Chef
Jose Avila
- Discipline
- Chef
- Based in
- Denver, Colorado, United States
i. Biography
Jose Avila has been chef and owner of La Diabla Pozole y Mezcal in Denver since 2021, building a pozoleria from the discipline of kitchens that valued care over spectacle. Born in Mexico and raised in cooking spaces where flavor was developed through patience and instinct, Avila shaped La Diabla around the traditions he knew in Mexico City, then set them in the context of his present-day home.
Coming Up
The role of chef and owner at La Diabla Pozole y Mezcal has been held by Jose Avila since 2021, and it carries a clear set of priorities: memory, hospitality, and a style of cooking that stays close to the bowl. The restaurant is not framed as a novelty project. Under Avila, it functions as a place where pozole can be presented as a daily practice of continuity, rooted in tradition and made for guests to linger. The foundation came from Mexico, where Avila grew up around kitchens that valued heart over hype and judged food by the care behind it and the honesty of its flavors. Those early kitchens stayed with him. They became the basis for a pozoleria that reflects the places he knew in Mexico City without treating them as static reference points. Instead, Avila built for warmth and immediacy, so tradition could remain close and legible on the plate.
Where They Are Now
Since 2021, Jose Avila has led La Diabla Pozole y Mezcal as chef and owner in Denver, where the restaurant presents traditional Mexican flavors with purpose and clarity. The emphasis is on depth, comfort, and the layered character that define the cuisine he chose to carry forward. The work extends beyond the food itself to the room around it, where ancestry, appetite, and welcome are part of the same service. La Diabla Pozole y Mezcal also reflects Avila’s effort to keep the logic of the pozolerias of his past while making the restaurant fully of Denver. The result is a place shaped by lineage and intention, where familiar flavors are not preserved behind glass but made available again, in use. Through Avila’s leadership, the restaurant gives form to an idea that has guided him from the start: traditional Mexican flavors should be carried forward with care, generosity, and a clear sense of place.
Profile updated July 2026
FAQ
Asked of Jose
What is Jose Avila's current role?
As of 2026, Jose Avila is Chef and Owner.
What is Jose Avila known for?
Highlighting traditional Mexican flavors.
What recognition has Jose Avila received?
James Beard Award, Best Chef: Mountain (nomination).
