On a triangular corner in Queens, New York’s Ridgewood neighborhood, chef Yara Herrera is in her element. The Los Angeles native kicked off her culinary career on the West Coast at the age of 20, working in the kitchens of Wolfgang Puck’s Spago in Beverly Hills and Michael Cimarusti’s now-three-Michelin-starred Providence in Hollywood.
She relocated to New York a few years later and went on to become chef de cuisine at Xilonen, a plant-based Mexican restaurant in Greenpoint, Brooklyn that shuttered in 2022. A pivot to pop-ups led to an encounter with Howard Kalachnikoff and Rafiq Salim of Ridgewood restaurant Rolo’s, who eventually approached Herrera about joining forces to launch a concept of her own.
In February 2024, that idea became reality with the opening of Hellbender, which was initially conceived as “a cocktail bar with Mexican-American snacks,” Herrera says. “We opened with an extensive cocktail menu and a nine-item food menu.” However, much transpired in two years. Hellbender was named one of The New York Times’ 10 Best New Restaurants of 2025, and Herrera teamed up with Martha Stewart last May to host a dinner party at the restaurant. Social media was abuzz, and patrons were eager for more.
Cue Hellbender’s evolution—the convivial neighborhood spot evolved into a full-service restaurant offering “creative takes on innovative and classic Mexican dishes,” she says, for both dinner and brunch. “I now cook food that reminds me of growing up Mexican in Los Angeles and that’s refined with techniques I learned as I worked my way through some of the best kitchens in America.”
Next came a renovation, a collaborative effort between the business partners and a trusted contractor that concluded in March, that “really elevated the space to highlight the food,” Herrera says. “We now have an open kitchen with beautiful lighting and extra space for plating dishes. We also reworked the back bar to showcase our spirits options and maximize storage.”
The ethos, however, remains the same, with Herrera’s influence at the forefront. “At first glance, you wouldn’t assume Hellbender is a Mexican-American restaurant. There are no tacos on the menu or traditional décor on the walls,” she says. “I am telling a story that so many immigrants before me have done. I am staying true to my roots and culture, while being open to the environment I am in—working with local ingredients to replicate dishes I love, sometimes Mexican, sometimes not.”
Her personal touch is further woven throughout the “fun, playful space,” as Herrera puts it. “We play loud music of all genres—mostly Latin sounds, like cumbias, reggaeton, corridos, and a lot of hip-hop and R&B classics.” Meanwhile, Herrera’s favorite color, yellow, appears across the restaurant’s branding and leather cushions adorning the booth seating, while a small curtain handmade by Herrera’s mom serves as a quiet reminder. “I think about her every time I see it,” she adds. Ultimately, the goal is for “guests to feel like they just walked into the cutest, coolest, most beautiful, exciting restaurant in Ridgewood,” she says.
With the remodel wrapped up, Herrera feels “like we stepped into the Hellbender I always wanted,” she says. “It’s still a new restaurant growing slowly in exciting ways, and my focus is on dialing that in daily.”
The menu at Hellbender puts a creative spin on traditional Mexican dishes
The warm, inviting interior of Hellbender restaurant, shown pre-renovation
This article originally appeared in HD’s April 2026 issue.