Mazor Chicago Cristian Orozco: Chef of the Year's Nov. 29 Guatemalan Dinner

At the corner of Grand and Milwaukee, in a narrow white room with flashes of deep blue, Cristian Orozco presses blue and yellow heirloom corn masa into tortillas to order and plates tuna tostadas under a garden of nasturtium and microgreens. On Nov. 10, 2026, Eater Chicago named him its Chef of the Year for Mazor, the Mexican and Guatemalan restaurant he opened in June 2026 at 485 N Milwaukee Ave in River West/West Town, a short walk from the West Loop restaurant scene.

Nineteen days later he gives his chef’s counter to a guest. As Mazor announced on Instagram, on Sunday, Nov. 29, 2026, at 6 p.m., the restaurant hosts Cristian De León, founder of Minnesota’s El Sazón, for a one-night, six-course Guatemalan tasting with a Zacapa rum cocktail poured beside every course. Seats are $195 per person and are sold on TicketLeap.

Chef Cristian Orozco in a white shirt and dark apron holding a wooden crate on his shoulder — Chef Cristian Orozco of Mazor. Photo: @mazorchicago on Instagram.

From Pajapita to Chef of the Year

Orozco grew up in Pajapita, Guatemala, ten minutes from the Mexican border. As a boy he crossed with his mother to buy goods for the grocery stores she ran, eating in Mexico by day and at a Guatemalan table at night, and that double inheritance runs through every plate at Mazor. He came to the United States at 17 and started as a dishwasher in a Vietnamese restaurant.

From there he talked his way into Ryan McCaskey’s two-Michelin-star Acadia, then cooked at North Pond and became chef de cuisine at Tzuco. His own Five O Four Kitchen in Glen Ellyn, with a create-your-own five-course tasting and a rooftop garden he tended himself, landed on Chicago magazine’s list of the best suburban restaurants and bars before it closed in 2025. For Mazor he partnered with Anthony White, who owns the building, and he keeps the restaurant closed on Sundays so his team can be home with their families.

The recognition arrived quickly. Mazor made Chicago magazine’s 10 Hottest Restaurants list in August 2026, the Banchet Awards named it one of four finalists for Best Heritage Restaurant of 2027, and The Infatuation added it to its Chicago Hit List in October. The Chef of the Year honor puts Orozco alongside the year’s other winners, from the Poseys’ Creepies as Restaurant of the Year to the puffed grain toast at All Well as Dish of the Year.

Masa at the center of the plate

Corn ties Guatemala and Mexico together, and Orozco builds the whole menu on it. Three fresh nixtamalized masas come from El Popocatepetl Tortilleria, the third-generation family business in Pilsen, including a blue corn masa made from corn grown in Puebla. That dough becomes hand-pressed tortillas, crisp tostadas, empanadas filled with chicken tinga, and tetelas, the Mesoamerican triangles of blue corn stuffed with chorizo and cheese, set on silky black beans with crema and avocado mousse.

Stacks of blue and yellow heirloom corn tortillas pressed from fresh masa at Mazor — Blue and yellow heirloom corn tortillas, pressed to order. Photo: @mazorchicago on Instagram.

The bluefin tuna tostada is the plate people photograph, dressed with salsa macha, avocado, shaved watermelon radish and peppery nasturtium petals. The blue corn quesadilla folds tangy Chihuahua cheese into a tender, knife-length shell, the rib-eye taco comes with grilled onions and crispy potato strings, and the al pastor carries a bright hit of pineapple. A Guatemalan-style shrimp cocktail arrives citrusy and cold with tostadas on the side.

Save room for the flan de jamaica, a rosy hibiscus custard finished with toasted white chocolate. To drink there is horchata, agua de jamaica and café de olla brewed with cinnamon and piloncillo from Guatemalan beans, and the room is BYOB.

A bowl of rosy hibiscus flan de jamaica with toasted white chocolate, edible flowers and berries — Flan de jamaica with toasted white chocolate. Photo: @mazorchicago on Instagram.

The chef’s counter after hours

By day Mazor runs as a counter-service restaurant with about 30 seats, high-tops and a bar along the front window. Once a month the ordering counter turns into a six-seat chef’s counter, and Orozco cooks the dishes the daily menu has no room for: aguachile with a miso verde sauce, a tamal veracruzano steamed in banana leaf, a sardine taco fried in masa batter, and gnocchi made from blue corn masa with crawfish, saffron and sorrel. Each cook on his team presents a course, and the plates arrive as colorful as a market stall.

A crisp corn tostada topped with pickled red onion, radish and fresh herbs, set on dried corn kernels — A tostada course from Mazor’s counter tasting menu. Photo: @mazorchicago on Instagram.

The special nights have grown more ambitious through the year, from a five-course Guatemalan Independence Day menu in September to a pairing dinner with Tequila Ocho at The Pearl Club this summer. The El Sazón dinner is the most personal yet: two cooks with Guatemalan roots, both named Cristian, sharing one menu.

Cristian De León and the Night at the Gas Station

De León and his wife, Karen, opened El Sazón in 2022 as a taco counter inside a BP gas station in Eagan, Minnesota, and turned it into a destination. Their Night at the Gas Station dinners set white plates and multiple courses among the snack aisles, with guest chefs sharing the tiny kitchen, and the couple went on to open a full-service El Sazón in Minneapolis.

His cooking draws on his Guatemalan upbringing, with ancestral techniques, maíz, pepitas and recados, the spice and chile pastes at the base of Guatemalan stews, shaped by more than two decades in professional kitchens. Orozco has already cooked as a guest in the Eagan gas station kitchen, so this dinner is the return visit, with De León crossing to Chicago.

Chef Cristian De León in a colorful apron beside rows of plated courses inside the Eagan gas station where El Sazón began — Cristian De León of El Sazón at a Night at the Gas Station dinner in Eagan, Minnesota. Photo: @mazorchicago on Instagram.

Six courses and Zacapa rum on Nov. 29

Mazor’s Instagram announcement sets the dinner at 6 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 29, 2026. The six courses are a Guatemalan tasting cooked by both chefs, and a guest mixologist builds a custom Zacapa rum cocktail for each one, a fitting match, since Zacapa is aged in the highlands of Guatemala. The menu itself has not been published.

Tickets are $195 per person through TicketLeap, sales close Thursday, Nov. 26, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. CT, and seats are limited for the one-night seated dinner. For more one-night tables across the city this season, ChiVibe’s November and December dinner calendar runs in date order.

Mazor Chicago at a glance

Where: 485 N Milwaukee Ave, Chicago, IL 60654 (Grand and Milwaukee, River West/West Town, a short walk from the West Loop restaurant scene)
Hours: Monday to Saturday from 11 a.m. for lunch and dinner, open late Friday and Saturday; closed Sunday
Mazor x El Sazón: Sunday, Nov. 29, 2026, 6 p.m., as announced on Mazor’s Instagram, six-course Guatemalan tasting with Zacapa rum cocktail pairings, $195 per person, tickets on TicketLeap through Thursday, Nov. 26, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. CT
Daily menu: counter service, order online through mazorchicago.com
Drinks: horchata, aguas frescas, Guatemalan coffee; BYOB
Phone: (312) 238-9792

Mazor Chicago FAQ

What kind of food does Mazor Chicago serve?

Mazor serves Mexican and Guatemalan cooking built on fresh nixtamalized masa from Pilsen’s El Popocatepetl Tortilleria. Chef Cristian Orozco’s menu at 485 N Milwaukee Ave includes hand-pressed tacos, a bluefin tuna tostada with salsa macha, blue corn tetelas, a Guatemalan-style shrimp cocktail and a hibiscus flan de jamaica.

Who is the chef at Mazor Chicago?

Cristian Orozco, who grew up in Pajapita, Guatemala, near the Mexican border, cooked at Acadia, North Pond and Tzuco, where he was chef de cuisine, before running Five O Four Kitchen in Glen Ellyn. Eater Chicago named him its 2026 Chef of the Year on Nov. 10, 2026, for Mazor.

When is the Mazor x El Sazón dinner in Chicago?

The Mazor x El Sazón collaboration is Sunday, Nov. 29, 2026, at 6 p.m. at Mazor, 485 N Milwaukee Ave, as Mazor announced on Instagram. Chef Cristian De León of Minnesota’s El Sazón joins Cristian Orozco for a six-course Guatemalan tasting, with a custom Zacapa rum cocktail paired with each course.

How much is the Mazor El Sazón dinner and how do I get tickets?

The Mazor x El Sazón dinner costs $195 per person for six courses with Zacapa rum cocktail pairings. Tickets are sold through TicketLeap, with sales closing Thursday, Nov. 26, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. CT, and seats at the River West/West Town restaurant are limited for the one-night seated dinner.

Does Mazor Chicago take reservations?

Mazor runs as a counter-service restaurant for lunch and dinner, so diners order at the counter and find a seat, with online ordering on mazorchicago.com. Chef’s counter tasting nights and guest dinners such as the Nov. 29, 2026, El Sazón collaboration are ticketed and booked ahead.

Is Mazor Chicago BYOB?

Yes. Mazor in River West/West Town is BYOB, and the restaurant also pours its own horchata, agua de jamaica and café de olla made with Guatemalan coffee. The Nov. 29, 2026, El Sazón dinner includes a custom Zacapa rum cocktail with each of the six courses.

Mazor Chicago Cristian Orozco: Eater’s Chef of the Year Brings El Sazón’s Cristian De León to Milwaukee Avenue for a Guatemalan Tasting on Nov. 29