Here, it’s all about the street corn

Shucks! What could be better? An agua fresca?

With the goal of making the Mexican street corn experience as social and inviting as an afternoon at a coffee shop, Elotitos Corn Bar opened Friday in the Deco District.

Owner Jesus Arreaga said that while there are plenty of Mexican snack shops in town, he saw an opening in the market for a sit-down place where people could chill out, drink an agua fresca and enjoy something more than just the usual corn-in-a-cup.

So he tested the idea last fall, staging half a dozen pop-up.

And when people started hitting him up for orders outside of those pop-ups, he felt like the time was right.

The menu at Elotitos starts with two types of corn: boiled and on the cob, or cut and served in a cup. From there, choose how it’s prepared — from traditional corn with Mexican crema, queso fresco, chile powder and nacho cheese to Hot Cheetos corn, supplemented with crushed Flamin’ Hot Cheetos. Other flavor options include chipotle, jalapeño (with Doritos dust) and crunchy cheese, spiked with Cheetos and Doritos.

To go with that corn, Arreaga will offer dressed-up chips

called papitas preparadas — Conchitas, Takis, Doritos and other popular chips topped with crema, Valentina’s hot sauce, nacho cheese, queso fresco, jalapeños and, naturally, corn.

And for the thirst that comes with salt and spice, Arreaga will serve aguas frescas, including

creamy marzipan water and the agua de la casa, spiked with cucumber and pineapple. In addition, he’ll be selling a Clamato preparado with tomato juice, lime, chile powder, cucumber, jicama and Topo Chico.

At the new shop on Fredericksburg Road just a few blocks

south of the Deco H-E-B, Elotitos will have a central communal table with room for 10, plus a handful of tables for two. Arreaga is looking into opening some patio space.

Elotitos Corn Bar, 1933 Fredericksburg Road, Suite 105, 726999-2609, Facebook:

@elotitos.sa. Open today 4 to 9 p.m. Regular hours beginning Tuesday: 3 to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

Elotitos Corn Bar At Elotitos Corn Bar, the jalapeño corn, served in a cup or on the cob, is one of the many ways the street food is prepared.