Eli Martínez Bello's devotion and genuine passion for her homeland’s traditions, spirits and history has paid dividends as she becomes the first Mexican recipient of the Altos Bartenders’ Bartender Award as part of North America’s 50 Best Bars 2025. Here she discusses her journey, aspirations for the future and her Mexico-forward cocktail-making ethos.
Eli Martínez Bello has always taken the scenic route in life, focusing on the small details, textures, and colours she admires along the way. Known to command a room with the force of her natural liveliness and striking fashion sense (Martínez Bello came sporting a towering traditional Mexican headdress to the 2024 edition of North America’s 50 Best Bars), she is wearing a multicoloured dress by a female Oaxacan designer to be interviewed in. “I am deeply in love with Mexico," she confides with a dazzling smile.
She has a hard time describing the emotions that have been flowing through her since she discovered her newest accolade. For Martínez Bello, receiving the only peer-voted award in North America's 50 Best Bars 2025 is not simply a culmination of her work, but a gift that comes with weighty responsibility. "The first thing I did when I found out was call my mom. I've devoted the last 13 years of my career to mixology, and now more than ever, I feel the call to duty to be the best ambassador for Mexico and its unique spirits."
The call of duty
Her Mexico City bar, Tlecān, is her second home; the team her second family. Martínez Bello’s approach to mixology translates into the bar's pre-Hispanic design elements, brand-less agave spirits selection and its abundance of local ingredients. Take the toothpicks used in garnishes, for example, which aren’t wood but agave thorns. "Many people have never seen an agave thorn or know how sharp they are, so adding them gives me an excuse to talk about agave fields and the world surrounding mezcal."
Eli Martínez Bello leads the bar team at Tlecān and considers them family
More than a trailblazer – though she certainly fits that mould – Martínez Bello describes her path as part of a cultural movement in Mexico that’s devoted to celebrating the country's heritage and gastronomic traditions. "Mexico is a diverse, rich, and vast country, and I believe my mission is to talk about our culture, always," she asserts.
This calling has been recognised throughout her life, including in her birth town of Orizaba, the capital of Veracruz, where she was given the title of ‘The Favourite Daughter of Orizaba’ – an acknowledgement of her pioneering career and devotion to promoting every aspect of her native culture.
The many lives of Martínez Bello
Martínez Bello describes each step of her 24-year-long hospitality career as a different era. "I have lived many lives in just one lifetime," she explains. "My first job was at the coffee shop I used to go to in high school at 17."
Tlecān opened in its doors in 2020 to showcase artisanal agave spirits
Throughout Martínez Bello’s career, she has developed a keen sense of adaptability and a unique ability to tune in the energy of each project. "A café has a different energy than a high volume bar, a fine dining service, or even a cocktail bar. I feel lucky because I have learned to run both with clear objectives: dedicated service and unique hospitality."
Martínez Bello's love affair with mixology started in her late 20s when she began to dig deep into the stories and legacy behind each spirit and distillate. The pursuit and exploration eventually paid off with the position of head bartender at Grupo Pata Negra and, later, a five-year stint as head bartender at Enrique Olvera's Pujol (No.33 in The World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2024). "I started exploring Mexico when I was 11 years old and have never stopped. I realised that cocktail making allowed me to tell stories, collect unique characters, and, most importantly, share my passion for Mexico,” she says.
"Everything in Tlecān is born from the knowledge I have picked up along the way, in every place and project I've been involved in." Her ethos and relentless exploration translate into cocktails centred on historical research, cultural significance, and a local producer-centred approach.
"For me, a cocktail is an ideal reason to talk about Mexico," continues Martínez Bello, while explaining what goes into one of Tlecān’s signatures, the Pulque Colada. Beyond the techniques – clarification, a fat wash with mezcal and coconut oil, and drip filtration – she goes deeper into the history of pulque, its cultural relevance since pre-Hispanic times, and the many traditions and myths surrounding the fermented drink that are unique to Mexico.
The Pulque Colada is one of Martínez Bello's favourite cocktails
"Besides mixology techniques, what is most important to me is to share the origins of each ingredient and the community of Mexico that it comes from. I want people to get to know our culture via a cocktail and to share who we are via a spirit."
Martínez Bello's lifetime of travels around Mexico has allowed her to connect ancient traditions and techniques with a contemporary skill set. "I don't believe in overcomplicating things, nor trying to invent something new,” she says. “A lot of what you find in a cocktail has already been invented, so to speak. My approach is to reconnect the dots from a vast and diverse tradition in Mexico, to remind people of what it was and experience it anew."
Resetting for the future
In the last few years, besides her work at Tlecān, Martínez Bello has developed and consulted on beverage programs and trained staff for cocktail bars across Mexico and beyond. "The one piece of advice I can share is that discipline beats talent, always. If I were to say something to 17-year-old Eli Martínez, it would be simply that."
Tlecān made its debut in the list of North America's 50 Best Bars in 2024
As someone who has devoted their working life to hospitality, Martínez Bello is increasingly aware of the need for people in the industry to care for themselves as well as their career progression. "Bartending requires a lot of social energy,” she says.
"In Spanish, hospitality is also referred to as restauración [to restore]. We are there to take care of guests, to nurture and provide an experience, and you can’t do that unless you have proper support and emotional care. We also need to take care of our bodies."
"Many women start bartending when they’re young, but we must also think about how to do better as an industry later in life," she says. As women continue to carve a space in bars and restaurants, driving towards and equitable future demands the creation of safe spaces to support the growing community and nurture both body and soul. "Both women and men in the industry need care. I believe we need to still need to create better opportunities for people to extend their careers past middle age."
Martínez Bello’s outlook on her own future is both self-reflective and community-driven. "I can only see myself as someone continuing to be committed to sharing Mexican culture with the world," she says. "I don't see this as a personal win but as recognition for my local community. This award is for Mexico."
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North America’s 50 Best Bars 2025, sponsored by Perrier, will be revealed at a live awards ceremony in Vancouver, Canada, on Tuesday 29 April.
