Quintonil

Quintonil is a contemporary Mexican restaurant in the Polanco district of Mexico City, founded and operated by chef Jorge Vallejo and manager Alejandra Flores. The couple met while working at Pujol in 2009, left that restaurant in 2011, and opened Quintonil on Newton Street on 9 March 2012. They initially imagined it as a welcoming, family-oriented neighborhood establishment, expressed through the idea of receiving guests warmly and saying goodbye to friends. The restaurant began as a relatively informal fonda offering an affordable daily menu. It operated with modest resources, including secondhand furniture and tableware, and was started with a small loan. Over time, Vallejo refined the concept into fine dining in order to obtain higher-quality ingredients and develop more elaborate presentations and service. The restaurant retained its focus on Mexican identity while moving into a more ambitious culinary format. Quintonil takes its name from a species of Mexican amaranth. The term comes from Nahuatl and refers to an edible weed, reflecting the restaurant’s interest in ingredients that are culturally important but often overlooked by mainstream dining. Its cooking highlights heirloom vegetables, native herbs, beans, squash, chiles, mushrooms, nopal, huauzontle, and edible insects. The menu is predominantly plant-based, although selected dishes use meat and seafood. Vallejo has described the cuisine as approximately 98% Mexican, with a limited number of imported ingredients such as caviar, some fish, and olive oil. The restaurant offers à la carte dishes and a seasonal nine-course tasting menu. Produce is sourced from areas including Milpa Alta and Xochimilco in Mexico City, as well as Hidalgo and the State of Mexico. Pork comes from Michoacán and Yucatán, beef from Durango, and fish from Baja California. The beverage program combines European wines with Mexican wines, mezcal, local beer, and other regional drinks. Quintonil also owns wine labels, including Alfalfa, produced from Nero d’Avola grapes grown in Valle de Guadalupe, Baja California. Quintonil has a relatively intimate dining room with approximately 42 seats, around a dozen tables, and a view toward the kitchen from a counter area. Its restrained exterior and simple, carefully designed interior contrast with the technical ambition of the food. The restaurant requires reservations and does not impose a mandatory dress code. Its reputation expanded through critical acclaim and international rankings. Quintonil has appeared on The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list since 2016, reaching third place in 2025 and being recognized as the highest-ranked restaurant in North America that year. It received two Michelin stars in 2024, when the Michelin Guide first covered Mexico, tying with Pujol for the country’s highest Michelin rating. The restaurant remains active as a destination for contemporary Mexican gastronomy, combining local sourcing, culinary experimentation, hospitality, and a strong connection to Mexican agricultural and cultural traditions.

Quintonil was created by chef Jorge Vallejo and Alejandra Flores after the pair met at Pujol in Mexico City in 2009. They left Pujol in 2011 to establish their own restaurant, guided by a family-style hospitality concept focused on welcoming diners and treating departures as farewells to friends. The restaurant opened on 9 March 2012 on Newton Street in Polanco. The name Quintonil refers to a Mexican amaranth and derives from Nahuatl. The choice expressed the founders’ interest in ingredients that are edible, local, and culturally significant but frequently undervalued. Vallejo had studied gastronomy at Centro Culinario Ambrosía and later trained at Noma in Copenhagen. His initial ambition was to showcase Mexican cooking at a time when many upscale restaurants in the country emphasized international ingredients and techniques. The original Quintonil was a modest fonda serving a daily menu. It began with a small loan and secondhand furnishings and tableware. Its cuisine and business model gradually changed as Vallejo sought access to better ingredients and a more developed service experience. The restaurant consequently moved from casual dining toward fine dining while preserving its emphasis on Mexican products and traditions. Over the years, Quintonil developed a menu built around heirloom vegetables, native herbs, beans, squash, chiles, mushrooms, nopal, huauzontle, and insects. Most dishes are plant-based, supplemented by selected meat and seafood courses. Sourcing became a central part of the restaurant’s identity: produce is obtained from Mexico City growing areas and nearby states, while pork, beef, and fish are sourced from other Mexican regions. The restaurant’s culinary approach combines traditional Mexican flavors with contemporary technique and presentation. Quintonil offers seasonal tasting menus as well as à la carte service. Its beverage program includes Mexican and European wines, mezcal, local beer, and specialized pairing experiences. It also developed proprietary wine labels, including Alfalfa, made with Nero d’Avola grapes from Baja California’s Valle de Guadalupe. Recognition accelerated after the restaurant began appearing on The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list in 2016. It placed 12th that year, later reached 11th in 2018, 24th in 2019, 27th in 2021, ninth in 2022 and 2023, seventh in 2024, and third in 2025. The 2020 ranking was not issued because of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the restaurant industry. In 2022, Vallejo received the publication’s Chefs’ Choice Award. Quintonil was also named Mexico’s top restaurant by La Liste in 2023 and received strong recognition from Food & Wine readers. In 2024, the first Michelin Guide for Mexico awarded Quintonil two stars, tying it with Pujol for the highest Michelin distinction in the country at that time. The restaurant has continued to combine international prestige with a distinctly Mexican culinary vocabulary, local sourcing, and an intimate dining format.

• 2025

  Third place in The World’s 50 Best Restaurants

  [1]Quintonilen.wikipedia.org

  Quintonil reaches number three and is named the highest-ranked restaurant in North America.

• 2024

  Two Michelin stars

  [1]Quintonilen.wikipedia.org

  Quintonil receives two stars in the first Michelin Guide to Mexico.

• 2023

  Major international recognition

  [1]Quintonilen.wikipedia.org

  La Liste names Quintonil the leading Mexican restaurant, while Food & Wine readers place it among the best international restaurants.

• 2022

  Tenth-anniversary chef collaboration

  [1]Quintonilen.wikipedia.org

  International guest chefs are invited to reinterpret Quintonil dishes and develop new recipes.

• 2016

  First appearance on The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list

  [1]Quintonilen.wikipedia.org

  Quintonil enters the international ranking at number 12.

• 2012

  Quintonil opens in Polanco

  [1]Quintonilen.wikipedia.org

  Quintonil opens on Newton Street as a casual restaurant with a daily menu.

• 2011

  Founders leave Pujol

  [1]Quintonilen.wikipedia.org

  The pair leave Pujol to develop an independent restaurant centered on Mexican cuisine and hospitality.

• 2009

  Founders meet at Pujol

  [1]Quintonilen.wikipedia.org

  Jorge Vallejo and Alejandra Flores meet while working at Pujol in Mexico City.

Luxury contemporary Mexican dining with a strong emphasis on native ingredients, sustainability-oriented sourcing, culinary experimentation, and refined hospitality.

• Fine dining menu

  Seasonal tasting menu

  Quintonil’s principal dining format is a seasonal nine-course tasting menu. Its composition changes with available ingredients and may focus on vegetables, herbs, mushrooms, legumes, chiles, insects, seafood, or selected meats. The menu presents Mexican ingredients through contemporary techniques while retaining recognizable regional flavors and culinary references.

• Restaurant service · 2012

  À la carte menu

  Alongside the tasting menu, Quintonil offers à la carte dishes. These preparations draw on the same culinary philosophy: Mexican ingredients, native plants, traditional flavors, and modern presentation. The selection changes over time according to seasonality and the restaurant’s ongoing menu development.

• Beverage program

  Wine pairings

  The restaurant offers wine pairings to accompany its food. Options have included international wines, Mexican wines, rare and terroir-focused selections, and a Champagne-focused experience. The program combines European bottles with wines from Mexican regions and is designed to complement the changing tasting menu.

• Proprietary wine

  Alfalfa wine

  Alfalfa is one of Quintonil’s wine labels. It is made from Nero d’Avola grapes cultivated in Valle de Guadalupe, Baja California, linking the restaurant’s beverage program to Mexican wine production.

• 2024Entomophagy Festival

  Mexico City

  Quintonil organized a festival centered on edible insects, using them as primary ingredients in a series of dishes and presenting entomophagy as part of Mexico’s culinary heritage and contemporary food culture.

  Outcome. The festival strengthened the restaurant’s identity as an experimental venue for native and unconventional Mexican ingredients.

  Source
• 2022Tenth-anniversary chef collaborations

  Mexico · International culinary community

  Quintonil marked its tenth anniversary by inviting international chefs, including Julien Royer, to revisit signature recipes and collaborate on new dishes.

  Outcome. The anniversary program generated new interpretations of the restaurant’s cuisine and reinforced its international culinary network.

  Source

• 2012

  Launch a Mexican-focused independent restaurantStrategy

  Background

  Vallejo and Flores wanted to create an establishment that foregrounded Mexican ingredients and hospitality rather than primarily international fine-dining conventions.

  Action taken

  They opened Quintonil in Polanco with a family-oriented service concept and a menu based on traditional Mexican products.

  Aftermath

  The restaurant became an internationally recognized platform for contemporary Mexican cuisine.

  Source

• Transition from casual fonda to fine diningStrategy

  Background

  Quintonil began with an affordable daily menu but required a more ambitious format to secure higher-quality products and develop a more elaborate dining experience.

  Action taken

  The restaurant progressively increased its culinary, service, and presentation sophistication, introducing a fine-dining model while retaining its Mexican focus.

  Aftermath

  The change supported the restaurant’s later tasting-menu format and international critical recognition.

  Source

1. 1Quintonilen.wikipedia.org