I have to say, when I interviewed Chefs Michael Diaz de Leon and Tommy Lee in advance of their new restaurant, Molino Chido, opening, I was surprised to hear them say they were a little unsure as to whether their restaurant would be well-received. New to the Stanley Marketplace fold and to being, technically in Aurora where they’ve never had restaurants, they didn’t quite know what to expect. “Oh, you’re going to be just fine!” I told them, well-aware of what the Stanley crowd expects from the local eateries. And now that Molino Chido is officially open, and I’ve had a chance to see it in action, I’m even more sure.
Given the chefs’ impressive pedigrees, one would think they’d go into every new venture with full confidence. After all, experience HAS taught them that they know what they are doing. Tommy Lee is behind Uncle and Hop Alley. He was named a 2020 James Beard semifinalist for Best Chef: Mountain Region. Hop Alley has been on the Michelin’s Bib Gourmand list since it launched in Colorado. It’s also a James Beard semifinalist for having an Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program this year. Michael Diaz de Leon, won the San Pellegrino Starchefs Game Changer Award in 2022 and was a finalist for James Beard’s Best Chef: Mountain Region in 2023. Not long after that, he got Bruto restaurant its inaugural Michelin star as executive chef plus a Michelin Green Star for sustainability. Lee and Diaz de Leon met during the Pandemic. Taking on Molino Chido was a serendipitous opportunity that came at the right time for both. Lee is more on the operations side and Diaz de Leon is on the culinary side.
Still, there’s a lot to risk in opening a new restaurant and making it a success. But given what my IGTD teammember and I experienced at a media preview, once people understand what they are and aren’t, and given the intentionality with which they approach everything they are doing, I think Molino Chido will become a favorite.
Just what IS Molino Chido?
“Molino” translates to “mill,” as in milling corn to then make masa and tortillas. That’s the core of the restaurant, both in ingredient and value system (more on that in a second). “Chido” is the intangible. The vibe. The energy. The intension.
The Decor
There’s a lot of green in Molino Chido. The designer, Kevin Nguyen of Regular Architecture, plays off of various shades of green with yellow accents. Channeling the look of a Mexico City taqueria, you won’t find cushy tables and chairs. Its metal tables and chairs at Molino Chido, just like you’d find in Mexico. The green folding chairs quickly became the restaurant’s logo and the tables made from a third-generation Guadalajara-based fabricator. There’s also photography from Diaz de Leon’s travels on the walls.
The bar feels a little more posh and invites not only seating but a standing area too where events are planned like tequila tastings.
The Molino Room
As diners (and passersby) approach the restaurant, they see the “molino room,” with a window out onto the hallway at the west end of Stanley Marketplace. See tortillas being made. House-milled and nixtamalized corn from Colorado is made into a light dough that’s then fed into a tortilla press before being placed onto the giant griddle. It’s once the tortillas are flipped over that they start to puff a little and get golden.
During our media visit, Diaz de Leon demonstrated that their tortillas are more pliable than store-bought which means better texture for eating and that they keep the fillings contained better. Don’t you hate it when a corn tortilla cracks on you and the filling falls out? The flavor is also much better than most making it not just a vehicle for the fillings but an integral part of the overall flavor of the taco.
What’s On The Menu at Molino Chido
Don’t expect the $3 street taco you get at one of the local food trucks, presented simply with the protein, cilantro and onion upon request, and the condiment bar where you doll it up. But also don’t expect what I call “dot and foam” cuisine either, so hoity and so toity, you aren’t sure what you’re eating but you know you will need to tell everyone that you had it. Lee made sure to tell me during our podcast, and again during the preview event, that the tacos weren’t going to have micro-greens and such, taking them in a whole other direction than what the two chefs intend.
Instead, the food at Molino Chido, a Mexico City-inspired eatery, put a ton of thought into each ingredient and combination. Taste everything before adding any of the salsas presented at the table. They deserve some attention on their own before, yes, making them even better with the augmentation. So, while this is not street taco fare, at $4.85-$11.85, the tacos are on a different level and worth the money.
Diaz de Leon and Lee are very intentional about ingredient sourcing, keeping it local. They list their “Amigos Chidos” on the menu: Bow & Arrow Corn, Centennial Meats, Esoterra Farms, Haykin Cider, Dannolo Family Farms, Rock River Ranch, Kansas City Chiles, Masa Seed Foundation and Toohey Farms. Very nice.
What We Had
We got a variety of tacos including the straightforward Al Pastor (marinated pork and pineapple for $4.85); Lengua (bison tongue and shoestring frites also $4.85); Verduras (farm vegetables, mole pipian (a kind of squash) and seed crumble, also $4.85). A couple of other tacos cost $6.85 including the Pavo (turkey, recado negro and egg). The most expensive taco, the Prime Strip Loin, at $11.85, had tender strips, lujo peppercorn and onion.
Under the “Mas” section of the menu, we tried the Quesadilla ($15) with queso Oaxaca, per the usual but made better with mushrooms, salsa macha and squash butter. They were served on housemade flour tortillas – what a difference that makes! Flautas ($18) were a wonderful “why-didn’t-I-think-of-that” surprise filled with curry potato, mole masala, manteles, raita sauce and cabbage. The Indian and Mexican flavors work perfectly. The Gringa Al Pastor ($15) had a flour tortilla, queso asadero and al pastor pork.
There’s one item on the “Grandes” part of the menu at this point; CDMX Strip Steak, which serves 2-4 for $68. It’s 16oz of prime beef with tomato tamarind chutney, chiles toreados and corn tortillas.
The rest of the menu is drinks like Agua Frescas, Bebidas sin Alcohol (booze-free drinks), beers and cocktails. I’m picky as can be about cocktails because I take them seriously and love that they are basically a recipe in a glass. Molino Chido’s cocktails (or Cockteles) impressed the heck out of me. Carajillo ($13) is espresso, Licor 43 and coffee liqueur (espresso martini fans will love it); the best Paloma ($12) I’ve ever had with mezcal, lacto grapefruit and angostura bitters; and the Negroni ($12) was better than most with, get this, watermelon gin, xila and vermuto.
As much thought goes into the bar menu and the natural wine offerings (see the impressive offerings, which include Mexican wines, prominently displayed on a rack by the bar). But keep your littles the heck away from them – the “mom” in me foresees disaster there! We recommend the Chenin Blanc, L.A. Cetto-Baja, California ($11/$44) and the Temperanillo, El Jefe Grande from La Mancha, Spain ($11/$44). As luck would have it, both are $2 off during happy hour, aka Chido Hour, from 3-5pm, Tuesday-Friday and with deals on food and drink.
We go to a lot of restaurants and have a lot of good meals. But we rarely have exceptional ones. Molino Chido is one of those and, once they get into the rhythm of the traffic they weren’t sure they’d have, they’re going to be just fine and will become one of the new staples at Stanley Marketplace.
Molino Chido is located at 2501 Dallas Street, at the west end of Stanley Marketplace in Aurora. Visit their website to learn more, including to order items to go or to look into catering. They are currently open Tuesday-Sunday, 3-9pm. Lunch and weekend brunch are in the works.
-By Courtney Drake-McDonough, Publisher & Managing Editor, In Good Taste Denver
Please note, we were hosted, along with other media, by Molino Chido to help facilitate this article. However, as is always the case with the writers and editors of In Good Taste Denver, that doesn’t sway our commitment to providing our readers with an honest and objective opinion of our experience there. To learn more, visit our Partner With Us page.
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