COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – An immigrant-owned kitchen is bringing a taste of Mexico to the East Side.

Masa Mexican Grill will hold its grand opening Wednesday in the East Market, according to its owner and chef Iván Ruiz. Featuring handmade corn tortillas, “Salsa Ilegal,” burritos, nachos and more, Ruiz said the menu was partially inspired by his childhood – and its near-daily cooking rituals – on the west coast of Mexico, he said.

“Everyone’s gonna be smelling [my food] there,” Ruiz told NBC4 in January. “But most of all, they’re gonna be smelling the chili, and I think it’s something that people are gonna smell in the East Market – something I think is missing over there, so some more flavor over there. My chili’s going to smell everywhere.”

Ruiz and his wife, Emma, said they designed the layout of Masa Mexican Grill’s stall in the East Market to highlight the real-time dough-making process of his prized tortillas.

The emphasis on tortillas carries true to an old Mexican adage designed to reflect the generations-long cultural importance of the nixtamalized corn dough: “Sin maíz no hay país,” meaning “There is no country without corn,” Ruiz said.

“It just made me a happy kid there at the time, so that’s what made me come out with this idea,” Ruiz said. “But here, the main focus is going to be – my passion is going to be – the homemade tortilla.”

East Market, located at 212 Kelton Ave., is open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday.