There is Mexican food.

And there is Persian food.

Thanks to the new Movida Lounge in San Francisco’s South of Market District, there is now Persian-Mexican cuisine, too.

At first thought, you might think this a puzzling head scratcher. But reflect further, and you’ll realize that over the past decade, all manner of cuisines have been folded up and tucked into tacos and burritos, most notably Korean fare at Los Angeles’ ground-breaking Kogi Korean BBQ truck. So, smoky kebabs and Middle Eastern dips enveloped in tortillas, especially ones that also incorporate rice like they do here, aren’t so farfetched after all.

Especially when you learn that after Co-Owner Bobby Marhamat’s parents immigrated from Iran to Nebraska, they ended up buying a Mexican restaurant to operate. And naturally, the two cuisines started to meld at home.

Movida is an outgrowth of that. Or as his wife and Co-Owner Shima Marhamat explains, “We took A and B — and created C.”

Indeed, they did, opening their first restaurant in the neighborhood they’ve loved and lived in for years. She and her husband, who is CEO of Raydiant, a San Francisco tech company that makes digital signs for businesses, had no experience in the restaurant industry previously, though they had founded their own tequila and hot sauce companies.

For greater expertise, they hired on as a consultant, Hoss Zare, who owned the beloved Zare at Fly Trap in San Francisco, where the couple were regulars. For Zare, now an executive chef at Bon Appetit Management Company with Google, it was a perfect fit, considering he had regularly incorporated Mediterranean touches into his Persian cuisine at his former restaurant.

A couple weeks ago, I had a chance to judge just how successful this marriage of flavors and influences worked when I was invited in as a guest of Movida.

This long, narrow restaurant features a bar on one side and velvet banquet seating with low-backed seats on the other side, giving it a very lounge-y vibe. It’s dimly lighted, moody, and artsy with a mural of a stone staircase over the bar and the walls stenciled in a Persian carpet design. On weekends, a DJ spins tunes, with diners known to get up to dance between bites.

Don’t miss checking out the restrooms, each of which features a different thought-provoking digital art installation by the sink in a nod to Bobby Marhamat’s other business.

Water comes infused with cucumber, just like at a spa. For something stronger, try the Manzanita ($18), a cocktail full of apple taste from Calvados, a touch of pear from St. George spiced pear, and a subtle bitter edge from black walnut bitters. It’s fancifully adorned with fresh apple slices and mint sprigs.

The menu is meant for sharing. To dip your taste buds gingerly into this Persian-Mexican mash-up, go for the chips and dips ($13). Pick two of the six dips offered, such as the Persian-inflected smoky roasted eggplant that had a touch of pomegranate molasses in it, and the more Mexican-influenced walnut and Aleppo salsa macha, a smooth dip that’s fruity and tangy and with a hit of heat that sneaks up on you at the end. Along with tortilla chips to dunk everything in, there is also crisp, rippled lavash that are addictive.

The chicken wings ($16) are fried without batter, making them lighter tasting. Choose habanero lime or pomegranate barbecue sauce. We went with the former, which surprisingly didn’t have a whole lot of taste. The wings were crisp and succulent, but a punchier sauce would really make them stand out more.

At Movida, you can enjoy a koobideh kebab of ground lamb and beef with jalapeno in a taco ($9 each) with za’atar guacamole instead of in a traditional flatbread. It all works, and even more so when you dab on some of the dips you ordered earlier.

Persian Greens ($17) is a nice way to go to add some vibrant freshness to your meal, with its jumble of tomatoes, Persian cucumbers, sumac onions, cotija cheese, and pumpkin seeds with a pool of bright green pistachio Green Goddess dressing off to the side of the plate.

The short rib birria tostada ($21) was my favorite. The stewy, tender short rib meat covered a tortilla made with rice to create a crisp and chewy foundation akin to tahdig, the coveted crispy rice at the bottom of the pot. Garbanzo beans, cotija cheese, tangy sumac, red onion, and cilantro were additional garnishes, with all the flavors delectably soaking into the tostada to enjoy at once.

My other favorite was the stunning chile relleno that can be enjoyed vegetarian ($18) or with lamb ($23), as I chose. The large, grassy tasting poblano pepper comes stuffed with a cheesy mix of basmati rice, lamb, tomato and queso. It’s lightly battered and fried, arriving in golden splendor at the table, with a spicy and smoky taste.

For dessert, there is a fantastic baklava ($12). Admittedly, I don’t often order baklava because it can be so achingly sweet. Shima Marhamat brought it out, specifically for me to try because the thinks this version is special. She is absolutely correct. The phyllo is shatteringly crisp, as it should be. There’s the expected filling of pistachios and walnuts, but also pine nuts for a Mexican touch. What really makes this baklava special, though, is the smoky guajillo pepper syrup that finishes it. There’s still a sweetness to be sure, but it’s much more tempered, thanks to the fruity, smoky pepper that works wonders and gives a welcome touch of savoriness to the dessert.

The churros ($11) come cinnamon sugar-dusted with a touch of saffron and pistachio. The chocolate sauce for dipping is infused with a bit of rose water. These churros are especially crunchy, not airy but denser inside, and bordering more on cookie-like.

For a refreshing finale, there are saffron-rose paletas ($7) that are creamy with their ends dusted with finely chopped pistachios.

The Marhamats have big plans for Movida. They’re already scouting a potential second location in New York City. At the end of last year, Michelin also added Movida to its California guide for its menu that “cleverly combines Mexican and Persian cuisines with surprisingly compelling results.” Check it out for yourself for a unique experience.