The James Beard Awards is often dubbed the Oscars of the culinary world.

This year, three Minneapolis restaurants and chefs are contenders for the prestigious award.

One of the finalists for Best Restaurant is a Mexican restaurant in Minneapolis called Oro.

Oro by Nixta is up against nine other restaurants nation-wide for the Best Restaurant category.

Oro was originally a to-go taco stand selling heirloom corn tortillas, which started 3.5 years ago.

The owners — Kate and Gustavo Romero — say this is their first time being recognized by the James Beard Foundation.

The Romeros told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS that not only has this recognition propelled their business in ways they’ve never imagined, but they’re most proud to be able to represent their own culture through food.

“It means a lot to the team. You know, it’s a group effort, and there’s a lot of people that is behind us, next to us and and in front of us when it comes to the restaurant. So, it feels good to be recognized for the work that you do. You know, we spend a lot of time at the restaurant and then sacrifice, you sacrifice a lot of a lot of things like family and friendships, weekends, everything,” said Gustavo, owner and head chef at Oro.

Two other Minneapolis chefs also made the finalist list for Best Chef in the Midwest.

Ann Ahmed of Khaluna restaurant and Christina Nguyen of Hai Hai restaurant are contending for the accolade of ‘Best Chef’.

Hai Hai is a southeast Asian street food restaurant and bar, while Khaluna offers Laotian cuisine and culture.

The ceremony for the 2024 James Beard Awards is Monday at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.