Vail’s newest upscale Mexican restaurant offers traditional flavors, refined cuisine

Vail’s newest restaurant Del Toro is not your typical Mexican restaurant — it’s better. Instead of a 10-page menu like many Mexican restaurants, Del Toro offers up a well-curated, clean two-page menu that still offers your traditional cuisine, but also highlights dishes that focus on the refined, upscale options in the world of Mexican cuisine.

Del Toro is the latest project of Chef-Owner Jesus Del Toro, a native of Mazatlán, Mexico, who has been elevating the quality of Mexican food in the Vail Valley for over a decade. With his newest restaurant, he continues his life’s mission of improving the way people eat Mexican food.

Located in Highline Vail, a DoubleTree by Hilton location, Del Toro is a beautiful space with warm and welcoming decorations for a fancy night out while still enjoying affordable, and delicious, food and drinks.

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Starting with the appetizers, there’s your traditional chips, queso and guacamole, but there’s also esquites con tuétano — beef bone marrow with corn and cotija cheese, Mexican style; and a rib-eye strip aguachile — rib-eye with avocado, pickled onions, fried chives, drizzled in black sauce — Mazatlán style.

Mazatlán is a resort city along the Pacific shoreline in the Mexican state of Sinaloa, known for its big-game fishing and fresh seafood. Chef Del Toro still returns to Mazatlán a couple of times each year to see friends and family – and he also makes the drive to Denver twice per week to pick up fresh seafood from Mazatlán.

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Del Toro serves burritos, tacos and enchiladas, but in ways unique to Del Toro.

Specialty tacos include ribeye tacos; grilled octopus tacos; and mahi-mahi tacos — in addition to skirt steak; fried shrimp; and marinated pork tacos. Specialty dishes include the rib-eye con tuétano — a 12-ounce certified ribeye with beef bone marrow and papa santa; and the pollo en mole – a half-roasted chicken served with mole salsa and rice. The Lamb chamorro brings delicious lamb shanks that have been braised for over eight hours to your plate; and the Pork Chamorro uses a similar process. They are both showstoppers.

Fajitas, soups and salads are also on the menu. But the special grilled salad is like no other, with grilled romaine lettuce, grilled bell peppers and other vegetables, cotija cheese and cilantro dressing. The bite of the grilled lettuce gets a zing from the dressing, highlighted by the savory cheese and crunchy vegetables.

Del Toro’s craft cocktails pair perfectly with the unique food combinations coming from the kitchen. Mezcals, premium tequilas and fresh margaritas are obvious choices — and good ones. Try the La Katrina, with tequila blanco, mezcal, grenadine and lime juice, or the Cozumel with tequila blanco, agave, blueberry syrup and lime juice. If you’re looking for a hit of spice in your glass, the tequila-based Red Devil includes chile syrup.

Happy hour daily starting at 3:30 p.m. makes Del Toro a great place for appetizers and drinks after a day on the mountain. Reservations are available on OpenTable.

Opening its doors just before Christmas, Del Toro is the newest and most exciting new restaurant to check out — especially for those interested in trying a Mexican restaurant that will spoil your taste buds and open your mind to the next level of what Mexican cuisine can be.