If you've been hunting for Mexican food that doesn't lean on the usual shortcuts, Urban Spice (still known to many as House of Corn) is worth a visit. It's an authentic Mexican, Latin American, and New Mexican spot owned and run by Armando Guerrero, who brings his own Mexican heritage to the menu. The whole place is built around corn — yellow, red, and blue — and the tortillas are made daily in-house from their own molinillo, which is a detail that actually makes a difference.
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The current downtown location sits in the Even Steven's building at 414 East 200 South, right next to a 7-Eleven, so it's easy to find. It's worth noting this isn't the original spot: the first House of Corn was over in Sandy Village and closed in late 2022 after a run of flooding, property management issues and financial trouble. The downtown version has carried the torch since.
What to order is the fun part, because the menu is wide. A City Weekly review from May 2024 pointed to the street tacos al pastor at $4.99, the $4 tamales, $11.99 chilaquiles and the generous bowls of pozole at $12.99. The more distinctive items are the giant pambazos — toasted carmine bread dipped in chile sauce — and the quesabirrias, two blue corn tortillas filled with slow-cooked birria and cheese, served with a glass of meat consommé with onion and cilantro for dipping, both $12.99. Tamales come à la carte in red or green sauce.
Beyond those, the appetizers run from $4.99 chips and salsa to $18.99 ceviche and $19.99 aguachile, with corn ribs and queso fundido in between. The soup list is long, with sopa de fideo, sopa de tortilla, caldo de pollo, menudo and caldo de res all in the $12.99 to $16.99 range. For mains, there's mole de pollo made with chocolate and chiles and about 20 ingredients, puerco en salsa verde, carne asada, chile relleno, flautas, mojarra frita and camarones a la diabla. Dessert rounds things out with tres leches, flan, choco flan and a sweet tamale.
To drink, they have aguas frescas, Mexican beers like Pacífico, Modelo, Corona, Victoria and Dos Equis, cocktails including margaritas, micheladas and a 32-ounce caguama, bottled soda, café de olla and mojitos. Breakfast is served all day, so you can walk in at 11 a.m. or 4 p.m. and still get chilaquiles with egg and meat.
Recent reviews are a bit split, which is common for a place this busy. Some people have come away disappointed with meat that tasted old or cold, while others rave about the queso fundido and guacamole, the homemade chips, the carne asada and the green chicken enchiladas, with one reviewer saying a shared dish was large enough to feed four. The consensus on the atmosphere is more consistent: fun, colorful and inviting. If you're going on a Thursday, they run a Social Thursday from 5 to 8 p.m. with shareable appetizers — nachos platter, mini quesadillas and birria tacos — for $19.99.
Hours are 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday. It's a solid, unpretentious spot for anyone who wants real corn-based Mexican food without the fuss.
