Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco – Tintoque, the Puerto Vallarta restaurant led by chef-owner Joel Ornelas, has been shortlisted for Tintoque Best Restaurant in Jalisco at MexBest, the national hospitality awards taking place in Guadalajara on August 20. The nomination places Vallarta’s contemporary Pacific cuisine on the same stage as Guadalajara’s most lauded dining rooms and underscores a growing statewide scene.
MexBest returns for its fifth edition with 250 industry guests and a slate of 30 awards across restaurants, bars, and hospitality. A public-voted Reader’s Choice Award complements jury selections. Ahead of the ceremony, judges visit more than 100 restaurants to evaluate cooking, service, wine and beverage programs, ingredient use, and innovation. That process sets the tone for a competition that rewards both flavor and craft.
Tintoque Best Restaurant in Jalisco
Opened in 2016, Tintoque channels Ornelas’s training in Mexico, Spain, and England—including time at Martín Berasategui’s three-Michelin-star kitchen—into a menu rooted in the Mexican Pacific. The approach is creative without losing sight of place. Local recipes and regional products anchor the plates, while technique and global references give them lift.
The restaurant’s “creative menu” changes daily, drawing from local markets and organic farms. Recent menus have featured a pumpkin and squid salad with carrot purée, curry, and sesame vinaigrette; a sirloin with a red-wine and raspberry reduction; and a chilled pumpkin gazpacho paired with scallops, mango, and tuna. The combinations read adventurous, but the point is balance: seasonal produce, clean flavors, and textures that move.
What sets Tintoque apart
Tintoque’s dining room mirrors the food: modern lines, warm materials, and an open kitchen that puts the brigade on display. Guests can opt for a relaxed bar experience or an al fresco table; either way, service aims for polish without stiffness. The beverage program highlights the coast as well. Cocktails lean into regional spirits like raicilla and traditions such as tuba and tejuino, while the wine list ranges across Mexico, the Americas, and Europe with thoughtful pairings in mind.
For Ornelas, the nomination is also a nod to the producers behind the plates—the fishermen, farmers, and foragers who define the pantry of Banderas Bay. Winning would push more attention, and more business, toward that network.
A stacked field from Guadalajara and Vallarta
The category draws heavy hitters. Guadalajara’s Xokol builds a cuisine around corn and seasonal produce, spotlighting rural production and the city’s identity. Alcalde, guided by chef Paco Ruano, pursues “cuisine franche,” bringing peak-season ingredients into refined, contemporary plates. PalReal stands as a local benchmark, with chef Fabián Delgado’s market-driven cooking. La Matera brings an Argentine lens to steaks, pizzas, and seafood, backed by a cellar of 200-plus labels. Puerto Vallarta’s Tintoque rounds out the shortlist with a Pacific-forward voice.
Each nominee arrives with a distinct point of view, which is exactly what the MexBest jury evaluates: not a single style, but excellence expressed through place, people, and product.
What winning would mean
A win for Tintoque would be a statement for Puerto Vallarta’s culinary scene. It would validate a decade of investment in regional sourcing and technique, and it would signal to travelers that Jalisco’s best meals are not confined to the state capital. For local diners, it would affirm that the city’s restaurants can compete—and lead—on a national stage.
MexBest will present its awards in Guadalajara on August 20, including the 30 industry categories and the public-driven Reader’s Choice. However the ballots break, Tintoque’s nomination already tells a larger story: Jalisco’s dining culture is broader, more collaborative, and more ambitious than ever—and Puerto Vallarta is very much part of it.
