we also exist in a time and a place here. We’re not in Oaxaca City, we’re in Austin.” That means sweet and savory masa-based dishes like pancakes; biscuits and gravy; blue masa biscuit sandwiches with chicken sausages, sunny-side eggs, and cheese; conchas; and house-made twinkies filled with orange buttercream. It’s all about making “masa an everyday food again,” he says.

Rounding out the Mercado team is culinary director Daniel Gaspar. Before, he had been part of the Emmer & Rye Hospitality Group. He also runs his own catering company, Daffodil.

Nadia Chaudhury/Eater Austin

Nadia Chaudhury/Eater Austin

Back in October 2020, Mercado started as a delivery bakery and coffee bean delivery. Eventually, it participated in various pop-ups around Austin, serving foods like masa pancakes, ceviche/squid ink tostadas, and tacos. Then it got into the farmers market stand game, where it began selling its bagged coffee, tortillas, and beverages.

Currently, Mercado roasts its coffees through the roasting co-op Rising Tide Roast Collab in South Austin. It produces year-round beans like the El Ritual and micro-lots (the latter are roasted at the cafe). Other drinks at the cafe include horchata cold brews and espresso-based coffees, including one with Mexican Coke. There are also plans to eventually sell beer and wine.

Education is another important aspect for Maltby because it allows people to understand and relate to what they’re consuming. “We want to create a fantastic product that you can try,” he says, “but I think the best way to appreciate something is to interact with it with your hands.” There was a coffee processing class run by a farmer family from Mexico and a cupping event. There are plans for more workshops too.

Mercado also hosts pop-up Small’s Pizza on Mondays and Tuesdays starting at 5 p.m., where owner Kelsey Small serves New Haven-style pies. Having a regular pop-up at the cafe is in line with its ethos: “You don’t know what to expect,” says Maltby.

Mercado Sin Nombre’s hours are from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday. The business still operates its farmers market stand at Texas Farmers Market in Mueller on Sundays. There are plans to host a grand opening block party tentatively on Saturday, September 21.