Maiz De La Vida’s food truck is one of our favorite places to eat. And though their brick-and-mortar sister restaurant took a minute to hit its stride, it’s finally found its niche as Nashville’s standard for upscale Mexican. Even though we say upscale, this isn’t some stuffy experience. The room feels like a Sonoran bungalow, with warm walls, Mexican pottery, potted marigolds, and a giant mural made up of 250,000 kernels of corn. There are two bars here, one looking into the kitchen and the other minding the drinks, either of which are great for posting up on your own during a work lunch. The wood-slat booths, however, on the side, are the money spot for a second dinner date. The menu really goes beyond what’s served at a lot of Nashville’s nicer, sit-down Mexican restaurants. There’s artfully stacked salmon ceviche, a superbly crunchy chicken milanesa, and a riff on elote that’s gunning for one of the best sides in Nashville. There are still some occasional misses, like their heavy-handed white chocolate mole verde that doesn’t quite achieve its full potential. But we think it’s a sign of a kitchen that isn’t afraid to try new things, and Nashville could use more of that.