Tequilería Alteño offers small bites with big flavor
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
The chamorro (pork shank) at Tequilería Alteño. Photo: Esteban L. Hernandez/Axios
Chef Johnny Curiel returned to Denver empty-handed from the recent James Beard Awards ceremony, but his latest project proves why he was there in the first place.
The latest: Tequilería Alteño opened as a pop-up this week in the space formerly occupied by his Spanish-style bistro Mar Bella Wine Bar inside the Clayton Hotel & Members Club in Cherry Creek.
- The new spot — located across from his Michelin-recommended restaurant Alteño — specializes in replicating Mexico's cantina culture with sharable bites, 80-plus regional spirits and icy lagers.
Best bites: All 11 menu items are superb. If I had to choose five, my picks — in order of I didn't really want to share them — are:
- Taco de pescado made with Japanese hamachi.
- Tostada de atun made with bigeye tuna drizzled in ponzu sauce.
- Flautas bañadas made with roasted chicken and salsa verde.
- Ostiones (baked oysters) served with bluefin otoro.
- Aguachile verde made with Gulf shrimp and herb serrano broth.
For drinks, try the charro negro — a classic tequila-and-Coke drink — or the mole blanco negroni.
What they're saying: "To build a tequilería across the hall from Alteño is a dream," Curiel tells us, before recommending the chamorro (pork shank), by far the largest dish on the menu.
If you go: Tequilería Alteño (233 Clayton St.) opens Tuesday-Thursday from 4-10pm, and Friday-Saturday from 4pm-midnight.
- It will run through September.