Jose Avila, the chef behind Denver’s La Diabla Pozole y Mezcal, has built a national reputation over the past few years for his rich takes on regional Mexican cuisine, like his five kinds of pozole, birria street tacos, a whole fish on a trompo, mole dishes and even an annual festival de bichos, which elevates humble maguey worms and crickets to Michelin-recommended status.
But rather than create fine dining experiences, Avila has made sure his approach is representative of the “real Mexico” – no frills, just great service and food. “I want to see your face here two, three times a week, not just for special occasions. My food is for the people,” he said.
He’ll build on that approach this year with a significant growth plan that includes: a food hall next door to his Ballpark restaurant; a mezcal-focused bar for cocktails and charcoal-smoked meats in Lower Highland; and a third spot, a Yucatecan-style eatery, near Union Station.
When it opens — possibly this summer — the food hall, which Avila and his staff unofficially call The Warehouse, will house six eating and drinking spots. But the idea started much more simply: Avila leased the space, at 2239 Larimer St., to open a tortilla factory adjacent to La Diabla.
The 5,750-square-foot building had much more space than he needed, however, so Avila let his imagination run wild. “Each concept has its own curated menu and its own cocktail bar,” Avila said. “There’s nothing else like this.”
The tortilla retail counter, named Ocho Hilos after an ancient breed of Mexican corn, will sell handmade tortillas crafted with corn that Avila grows and mills himself using the ancient nixtamalization process that has become more popular at Denver restaurants lately.
“The corn that grows in Colorado isn’t the kind we need for proper nixtamalization. That’s why I started experimenting with growing my own corn here in Colorado,” he explained.
Ocho Hilos will be accompanied by five other stalls – one of which is El Borrego Negro, Avila’s beloved pit-cooked, whole-animal barbacoa concept.
Avila’s fans likely are already familiar with the barbacoa, which the chef previously operated behind RISE Westwood, a local food collective. At El Borrego Negro’s new permanent home, Avila and his team will cook whole animals in an underground pit, located on La Diabla’s back patio.
“It’s a pit where we can cook up to three whole animals at a time. We’ll pull them out and serve them fresh,” Avila shared. “Once we pull the animals from the pit, we’ll turn [the pit] into an Argentinian-style grill for hanging vegetables, chickens, whatever we want to serve.”
El Borrego Negro (open on weekends) will also include a bar for pulque, an ancient fermented agave beverage that has deep roots in Central Mexico.
If customers want to try making their barbacoa themselves, they can shop at Karnivora, a carniceria (butcher shop) inside the food hall that will sell cuts from animals Avila raises himself.
Ferozzzz, a small seafood restaurant at the front of the space, will serve fresh, high-quality fish sourced from the same purveyors that supply Denver’s top sushi spots. Instead of the usual ice displays, Avila plans to hang fresh fish to keep them dry and maintain peak quality. The menu will be highly seasonal, limited to around six rotating dishes.
Next to that, Tecomate – Carnita de Monte (which translates to “mountain meat”), will feature a menu of rotating plates and a mushroom farm (that Mile High Fungi is helping set up).
For dessert, Papi Churro will offer churros and atole, a traditional, sweet corn-based drink that dates back to the Aztecs.
With no investors or big financial backers, Avila remains committed to authenticity and quality over everything else. “I don’t have Daddy signing checks. No trust fund, no investors. It’s just me.”
A mezcal bar
Avila is also working on another project at 1541 Platte Street — a mezcal-forward cocktail spot and charcoal grill restaurant with a Japanese-style vinyl listening bar called Malinche Audiobar. The eclectic concept is set to debut in two months.
Located just one block from chef Jonny Curiel’s Mezcaleria Alma, which debuted last November at 2550 15th St., Avila says his mezcal bar will have a completely different vibe. “I really don’t think Denver needs another normal mezcal bar. I mean, I already have one,” Avila joked, referring to La Diabla, which features an impressive selection of nearly 20 mezcals.
But at Malinche, he’ll be serving his own personal mezcal. ”Malinche will be the only place in the whole country you can get the mezcal we are going to provide because it’s my own stuff from Oaxaca,” he explained. “It doesn’t have a brand, you’ll order by the plant. So instead of saying, ‘Give me an Espina Negra Espadin,’ you’ll just order an Espadin.”
There will also be “these really cool, crazy cocktails that show off what you can do with mezcal — like the Madrecuishe, which is kind of like an aphrodisiac,” Avila added.
Malinche draws inspiration from Japan’s listening bars, intimate venues where vinyl records set the tone. The soundtrack? A collection of around 100-150 vintage Mexican records.
“I’ll be playing records from my family from Mexico, like very old Mexican nostalgic music. And it is going to be mixed with whatever music program we have,” he added.
Malinche’s food menu will center around skewered yakitori smoked over binchotan, a high-quality charcoal used in Japanese cooking. The meat will come from Avila’s ranch.
“I think it’s something that the neighborhood needs,” Avila said.
Once the food hall and Malicnhe have opened, Avila has yet another project in the works that is slated to open by the end of this year in the Union Station area. Although he is keeping the address under wraps for now, Avila did confirm that the approximately 2,500 square-foot space will include a concept his customers have seen before: X’Tabai Yucateco.
Tucked into a small corner with a side entrance, it will feature the former food truck’s Mayan recipes, like conchita pibil, with an open kitchen where guests can watch the chefs cook, along with a bar showcasing Yucatecan flavors.
The three new concepts are all under the umbrella of the chef’s restaurant group, Pangea, and will source meat and vegetables from El Brujo, his farm in Wellington.
“We’re focused on providing good food, drinks and service,” he said. “We want to bring something new to Denver.”