Flavor Trailblazer: John Baez

As the executive chef of Border Grill at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, John Baez is charting a bold path for modern Mexican cuisine. It’s a flavor-forward, thoughtful and often playful approach to the menu—honoring traditional Mexican flavors while building in global mash-ups and signature twists. Under his direction, Border Grill is introducing guests to the deep complexity of Mexican cuisine—beyond border food—and challenging preconceptions along the way.

Baez is also behind a slate of inventive fast-casual spin-offs from Border Grill, including BBQ Mexicana and Pacha Mamas, the former serving up barbecue-style burritos, bowls and salads and the latter offering Peruvian-inspired cuisine centered around bold-flavored skewers and fresh ceviche. Next up, he and his team are getting ready to launch a Mexican-style smash burger concept, also in Las Vegas. We caught up with Baez to talk about flavor innovation, trend filtering and his love of cereal as a late-night snack.

Katie Ayoub: What kind of food do you serve at Border Grill?
John Baez: We call it modern Mexican. When I arrived, I made it a mission to shift away from a broader Latin direction—some past menus leaned Peruvian—and refocus on showcasing the diversity within Mexican cuisine. Most people still associate Mexican food with tacos, enchiladas, quesadillas—but that’s really border food. Today, we highlight things like moles from Oaxaca, coastal seafood from the Yucatán or Baja and elevated street food from Mexico City. We still do tacos, but we’re intentional. For example, our al pastor tacos feature pineapple-infused tortillas to offer a unique spin while deepening the flavor.

KA: What’s your biggest challenge when it comes to innovation?
JB: Mexican cuisine often gets boxed into “spicy,” so one challenge is helping guests see the balance—introducing tartness, sweetness, umami—without losing that hit of heat they expect. Moles are a great example of an umami-rich, deeply savory profile that is very much a part of Mexican cuisine. We’ll layer in mushrooms or huitlacoche, warm spices like clove or cinnamon, and use hot chiles to build complexity.

KA: How does value factor into your menu development?
JB: Even with our premium ingredients—grass-fed beef, sustainable seafood, housemade everything—Border Grill is considered a value option within Mandalay Bay. That perception of Mexican food being “cheap eats” lingers, so we walk a line: high quality at approachable price points. We’re not going to skimp on sourcing, but we still want to feel accessible.

KA: How do you filter trends and decide what’s right for your menus?
JB: We don’t just want to keep up with trends. We also want to lead. When I came to Border Grill in 2022, my goal was to bring today’s relevant trends into a Mexican context. One example is our Jumbo Chicken Wing Confit with gochujang mole coloradito—a global mash-up served through a familiar platform. It’s taking two different flavors that are very pronounced and very well-known from two different cuisines. It was a big hit. We also leaned into the salsa macha trend, pulling it into an aïoli and replacing a longstanding chipotle mayo that we ran in a few different spots on the menu.

KA: You’ve got a tetela on your menu. That’s lesser-known to many U.S. diners. How does it perform?
JB: Most guests aren’t familiar with the tetela—it’s essentially a sealed quesadilla, filled with beans and cheese, served in an heirloom tortilla. We tested the tetela as a special first. Once we refined the execution—switching to cooking with manteca and improving the masa—it took off. It’s now a strong seller on our core menu.

KA: Tell us about a few other dishes that are outside the norm for Mexican fare and bring in trending ingredients.
JB: The Dobladito is a quesadilla-on-steroids—blue corn tortilla filled with corn, kale, poblanos, house-seasoned potato sticks and salsa macha aïoli. We crisp them on the plancha. Another hit is our Horchata French Toast, made in a small-plate format for brunch. We soak challah in housemade horchata, then top the toast with piloncillo syrup and a 66-percent cacao chocolate sauce. It outsells everything else on the brunch menu.

QUICKFIRE

Source of inspiration:
Travel is huge for me. I build eating itineraries whenever I go anywhere and look at the foods I try through the lens of what kind of Latin spin we might be able to put on something that I had in Austria or Switzerland, for example. And of course, lots of time spent online getting inspiration scrolling. Social media’s the new cookbook library.

Something in your fridge that would surprise people:
Beef tallow. We use a lot of brisket at BBQ Mexicana, so I started rendering the trimmed fat instead of tossing it. I’m experimenting with infusing it with chile de árbol, housemade seasoning and things like that. It’s like making flavored butter, but with beef fat.

Best bite you’ve had recently:
An oyster-and-muscle duo—one spicy, one cooling—at a tapas place in Vegas called Anima. The oyster had a hot mignonette, and the mussel was topped with what tasted like a mint chimichurri. It just worked—fire and ice.

Cuisine or ingredient you’re particularly excited to explore:
I’m really into Indian cuisine right now; it’s so layered and flavorful. I’ve been trying out a few dishes at home and haven’t quite nailed the flavors, but I’m working on it. I’ve also been thinking more about schnitzel lately, after a trip to Austria, and how to incorporate Latin flavors.

Go-to late night snack:
Cereal! Cap’n Crunch, Fruity Pebbles, Honey Bunches of Oats—it’s all about crunch and nostalgia for me. And yes, I know I might lose my chef card for that!