From the alley between Larimer and Market, between Park Avenue and 22nd, lies El Borrego Negro’s inaugural morning pop-up at its new home in the corner of an old warehouse next to La Diabla Pozole y Mezcal. The smells made it easier to find than the small sign painted onto a wooden pallet that read, “Barbacoa de Hoyo por Libra o Taco Consome – Tortilla Azul Nixtamal.” Through a roll-open garage door, Chef Jose Vilchez Avila’s newest concept is taking shape. A hole-in-the-wall serving up locally raised lamb that cooks – wrapped in agave leaves – low and slow through day and night in a hole in the ground. It is – expectedly for those that have dined at La Diabla – unlike anything that a guest is likely to find elsewhere in Denver, and yet something that is prevalent in both Mexico City – where Chef Avila is from – and in the other vast and varied Mexican cities and regions from where he draws inspiration.
“It’s not that I invented this concept,” he detailed as he began describing the conception of La Diabla. “You know, in Mexico City and the state of Guererro, you can see pozolerias everywhere. But it’s something that I grew up with and when I moved here, it was just nonexistent. But there was a lot of pho places on Federal just packed with Mexicans. At the time, me coming from Mexico City, there were no pho places, so I knew that us – we weren’t in there for the rice noodles. Like no way. We were there for the broth. It’s spicy and there’s fresh lime juice. So that’s how the idea for La Diabla came about. Pozole is basically about the same kinds of things. We started the concept in 2020 in the middle of the pandemic. But we still opened and when we started, we were doing six feet of distance between the tables. La Diabla is already small, so we had maybe six tables at most. But once people started coming in and seeing that this is something different – it’s not just another Mexican restaurant, you know? Because we have plenty of those here. So, we wanted to do something different and just focus on the pozole and the mezcal and bring those authentic Mexico City flavors.”
Since 2020, he’s done exactly that, earning James Beard nominations for best chef in the Mountain Region in 2022 and 2023, and La Diabla being recognized as one of Bon Appetite’s 25 Best Restaurants in the country in 2022. Now, with La Diabla a staple of the downtown dining scene, he’s embarking on something new.
“I got the warehouse next door to La Diabla. And with all that space, I went crazy with ideas. So inside, we’re doing a seafood place, we’re doing a churro place, we’re doing a mushroom concept, we’re doing this,” he said, pointing to the embers still emanating from the pit barbecue from where El Borrego Negro’s menu for the day was pulled. “And we’re trying to control as much of the process as possible. We built a mushroom farm where we’re going to get all the mushrooms for the mushroom concept and incorporate them into all sorts of different dishes. And even though all these ideas are Mexican-based or Mexican concepts, they’re worlds apart from each other, you know? Just like Mexico. Food from Chihuahua has nothing to do with the food from Merida Yucatan. And then, we have the ranch, where we raise our own animals. I am also making my own mezcal. I’ve started growing my own corn. So, you know, we’re trying to keep it as close to home as possible.”
Industrious may be an understatement when describing Chef Avila, but overseeing every step of the process not only from sourcing ingredients but growing and raising the menu from scratch, is resulting in better, more authentic tastes. Take the Taco Barbacoa de Borrego served on a Tortilla Azul Nixtamal cooked up on a traditional Comal built into the warehouse. The meat sourced from Chef Avila’s ranch and cooked overnight in the Hoyo is melty and decadent, balanced with some welcomed heat from a house made salsa and brightened with fresh cilantro and lime. And then, served on the same earthy tortilla that boasts a touch of natural sweetness from the blue corn, a Huitlacoche Quesadilla, made creamy and savory from the queso fresco, smoky from the comal, and fresh from a house made guacamole.
Packed with nostalgic flavors but still light and well-balanced, Chef Avila’s warehouse only has one concept so far, but if El Borrego Negro is any indication of what is to come, his industrious plans to bring more authentic and unique Mexican flavors to Denver will only continue to find success.
“I mean, my list is long right now,” he said, grabbing a seat for the first time that day as the first service with El Borrego Negro and the warehouse started to wind down. “But once we get all these little details down, then it becomes smoother, the service becomes faster and the food becomes better. But it’s a work in progress and I’m just excited. And for me and the team that we were able to survive the first day – we have to start somewhere. People keep asking me, are you going to open everything at once? No. Who in the right mind would do that. Already what I’m doing feels crazy. There is more work to do and more logistics to figure out, but we’ll keep pushing forward. At the end of the day, it comes down to the team, and the one I have is amazing.”
As cooks began preparing the hoyo for the next slow barbacoa borrego for tomorrow’s service, pineapples, agave leaves and a sheep’s head were still smoking over the grill above ground. Other workers were tiling the interior of the expansion directly behind La Diabla while cooks inside the warehouse continued to plate fresh tortillas from the comal. Bartenders quickly paced from the bar with micheladas, plastic tables were full of happy guests and new passersby continued to find their way to the alley for a taste of something different. Bustling, the first service in the warehouse is likely to be a microcosm of the energy that will continue to define it as another must-visit, transportive experience from Chef Jose Vilchez Avila. And even with all that’s on his plate right now, he hinted at even more in the works coming soon.
La Diabla Pozole y Mezcal is located at 2233 Larimer St., Denver. Its hours are Monday 3 – 10 p.m., Tuesday 3 – 11 p.m., Wednesday – Thursday 11 a.m. – 10 p.m., Friday 11 a.m. – 11 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m. – 11 p.m. and Sunday 10 a.m. – 9 p.m.
The Warehouse housing El Borrego Negro along with Chef Avila’s future concepts is located at 2239 Larimer St., Denver, and is accessible through La Diabla’s patio or around back through the alley. Its hours are Saturday and Sunday 7 a.m. – 10 a.m.
All photography by Evan Dale