Valentine’s Day 2026 – My wife and I have a somewhat regular tradition to try a new restaurant in Nashville on Valentine’s Day. We don’t stick to it every year, but we did this year, and man, were we completely stoked to cross this restaurant off of our list. We’ve seen the steady barrage of social media posts about Maiz de la Vida throughout the years, but the stars had never aligned. As far as I knew, it was just a food truck. So, you can imagine my delight when I looked them up and realized there’s a brick and mortar location in The Gulch now. When I saw that they accepted reservations, I was sold. Then, the fun part began – perusing the menu and trying to decide in advance what we’d eat.
We arrived for our 8:30PM reservations, and I couldn’t help but appreciate the vibes in the restaurant. It’s a lovely setting tucked away in plain sight behind Two Hands in The Gulch. We started with a couple of cocktails. I don’t recall exactly what mine was called, and it doesn’t appear to be on their regular menu, but it was smoky with a touch of vanilla…perfect for a cooler winter night. Our meal started with the guacamole and salsas. Truthfully, I could’ve made a meal out of the chips. I haven’t had a chip that tasted so fresh before in my life. The guac was good, but the star of the dish, to me, was the oil-based salsa made from habaneros. It dialed up the heat, but man, the flavor was on point. My wife ordered the Mole Negro, perfectly cooked chicken in a mole sauce that tasted as if it had a million years’ worth of spice in it. The butter risotto was the unsung hero of that dish, as it soaked up every bit of flavor from that mole. But, the inspiration to write…to create…to heap praise…that came from what I ordered: the Carne Asada.
This steak was something worthy of celebration – a 9oz NY strip served under chiles toreados and with garlic potatoes and herb butter. With a distinct flavor cooked to perfection, I felt like I had stumbled upon some hidden gem in this city. Sure, there’s a great steakhouse or two in town, but for my money ($48 in this case), this Carne Asada stacked up with any steak I’ve had in Nashville before. The potatoes were perfect – skin on, just as I like them – and I could’ve drank the herb butter through a straw. But, what this dish made me realize about myself is that I quite enjoy a bit of heat with my hunk of meat. The pepper cleared out my sinuses and about brought a tear down my cheek, but the savory and spicy combination worked so well. Any time the heat grew to be too much, I could drown it out with creamy potato or butter.
I’ve stopped scoring restaurants in the name of writing more stories about them. Not that anyone really cares, but under the old ‘Nashville Reviews’ series, this would’ve been one of the highest grades I’ve given out. Absolutely loved it and cannot wait for the next special occasion to go back and do it all over again. For more on Maiz de la Vida, check out their website here.
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network, second on Football & Other F Words, analyst for Stacking The Inbox, and a Dogs Playing Poker on velvet connoisseur. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD, #BeBetter, and ‘Minds right, asses tight.’ “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, the NFL Draft, Nashville, Yankee Candle, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley.
Elsewhere on the SoBros Network: Check out Stacking The Inbox for premium coverage of the Tennessee Titans and NFL Draft. Subscribe to Nashville Movie Dispatch for all of our movie content. We get weird on Phone It In, the history podcast that explores legendary tales, important historical figures, and events.
