It’s a truth well-known by high school chemistry teachers the world over: When you need to wake up a class of bored students, bringing together two seemingly unremarkable substances and creating an explosion will get the room’s attention. The same rules apply to kitchen “chemistry”: Chefs regularly combine ingredients that might not thrill the tastebuds on their own, but that produce something bold and delicious when they’re joined. I’m happy to report that Con Vista al Mar, a new Mexican seafood restaurant on East Seventh, is more than capable of rousing listless diners with dishes that know exactly how to use every element on the plate.
Con Vista al Mar comes to Austin via Mexico City, where executive chef and co-partner Irak Roaro operates four locations of this coastal-inspired concept. Anyone who’s spent time in Puerto Vallarta or Cabo San Lucas will recognize the restaurant’s aesthetic: spacious patios, vivid teals and yellows, wide windows, ceramic tile floors, aquatic tchotchkes on the walls. This easy-breezy vibe extends to the service; the floor staff is helpful but never intrusive, and upon taking a seat at one of the restaurant’s dinerlike tables, you’ll be presented with a colorful paper menu (although the drink menu needs to be accessed via QR code).
Speaking of drinks, Con Vista al Mar homes in on Mexican beach bar classics, which means they offer plenty of margaritas, more than one frozen option, and several spins on the chelada, a cocktail made with crisp beer, lime juice, salt, and other mix-ins. The house margarita is solid with a good balance between the tequila, lime, orange liqueur, and agave syrup, and the frozens – which change out fairly often but currently include a guava marg and a pineapple-passion fruit tequila drink – also excel at weighing their flavors to produce harmonious sips. But if you’re looking for particularly engaging tastes, check out the chelada section of the menu. The Cubana, for example, is a masterful blend of Mexican beer, fresh lime juice, and “special sauces,” which remain shrouded in mystery but which feature savory, salty, spicy, and funky dimensions that can easily take on even the nastiest of hangovers.
Con Vista al Mar is more than capable of rousing listless diners with dishes that know exactly how to use every element on the plate.
Con Vista al Mar’s food menu is expansive, and it may take a while to wade through its many categories to put together your meal. A bit of editing could help the restaurant cast a brighter light on its most notable dishes. If you ask your server to recommend a “must order” item, they’ll likely point you to the Tostilocos, which the menu itself describes as “nostalgic and our most famous dish.” This plate consists of a baggie of Salsa Verde Tostitos opened and filled with Mazatlán-style ceviche, which the server will instruct you to turn upside down on your plate so that the chips can mingle with the ceviche. The Tostilocos bring me back to the chemistry class scenario I described earlier; on its own, the Mazatlán ceviche is neutrally pleasant. The fish delivers a mellow oceanic flavor (although those who prefer a more substantial and rustic ceviche might balk at its very fine texture), traces of avocado and hot pepper lend smoothness and spice, and carrot and cucumber contribute some welcome crunch. But when you scoop this raw fish preparation onto a Salsa Verde Tostito and take a bite, the combination of salty chips, spicy-tangy seasoning, and ceviche makes for a magical experience.
This pattern of pretty-good individual elements combining to create memorable dishes continues throughout the Con Vista al Mar menu. Pescadillas – fried smoked fish tacos with “creamy dressing,” avocado, and smoky-nutty salsa morita – let the crunch of the fried tortillas meld with the tender smoked fish and the luxe drizzle of sauces for a delightful sensory experience, even if the smoked fish itself lacks salt and acid and the amount of sauce poured on top makes the tacos a messy handheld snack. The ensenada taco, a fried fish version inspired by the beloved tacos offered at seaside spots in Baja, boasts a crisp exterior and tender interior on the fish, and the flour tortilla stretches enough to accommodate the hefty amount of toppings. The taco’s individual flavors prove challenging to identify, but when taken together, they’re appealing and satisfying.
Raw fish plays an important role on the Con Vista al Mar menu. In addition to the Mazatlán ceviche served both independently and as part of the Tostilocos, the restaurant offers multiple aguachiles. When I ordered the burnt habanero version, my server warned me about its heat quotient. I dismissed the concern as a die-hard fan of spicy food, but when I took my first bite, I had to admit that her tone of caution was warranted. The tender raw shrimp has a delicate flavor that can be discerned if you really try, but the dark, lime-scented, peppery, and salty sauce will easily shunt the shrimp’s natural taste to the side. Slices of cucumber provide a nice respite for the heat, and the accompanying tortilla chips offer sturdy edible scoops.
The tuna tostada brings some Asian influences to the flavor parade; the tuna is salt-cured and served with a dressing of ginger, lemongrass, sesame, and habanero, along with a heavy-handed sprinkle of bonito flakes. The tuna’s silky texture plays nicely off of the crispy tostada shell, as does the smooth avocado offered alongside. But the dish as a whole feels overloaded; it’s definitely a knife-and-fork tostada, and the fishy funk of the bonito threatens to eclipse the other flavors.
Groups of two or three would be wise to order the Catch of the Day, a whole fish grilled to perfection and served with black beans, fresh corn or flour tortillas, well-balanced guacamole, and house hot sauce. The fish – red snapper, when I visited – features crisp skin and tender, albeit underseasoned, meat, and the smoky notes from the grill feel appropriate for the restaurant’s beach cookout energy. Lemon wedges provide acidity, and when you layer the fish on a tortilla with black beans, guac, and some of Con Vista al Mar’s habanero-forward hot sauce, you’ll get a south-of-the-border bite that’s hard to forget.
Austinites in search of quality seafood will find Con Vista al Mar highly worthwhile, as long as they’re willing to trust the process. The chefs know what belongs on each plate and how to put those components together, and you as a diner just need to sit back, relax, and enjoy the dishes as presented. Follow this path with a frozen margarita or a chelada in hand, and you won’t be disappointed.
Con Vista al Mar
1209 E. Seventh
512/665-7245
This article appears in March 21 • 2025.