Two Denver restaurants named among the best Mexican food in America by the New York Times

The New York Times just dropped its list of “41 of the Greatest Mexican Restaurants Across the United States,” and Denver didn’t just show up, it showed up twice. La Diabla Pozole y Mezcal in the Ballpark neighborhood and Alma Fonda Fina in LoHi both earned spots on the national list, which the Times described as “a mosaic of great places to eat” driving a renaissance in Mexican cuisine across the country.

La Diabla, the Larimer Street spot from Chef José Avila, has been stacking accolades since it opened in 2021 as Denver’s first restaurant devoted entirely to pozole — the slow-braised, nixtamalized-corn stew Avila grew up eating at pozolerías in Mexico City. It’s already landed on the Times’ 2023 list of America’s 50 Best Restaurants, earned a Michelin Bib Gourmand nod and was named Westword’s Best New Restaurant in 2022. “This belongs to every past and present hand behind La Diabla, and everyone who has shared a bowl with us,” the restaurant wrote on Instagram after the list dropped.

Then there’s Alma Fonda Fina, the intimate LoHi restaurant Chef Johnny Curiel opened with his wife and business partner, Kasie, in December 2023. Inspired by the fondas run by Curiel’s family in Guadalajara, Alma earned a Michelin star in remarkably short order, landed on Esquire’s Best New Restaurants in America list in 2024 and cracked OpenTable’s top 100 restaurants in 2025. The Times highlighted the duck carnitas and agave-roasted sweet potato, calling the food “refined, contemporary and deeply satisfying.”

For a city that spent decades being known more for green chile smothered on everything than fine Mexican dining, Denver’s emergence as a legitimate destination for the cuisine is a full-on glow-up. Between Michelin stars, James Beard recognition and now back-to-back appearances on the Times’ national lists, the Mile High City’s Mexican food scene isn’t sneaking up on anyone anymore.