Local Foods Group's progressive Mexican restaurant Maximo reopened on January 15 at West University (6119 Edloe St., West University Place, TX 77005) after restaurateur Benjy Levit and team paused operations for three weeks to significantly revamp the restaurant’s menu, namely highlighting Mexican ingredients rarely seen on Houston menus throughout, bringing more nixtamalized masa creations and introducing shareable small plates and composed entrees. Spearheading the menu overhaul are the hospitality group’s Creative & Culinary Director Seth Siegel-Gardner and up-and-coming twenty-six-year-old Adrian Torres, Maximo’s Executive Chef. Torres, who has cooked in the building for over three years, previously worked under Thomas Bille at the now-Michelin-recognized Belly of the Beast and the award-winning restaurant Xochi.
“Our nixtamal tortillas have always been very authentic,” says Chef Torres. “With this menu, we dig into that even more — what it really means to be authentic Mexican. In some cases, that looks like respecting the ingredients and traditional preparation methods, which may not align with nut or gluten-free diets. As much as we respect tradition, we’re also progressive, and that looks like treating cauliflower as if it were carne asada, using requeson to make cheesecake, or sprinkling in Asian spices and vegetables.”
Torres is most proud of the new menu items showcasing a wide variety of heirloom masa applications, including an innovative masa-encrusted fish entree and a shareable masa cornbread with chicatana butter, mole soubise, hoja santa oil, and caviar; and a masa concha. Other standouts include a hamachi crudo adorned with bright pink prickly pear ponzu, goldenberry and chile de arbol, a shrimp chorizo and shishito rajas quesadilla on a sourdough tortilla (using Milton’s starter), and a banana ice cream-topped banana pudding buñuelo. Meanwhile, fan favorites like the tacos with fried fish and slow-cooked suadero will remain on the menu in a more petite size to allow diners the room to explore. Maximo’s taco offerings will rotate frequently, and the new menu opens with never-before-seen sweetbreads and Morita-bone marrow salsa taco. Anything that can be made in-house will be, and that goes for salsas, palanqueta, rice cracklins, and chamoy.
Complementing the food menu is a cocktail overhaul brought to life by Local Foods Group Director of Bars Máté Hartai, along with a revamped wine and list from Local Foods Group Wine Director Mark Sayre.
“What Chef Adrian and the team have built at Maximo is really exciting,” says Local Foods Group Creative & Culinary Director Seth Siegel-Gardner. “When we originally opened Maximo, we had a vision of creating a restaurant for the neighborhood, and that drove a lot of what was on the menu. When we understood that people were coming from all over to dine with us, we relooked at Maximo as a restaurant that happens to be in a neighborhood and has so many creative possibilities, especially with a young, talented, and eager chef in the kitchen alongside a seasoned front-of-house team adept at walking guests through a cool, different dining experience,” he explains.
The changes at Maximo, merely nine months after opening (in April 2024), further underscore restaurateur Benjy Levit’s prowess as a hospitality professional—he embraces evolution with enthusiasm.
Maximo is open Monday, Wednesday and Thursday from 4 to 9 p.m. for dinner service, and Friday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. for brunch and dinner service.
Photos: Courtesy of Maximo, by Carla Gomez (food) and Julie Soefer (exterior).