Fonda Fina Hospitality is working with the Clayton Hotel & Members Club to make Tequilería Alteño, chef Johnny Curiel's summer pop-up, a permanent restaurant at 233 Clayton Street in Cherry Creek. The hotel space is currently occupied by Mar Bella Wine Bar; it is slated to become Alteño's Mexican cantina and tequila bar, replacing the seasonal dining room and patio takeover.
Tequilería Alteño opened as a summer pop-up in July 2026, with a concept inspired by Mexico's neighborhood cantinas, according to WhatNow. Curiel said of the planned conversion of Mar Bella Wine Bar: “It feels right,” the outlet reported. The move adds a permanent location to the projects managed by Curiel and his wife, Kasie Curiel.
A Menu Drawn from Curiel's Travels Throughout Mexico
The pop-up menu drew on Curiel's travels in Mexico and featured masa-based dishes, according to WhatNow. Reported offerings included flautas bañadas with roasted chicken and salsa verde, a taco de pescado with Pacific halibut, and a shareable pork-shank chamorro prepared with asado de puerco. Other dishes included cachetadas de NY with prime New York strip and a taco de rajas with wild mushrooms and creamed corn.
Alteño's masa is made in partnership with the Masa Seed Foundation, which WhatNow describes as an ancestral Mexican corn project southeast of Boulder. The nonprofit says it operates a 20-acre farm and public domain seed bank at 1367 North 75th Street in Boulder County, preserving open-pollinated heirloom crops suited to Colorado's Front Range. Its website identifies the foundation as a 501(c)(3). The partnership supplies the corn for Alteño's house-nixtamalized masa, used in tortillas and tamales.
More Than 80 Spirits Behind the Bar
WhatNow reports that the bar offers more than 80 Mexican spirits, including tequila, mezcal and regional varieties. The pop-up's cocktail list included a corn margarita, a cazuelita, a tomatillo paloma, a carajillo, a charro negro and a mole blanco negroni. The flagship Alteño restaurant takes inspiration from the Jalisco highlands.
A Rising Culinary Empire Behind the Cantina
Curiel and his wife's company, Fonda Fina Hospitality, currently includes Alma Fonda Fina, Mezcaleria Alma, Cozobi Fonda Fina, Alteño, and Mar Bella Wine Bar, with additional projects in the works, per WhatNow. As of September 2026, the group operates three Michelin-starred restaurants in Denver — Alma Fonda Fina, Mezcaleria Alma, and Milpero — according to the Colorado Sun. Alma Fonda Fina earned its star in 2024, followed by Mezcaleria Alma in 2025 and Milpero in 2026.
Before its permanent shift, the Clayton Hotel location of Alteño had already been designated a Michelin Recommended restaurant in both the 2025 and 2026 Colorado Michelin Guides, as noted by Westword, listed alongside Fonda Fina's other starred and Bib Gourmand concepts. That critical acclaim arrived even before the cantina concept became a fixture rather than a seasonal pop-up.
A Hotel Known for Rotating Tenants
The Clayton Hotel & Members Club opened in May 2021. Pairing the space with Curiel, whose three Denver restaurants each hold Michelin stars, gives the Cherry Creek property a high-profile dining partner.
A Snapshot of Cherry Creek's Business Mix
Cherry Creek North’s 2025/2026 State of Cherry Creek report, using 2025 data, lists 59 restaurants, bars and cafes in the area. That figure provides a snapshot, not a measure of change over time. The City and County of Denver describes the Cherry Creek Area Plan as a neighborhood-specific guide for land-use and transportation planning through 2030.
Milpero's Name Change and a Trademark Dispute
Curiel's tasting restaurant Milpero, which earned its Michelin star in September 2026, was originally slated to be named Maize before concerns raised by the owner of Denver food truck Maìz prompted a change, Hoodline previously reported. The naming dispute was resolved before Milpero's opening, revealing just how crowded Curiel's rapidly expanding portfolio has become.
Tight Tables and a More Casual Alternative
Tequilería Alteño offers something different: a casual cantina setting for Alteño's culinary influence.
The Alteño website lists locations in Denver, Austin, and Charleston. Hoodline covered the Austin location this spring as part of the brand's presence beyond Denver.
A Chef's Path From Guadalajara to Michelin Stars
The Colorado Sun describes Curiel as a chef from Guadalajara whose restaurants are rooted in stories about Mexico.
Further details on Tequilería Alteño's permanent build-out are expected as the project moves forward, per WhatNow's report.
