Restaurateur Alberto Martínez will open Norte on October 29 in Manhattan's Flatiron District, bringing a 150-seat northern Mexican steakhouse to a restored 1910 landmark at 39 West 19th Street. The concept is his second New York City restaurant, following Cuerno New York at Rockefeller Center, which debuted in 2025, and extends a portfolio that spans restaurants across Mexico and the United States.
The Kitchen Concept
Norte draws its identity from the asador de barrio — the northern Mexican tradition of neighbors gathering around live-fire grilling of carne asada. A Josper charcoal oven anchors the kitchen, where Executive Chef Oriol Mendívil and Chef of Culinary Innovation Jaime Cavazos cook USDA Prime steaks to order. The menu progresses through distinct sections — Botanas, Tacos, Vegetales, La Carne Asada, Especialidades de la Casa, and Sides — mirroring the traditional rhythm of a northern Mexican meal. A tableside chicharrón cart, a trompo spit for marinated pork tacos, and handmade corn and flour tortillas underscore the kitchen's handcraft focus. The signature French Dip de Barbacoa — beef cheek and tongue slow-cooked for 12 hours in the charcoal oven, served on house-made sourdough with Chihuahua cheese — is limited to 12 orders per night, a scarcity tactic operators have used effectively to drive reservation demand and social buzz around a single dish.
Beverage and Design
The beverage program leans into Mexico's full spirits landscape, with tequila and mezcal as bar anchors alongside curated pours of sotol and raicilla — categories that have gained meaningful traction in upscale cocktail programming over the past several years. The wine list features more than 40 Mexican labels across eight winemaking states, paired with benchmark bottles from Champagne, Bordeaux, Napa Valley, and beyond. A dedicated Bar de Mar raw bar — serving tostadas, aguachiles, ceviches, and oysters, some finished over the fire — operates at its own chef's counter and throughout the dining room, giving operators a model for embedding a seafood program within a meat-forward concept without a separate service structure.
Mexican architecture firm A de Arquitectos designed the interior around the building's 1910 bones: distressed brick, aged timber, metallic ceilings, and antique furnishings frame a 16-seat central bar, the Bar de Mar counter, and a private dining room. The 150-seat layout is calibrated for both quick bar-side visits and extended group dinners — a dual-tempo approach that has become a benchmark for full-service restaurant development in high-rent urban markets. An in-house music program, curated by Rulo, shifts from ambient soul-jazz early in the evening to a livelier tempo after 10 p.m., reinforcing the venue's positioning as a late-night destination on weekends.
"Northern Mexican cuisine has a depth, history, and craft that deserves to stand shoulder to shoulder with the American, Chinese, Italian, and French culinary giants that have defined New York dining," said Martínez. The restaurant will be open nightly for dinner — Sunday through Wednesday from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. and Thursday through Saturday until midnight — with reservations through Resy and walk-ins welcome.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
