Titán Is a Northern Mexican Cantina Unlike Any Other in New York

1. It’s got an all-star team of pros behind it.

Both Delgado and Mix are proven talents in their respective niches. Delgado originally hails from the border of El Paso, Texas and Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, and spent his early career in Austin restaurants before coming to New York to join the leadership team at Michelin-starred Oxomoco. His small but mighty Fort Greene restaurant, Los Burritos Juárez, is famous for fluffy, lard-based flour tortillas filled with regional-style guisados that are a challenge to find at other New York Mexican restaurants.

On the drinks side, Mix is the co-founder of bar Whoopsie Daisy and bottle shop Fiasco! Wine and Spirits, both in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, and she also co-founded and operated Cobble Hill mainstay Leyenda for its 10-year tenure. (Good news for former Leyenda regulars: The margarita you know and love is coming to Titán.)

In addition to Delgado, Mix, and Brizzi, Lauren Broder, also of Celestine, is on board as a managing partner.

Despite Titán’s impressive leadership, don’t expect stuffiness or pretense. They’re serious about their work, but they want guests to feel at ease and have fun.

“We want to welcome you a couple of times a week, bring your friends, bring your kids, and hang out on the patio, and just relax. New York is a tough city, and this is like a little oasis,” Delgado says.

With Titán, Delgado and Mix are aiming to recreate the convivial feeling of a carne asada (essentially, a backyard barbecue), with warm orange tones leading the design and, appropriately, Mexican artists on the playlist.

“I hate when you go to a Mexican restaurant and there’s Mumford & Sons playing,” Delgado says with a laugh.

2. Northern Mexican cuisine takes center stage.

Delgado has cooked in kitchens with all different approaches to Mexican cuisine, including entirely plant-based, when he opened Xilonen with the Oxomoco team in December 2020 . But Titán’s menu is probably Delgado’s most personal iteration yet, drawing from his upbringing in the El Paso-Juárez area, and his experiences elsewhere in Mexico. Los Burritos Juárez regulars may recognize one or two of the salsas but, for the most part, Titán’s menu consists of all new, original recipes.

“If you do one thing forever, you get a little burnt out, and we want to have some fun here,” he says, “so we’re trying some different things — things I picked up from my travels, things from when I was a kid — so it’s an opportunity to kind of showcase myself in a different way.”

Northern Mexican cuisine, Delgado explains, tends to be fairly meat-centric, so naturally you’ll find a chile colorado of guajillo-braised pork shoulder with pickled red onions, and a succulent coulotte served with papalo Béarnaise rajas and grilled corn. He’s excited about the chiles toreados, charred soy-marinated chile peppers that are a popular Northern Mexican steakhouse side, which will accompany the grilled half-chicken.

Seafood lovers will gravitate towards the shareable ostiones (oysters) served with bone marrow butter and morita oil, the trio of aguachiles made with snapper, or the grilled branzino, which is served with nopales and cheese-filled masa dumplings.

And of course, we’d be remiss not to mention the tacos, which feature both corn and flour tortilla options. Try the suadero with confit beef, or the pescado, with masa tempura-battered cod and a fresh slaw.

3. Don’t call it an agave bar … because it isn’t.

Ivy Mix adores a margarita, but not unconditionally. “The margarita is the most popular drink in the world right now, and … I happen to take pride in my margarita.” The key to an exceptional margarita, she notes, is the caliber of ingredients used.

Mix is bringing Leyenda’s much-loved margarita, which is essentially a standard margarita made well with quality ingredients, to Titán. It’s going to be on draft, available by the glass, and by the pitcher, so you know they’ll be flowing this summer.

Tequila and mezcal will be represented, naturally, on the beverage list, but Titán also showcases Mexican and Latin American spirits that fall outside of that category, too.

“Most of the things that are coming out of Mexico right now that I’m really excited about are actually not agave-based,” Mix says. The cocktail program features sotols, eau de vies, Mexican rums, and aguardientes, in flavor combinations that go beyond the obvious, incorporating lesser-known indigenous fruits and herbs.

On the hottest of days, Mix recommends ordering a frozen No Seas Mamey, which is essentially piña colada with mamey, a Latin American fruit that she describes as a cross between an avocado and a papaya, with a sweet but earthy, faintly sweet potato-like flavor.

Finally, don’t sleep on their michelada program. They’ve devised some unique, unexpected, and mouthwatering flavor combinations, like the cantaloupe, carrot, orange, tomatillo, and habanero, or the tomato juice with salsas negras.

4. It’s a spot for neighborhood regulars, including you. Yes, you.

Mix and Delgado are acutely aware of the stage on which they find themselves: They’re acutely aware that DUMBO is a citywide destination, drawing visitors from all over. Accordingly, they expect to welcome guests who hail from around the corner and much, much farther.

“To be perfectly honest with you, I would have never thought I could open a place in DUMBO,” Mix says. “To me, it’s like the SoHo of Brooklyn.”

And though they’re excited for the opportunity, they’re not interested in self-consciously playing to the market or jumping on social media trends. Mix says their focus is on doing justice to the flavors and culinary traditions they’re drawing from, and that wouldn’t change if they had opened their doors anywhere else.

“We wouldn’t have the right identity if we were trying to cater to somebody else, so we’re going to be who we are,” Delgado says. “I just wanted to make some good food.”

Along the same lines, Mix plans to bring the same “neighborhood bar” energy that defines her other projects, even though guests might be coming from far and wide.

Wherever you hail from, Mix says, “We’re going to treat you like you live around the corner.”

Titán is open Wednesday through Sunday starting at 5 p.m. 

Ariana DiValentino is a writer, filmmaker, and actor based in Brooklyn. Follow her on Instagram, Bluesky, and TikTok. Follow Resy, too.