Alma Fonda Fina — Restaurant in Denver

My partner and I had dinner at Alma Fonda Fina tonight and had been looking forward to it for quite some time after hearing nothing but great things about the restaurant.

However, we were severely disappointed with our experience and feel misled by the menu and the FAQ section of their website regarding their ability to accommodate a gluten free diet.

Their website states that they “can accommodate a gluten free diet” and that their whole menu is gluten free minus the sour dough tortillas. My partner has a gluten allergy so we were thrilled to see this.

Upon arrival we informed our server that one of us has a gluten allergy and asked if there was anything on the menu that we cannot have. To our surprise, our server informed us that we could not have the majority of items on the menu, including every single entree, as all of the food is cooked on the same cooktop, including the tortillas, and as a result, the majority of the menu is exposed to cross contamination and there is apparently nothing the kitchen can do to mitigate this issue. As such, we were extremely limited in what we could order and were mostly left to ordering entradas and crudo, which, while decent, were not the experience we were expecting based upon the information presented to us via the menu and website.

We understand that restaurants that serve dishes containing gluten cannot guarantee that anything will be gluten free and are used to working with this by seeing if any steps can be taken, such as simply wiping off the area of the cooktop where our food will be cooked, to mitigate risks and this has always been sufficient for us and is typically a non issue, or if it is an issue, the restaurant makes it clear up front on their menu and/or website.

Here, our server bluntly informed us that most of the menu was unavailable to us, did not inquire about the extent of my partner’s allergy, did not offer to ask the kitchen if steps could be taken to mitigate the risk of cross contamination (such as merely cleaning the portion of the cooktop where our food was being prepared), and was dismissive of us when we asked if it would be possible to just wipe/scrape off the portion of the cooktop where our food was being prepared. Further, when we did eventually order, our server seemingly forgot about my partner’s gluten allergy and was surprised/annoyed that we did not order an entree, despite the fact that she had just moments earlier told us we could not order a single entree due to gluten.

This experience left us highly disappointed, especially after having great experiences at Alteño and Mezcalria, where they were able to accommodate my partner’s gf allergy without hesitation, thus enabling us to order a majority of the items on the menu.

Therefore, this lack of any attempt to provide any minimal accommodations paired with the misleading information posted on their website left us highly disappointed and we cannot recommend this restaurant to anyone with a gluten allergy or any other food allergy. While the items we did have were good and we enjoyed our cocktails and the overall ambiance, we will not be retuning due to this and highly suggest that Alma revise its website FAQ/menu to reflect this issue so that other diners can be informed ahead of time and avoid the disappointment we experienced. That being said, we do highly recommend Alma’s sister restaurant, Mezcalria as they do not have...

Wow, took us a while to get a table and i was way hyped about it to the point my expectations were set so high it maybe unreasonable. However, AFF did not disappoint at all.

Small cozy restaurant, small menu, but it is perfect. started with agua rancho, yes $10 but it was a big serving in a water glass. I didnt have to ask for a second. Guac was the most expensive guac i have had (but sometimes when someone dares to charge that much, you should dare to taste it). The additional herbed oil was superb, may need to try to replicate this at home. Or pay again 🤣

Aguachile was thick cut hamachi. We had someone with nut allergy, so they separated the crushed nuts for us. Perfect balance not too vinegary not too spicy and the thick gave more bite. The buts on top finished it perfectly.

Striped bass tostada was good (more guac on it). But was not a highlight for us.

Chile relleno, i am sort of a self proclaimed connoisseur of rellenos. This blew me away. So much that I ordered a second one for “dessert”. A kick of spice that comes later, that bed of frijoles… 🤌

The birria… that was a highlight. I was not expecting a whole leg of lamb. Perfectly cooked and tender, lighter than mediterranean lamb shank, but not light in flavor. Comes with side of frijoles and a light green salsa that almost tasted like guac. The corn tortillas were very rustic, rough and so flavorful.

Oh about the frijoles. I am usually not a big fan of frijoles. But this was smooth, creamy, very fine and elegant. Just perfect, maybe a bit too fancy for the traditionalists, but made me like frijoles again.

No dessert menu which surprised me. But the sister restaurant next door has dessert although the 2nd relleno was dessert enough.

For a Mich Starred restaurant. The fact that i can be stuffed and spend $60 each, share dishes and not forced to all order entrees. Its a great deal. Too often the starred restaurants cost $100+ plus drinks.

I was curious about the few bad reviews, i mean 4.9 stars means someone said .

1. there is no dessert menu, no one “refused to serve you dessert”
2. Alma Fonda Fina never said it was a vegetarian restaurant. They are small, serving a small yet superb menu, so no, there is no veg entree
3. small wine list?!?! Did you see the tequila and mezcal list? Jesus, one does not look for opus 1 to go with their frijoles. Just makes me wonder about whats wrong with people nowadays. These reviews can make or break a small restaurant. Not in this case. The fact that they wont go gives us more opportunities to...

Alma Fonda Fina

I made this reservation 3 months ago for last night and the only slot available was at 10:30 lol. Despite the very late dinner—and being a bit sauced as I was at this beer event earlier and the very strange Forest Room next door with a particularly strong gin and tonic—I thought it was worth all the calories. I was by myself so I did the chef’s counter which was a good experience, albeit with some personal reservations.

In terms of food, what else can I say that everybody hasn’t? It’s excellent. The chili-crusted sweet potato with the fennel seed purée was a match made in heaven; I could eat a LOT of this every day. The hamachi aguachile was light and refreshing. The diver scallops were extra sweet in that amazing tomato butter broth. The chicken enmoladas was extremely rich and savory and the light red mole (not a chocolate mole!) made it a great accompaniment. Finally, I over-ordered as per usual so I decided to end on the halibut, which came atop this tomato-vegetable broth with a buttered rice on the side. When eaten together, it forms like this rich, buttery, sweet-and-tangy fish caldo and it’s pretty great.

What I LOVED especially about Alma was that they weren’t afraid to be spicy. You know with it being in LoHi I wasn’t expecting them to be that bold with them spices. So major props.

And it’s what I love about these non-traditional concepts when done really well is that they managed to remind you of every familiar comforting flavors executed in very elevated ways and you as a patron ends up discovering something new.

In terms of service as expected from a Michelin-starred restaurant, it was alright. All the chefs were swamped even at 10:30 at night so understandably there weren’t much interaction but they were patient enough to answer my dumb questions. I asked if they’re ever gonna try a tasting menu concept ( like I’d reserve the heck out of it in a heartbeat) but they’re happy and extremely busy being just as they are now. And I guess I can be also happy with the a la carte choose your own adventure since everything on the menu was delicious and I inadvertently ended up choosing a kinda a cohesive meal anyway.

I’m so glad Denver has Alma Fonda Fina. Thank you for a great meal!

I’ve also heard a lot about Mezcaleria Alma 👀 and that it might even be...