Costeño Group is prolific. Founded in 2006 by Alberto Martínez and Victor Setién, the group operates 11 unique concepts and dozens of locations across Mexico and Spain. Last month, their footprint extended into the United States for the first time, when Cuerno opened its doors on June 19 in the Time-Life Building at Rockefeller Center in New York City.
Cuerno is billed as a tribute to the rich culinary and cultural heritage of northern Mexico, and its opening is the fulfillment of a longtime dream for Martínez and Setién.
“Our dream has always been to represent Mexico in a way the world hasn’t seen, to share a different side of our country, one rooted in rich culture, vibrant flavor, sophistication, art, and the spirit of hard-working people,” Martínez said. “New York, as one of the most iconic and influential cities in the world, has always been the ideal place to bring that vision to life. And after seven years of searching for this opportunity, here we are.”
The restaurant’s design pulls from northern Mexico and Manhattan, featuring custom leather, woodwork, and art.
Martínez added that, of all the group’s concepts, Cuerno was the natural choice for their stateside debut because it embodies everything they’re most proud of, from the cuisine to the traditions of northern Mexico.
Cuerno New York is 7,700 square feet and has 220 seats. The space was designed by Mexican architecture firm A de Arquitectos and features interiors that merge northern Mexico’s rustic charm and open-air haciendas with contemporary Manhattan. There’s hand-carved woodwork, custom leather banquettes, and a striking mural on one dining room wall that’s made up of tiles crafted from Mexican soil. Other artwork displays traditional Mexican motifs like desert flora, ancestral fire rituals, and the cuerno. The restaurant’s namesake is the symbolic horn — like a cornucopia — that represents strength, abundance, and community.
Cuerno’s kitchen features a Josper charcoal oven. Executive chef Oriol Mendivil and his team cook over mesquite at high temperatures to give charred, smoky flavor to meats, seafood, and vegetables.
The menu is centered around a Josper charcoal oven, used to cook dishes like this rib eye steak with bone marrow.
“Fire is at the heart of northern Mexican culture. It’s more than a cooking method; it’s a way of life,” Martínez said. “We grew up with carne asadas, family gatherings centered around fire, flavor, and connection.”
Those traditions are visible in Cuerno’s menu, which is built around four key pillars: carne asada (grilled meat), tacos on handmade tortillas, fresh fish and seafood, and fire-grilled vegetables.
A few standout dishes that showcase the Josper oven include charcoal-roasted cauliflower with habanero-truffle emulsion and pistachio, a norteño-style rib eye steak with pepper, garlic, bone marrow, and salsa, and grilled Mayan octopus with heirloom potatoes and chipotle salsa.
Tacos are served on handmade tortillas.
The kitchen finishes many of its grilled dishes with Colima flor de sal, a delicate sea salt harvested from Mexico’s Pacific coast.
Other favorites include halibut ceviche with serrano peppers and leche de tigre, and hamachi crudo with chiltepín chiles.
Cuerno is more than just a restaurant to its founders. It’s a way to honor where they come from and share it with the world, while highlighting a side of Mexico that not everyone’s familiar with.
“Our passion began with family recipes and conversations around the fire,” Martínez said. “The kitchen was always the heart of our home. Cuerno carries that legacy forward with flame-kissed technique, distinctive ingredients, and the true essence of Mexican hospitality that turns every guest into family.”
