Two award-winning chefs are opening Molino Chido in late November.

Two James Beard and Michelin-recognized chefs moved into the former Comida location at the Stanley Marketplace to great anticipation. Molino Chido opened on Nov.11, and is owned by Tommy Lee, owner-chef of Uncle and Hop Alley, and chef Michael Diaz de Leon, formerly of Bruto.

After the two chefs became friends during the pandemic and worked together a few times, Diaz de Leon took a year off to travel, consult, and host several food pop-ups, including a couple with Lee. When he returned to Colorado, he reached out to his friend. The timing was serendipitous, as Lee had just been approached about opening a Mexican restaurant in the Stanley Marketplace. With Diaz de Leon as executive chef and part-owner and Lee as chef and part-owner (in an operational role), a partnership was born.

The name for their restaurant, “Molino Chido,” translates to a “cool meal.”

Tommy Lee (left) and Michael Diaz de Leon stand in the window of the tortilla room at Molino Chido, where patrons will be able to watch tortillas being made.

“Molino is the corn mill where we mill the masa, and chido means ‘cool’ or ‘something great or awesome,’” Diaz de Leon explained.

“We’ve kind of turned ‘chido’ into our own slang,” added Lee.

“Ultimately, it’s a taqueria, and we believe that the base of a great taco is a great tortilla,” he continued. “And that’s where the molino came into play of making our own tortillas. This is a casual concept, but with our backgrounds and Michael’s history with the cuisine, we’re going to pay attention to the details.” He continued, “Even though tacos are simple, we’re trying to make sure they’re done correctly from start to finish.”

Traditional taqueria tables and chairs were created by a manufacturer in Guadalajara, Mexico, for the restaurant.

A windowed room will enable guests to see tortillas being made. Corn will be cooked overnight using a process of nixtamalization, cooking it in an alkaline solution to break it down for easier consumption. It will then go through the molina machinery, which is operated with volcanic stones before going into a machine that creates the tortilla.

“Making tortillas is a craft. It’s an ancestral technique that has been done for a very long time that we’re trying to honor,” Diaz de Leon said.

Molino Chido’s menu will have about ten taco options, including pork, poultry, and vegetable. They’ll also have a lengua (tongue) taco made from bison. Side dishes will include refried beans and ceviche, and larger dishes will feature a half-chicken, short ribs, whole fish, flautas, burrito, and tortas with house-made bread. A kids’ menu is in the works, motivated not only by the families in the area but by the chefs’ own young children.

A salsa bar will be available for diners to augment their tacos as desired.

“This should feel like a mom-and-pop taqueria,” he said. “The tacos are not going to have microgreens on them. We want them to have a traditional look and feel, but part of what we like about a taqueria is that you get to choose your salsas and pickled vegetables.”

“We’re totally about customization,” Diaz de Leon added. “You go on your own journey with the tacos.”

Both the menu and the decor of Molino Chido take inspiration from Mexico City. Diaz de Leon and Lee describe the look as “polished grit,” with areas of raw
cement and corrugated metal, colorful tiles, and their logo on tables sourced from a third-generation manufacturer in Guadalajara.

“If you’ve been to Mexico City and a taqueria, you’re going to sit at one of those tables and immediately understand what we’re going for,” Lee said. “And for people who have not been, we just hope it’s fun and different.”

Front Porch photos by Christie Gosch