Tayta Latin Cuisine
Words by Marisa Mohi / Photos by Shea Alan
Downtown Oklahoma City is both stately and unyielding. Imposing structures made of straight lines and right angles surround you, a grid of steel and tempered glass looming above. The courthouse, law offices, and other serious businesses all call Downtown home. For many in the metro, Downtown is intimidating. In our car-dominated culture, it’s likely every group chat has at least one objector to a Downtown dinner meetup, parking stress cited as the reason. Far too many are content to avoid Downtown unless called there for jury duty or a business meeting. But at the corner of Hudson and Main, there’s a place that seeks to bend that rigid, uncompromising business atmosphere into something a little more personal and inviting.
Tayta Latin Cuisine, owned by Niel and Madeline Zambrano, specializes in South American, Central American, and Caribbean cuisine. “The idea is to introduce more culture to the Oklahoma people,” Niel says. To do this, Tayta’s menu combines traditional and contemporary dishes to expose a market accustomed to Tex-Mex to the wider world of Latin food. There are dishes Oklahomans will recognize, like empanadas and lomo saltado. But Niel is most happy to talk about the ceviche. “It’s because where I’m from, that’s what I grew up with,” he says, noting that where he lived, he could see the fishermen returning to shore with the day’s catch. “It’s my dream to try to bring more Peruvian food here.”
Niel smiles when he speaks, a clear indication of his love for what he does. A question about how Tayta can serve breakfast, lunch, dinner, and cocktails while also bringing together the dishes of so many cultures yields an answer about how hard the restaurant business can be, but the smile never falters. Tayta isn’t just a business; it’s a piece of the Zambranos. And it’s a mission to Niel and his message to Oklahoma. Niel references the menu and special events the restaurant hosts, saying, “Hey, we are Latinos. This is our culture, this is our food, this is the way we are.”
The Zambranos don’t pull any punches to share this message. The menu is interesting and different, but not so different that diehard Tex-Mex fans won’t find something they like. Niel’s plan has been to slowly add more Peruvian food to the menu, starting with items more common to Oklahomans, before featuring unfamiliar foods. To do that, he’s focused on foods popular in other Latin cultures. “That's why I have empanadas, right?” Niel says, noting that empanadas are made in Peru, Venezuela, Colombia, Puerto Rico, Argentina, and Chile, too.
Inside, the restaurant feels modern and clean. There are no kitschy souvenirs or folk art on the walls, something often seen at restaurants serving non-Western food. Instead, the vibe is sleek and inviting, with soft pops of color from the yellow barstools and red curtains, creating a warm, calm environment where the food can speak for itself. There is plenty of room for acoustic musicians to play and traditional dancers to entertain, which occurs monthly. Niel promises the music won’t get too loud, though. “I want to keep it quiet because this restaurant is more family-oriented, right? And we want to keep it that way.”
It's not just a focus on family food traditions that makes Tayta an inclusive, welcoming place. The Zambranos have embraced all Latin cuisine. But it makes sense: Niel is from Peru and Madeline is Panamanian. Niel began working in Mexican restaurants. Tayta feels like a culmination of the events that brought the Zambranos to this point in their lives.
The word Tayta is Quechua, the language and name of an Indigenous group from Peru. It means grandfather, and has similar meanings in other South and Central American cultures. The name fits. Tayta feels like the home of a benevolent patriarch, one eager to pass down traditions. This winter, Niel is particularly excited to share a new special, pork roasted in a “caja China,” a large sealed box with hot coals on top to cook the meat. “You're gonna see that on Instagram,” he says with his unbreakable smile.
But even without the specials, Tayta’s breakfast, lunch, dinner, and cocktail menus still shine, with offerings to suit a family brunch, business lunch, date night, or girls’ night out. And while it’s not a menu item, Tayta validates parking for those who park in their building’s garage, another simple way they’re making downtown a more warm and welcoming place.
Tayta Latin Cuisine, 25 N. Hudson Ave., Oklahoma City, (405) 493-9805, taytalatincuisineoklahoma.com, @taytalc
