To operate a community-minded & efficient fast-service, fresh-mex restaurant with a safe, clean, comfortable environment.
Adolfo Perez studied at the Le Cordon Bleu culinary institute in Pasadena, then spent the following years working in the kitchens of Hamburger Hamlet and The Cheesecake Factory. When Chef Adolfo finally set off to open a restaurant, he was quickly given his own kitchen…in a North Hollywood gas station, serving a limited menu of egg sandwiches and muffins. But here’s the thing about Adolfo: he had ideas. Ideas about how to elevate the cuisine of his native Mexico, ideas on recipes, ideas for new takes on traditional dishes, and ideas on how to express his creativity through food.
For years, Chef Adolfo was stuck in corporate restaurants, following recipes created by focus groups, where uniformity was valued over innovation. But after proving himself in the snack station at the Chevron, Chef Adolfo was given the opportunity to cook his own food, his own way. And this is where something truly special happened. Because after years of creative frustration, Chef Adolfo could finally unleash his vision of Mexican food, and his time toiling in the kitchens of Hamburger Hamlet, and The Cheesecake Factory, and Le Cordon Bleu, had given him the skills to make those visions a reality. In 2011, he proudly opened Cilantro Mexican Grill, a hidden gem in the North Hollywood Are
