A new Persian restaurant called Chistā opened its doors to the public on Wednesday near Rainey Street, taking over the former Tómalo Grill space at 44 East Ave., Suite 100. The restaurant is led by Executive Chef and partner Mojdeh Eghbal, whose menu spans cold and hot bites, salads, seafood, rice dishes and charcoal-fired kebabs.
According to Community Impact, the menu draws on regional Iranian cuisine along with Eghbal’s own family recipes and travels, a framing the restaurant’s spokesperson confirmed to the outlet. Cold bites include a Persian gazpacho made with cucumber, yogurt and raisins, plus a grilled peach labneh topped with roasted garlic, rose petals and salted dried mint. Eghbal told the outlet that strained yogurt is a staple of the Iranian table, and that she pairs it with Austin peaches and Persian flavors because grilling intensifies the peach’s sweetness and balances the labneh.
Hot bites on the menu include a koobideh kebab hand roll served on house-made lavash and a golden potato kuku, the same report notes. Larger plates stretch to ghalieh mahi, a southern Iran coastal stew built around pan-seared whitefish with cilantro, fenugreek and tamarind sauce, alongside fesenjoon chicken served in a walnut-pomegranate stew and both beef and chicken kebabs.
Charcoal Kebabs and a Splurge-Worthy Rice Dish
The menu includes charcoal-grilled kebabs. For those planning ahead, Chistā also offers tahchin by preorder — a crispy saffron yogurt rice dish layered with lamb and eggplant, built to serve two.
Prices for starters and salads run $16 to $23, while entrees span a wide range from $23 up to $85, per the same account. Dessert options, each priced at $12, include a saffron tres leches cake and ranginak, a traditional Persian date dessert.
A Cocktail Program With Persian Touches
The bar program leans into the same regional flavors, with a cocktail menu that includes zero-proof options, a saffron martini and a Persian negroni made with hibiscus and black lime. Bartender Ky Huber mixes an alabaloo sour with bourbon, Jamaican rum, sour cherry and lemon, according to the report.
Chistā’s team includes Omid Kalantari as managing partner, Bill Norris as beverage director and Valerie Clougherty as bar lead, the restaurant’s spokesperson told the outlet. The restaurant’s menu items may change with the seasons, per the same spokesperson.
Leadership Role Still Unsettled
There’s some confusion over who exactly is steering the kitchen alongside Eghbal. Community Impact’s report names Michael Santoro as Chistā’s consulting chef and partner, while a preview published by Austin Food Magazine instead identified Paul Qui as consulting chef and co-owner, describing him as someone who would help guide the restaurant’s culinary direction alongside Eghbal. The two accounts have not been reconciled.
That same Austin Food Magazine preview had described Chistā as planned to open in fall at 44 East Ave. near Rainey Street, and said Eghbal’s menu draws on recipes passed down from her grandmother and shaped by her travels and her connection to the Iranian diaspora.
Second Persian Opening in a Recent Stretch for Austin
Chistā isn’t the only Persian newcomer on the city’s radar this year. The Infatuation described Chistā as the second restaurant of its kind to open in Austin recently, following Roya.
Roya, a Persian concept from chef-owner Amir Hajimaleki, opened in north Austin earlier in February, according to the Austin American-Statesman. That restaurant serves dishes Hajimaleki had been presenting at exclusive pop-up dinners across Austin since 2018, per communityimpact.com, with a menu that includes wild mushroom borani, mahiche gheymeh lamb shank and wagyu chenjeh kabob. At Roya, the Statesman reported, small plates hover in the mid-teens, mains climb into the $30-$40 range and its Sofreh Experience runs $75 per person.
The Tómalo Grill space Chistā now occupies had opened in September 2024 and closed in early 2026 before the new restaurant moved in. Chistā held a ribbon cutting on Monday, a day ahead of its public opening, and is now open 5-10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 5-11 p.m. Friday and Saturday, with online reservations available through its website.
