Mexican fast-casual brand Cilantro Taco Grill will open its first location outside Chicagoland, US in April 2025, following its first franchise launch in November 2025.
The fast-casual franchise was founded by Temoc Morfin in 2013.
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The expansion is aimed at leveraging the quick-service restaurant (QSR) industry’s projected 5.4% growth, reaching $321.8bn in 2025.
Cilantro Taco Grill founder and CEO Temoc Morfin stated: “As we continue to expand into new communities, it’s fulfilling to know more guests will taste the authentic flavours of [the Mexican state of] Jalisco and the love my family has put into the recipes from our home country.
“What started as a small taqueria with my family is now a thriving franchise further fuelling the American dream. Cilantro Taco Grill will always stay true to our mission – serving the food I grew up eating in Mexico and uplifting immigrant families like my own.”
In 2024, Cilantro Taco Grill embarked on a growth trajectory by securing six franchise agreements across four states, adding 110 units to its 17 corporate-owned locations around Chicagoland.
The brand opened its first-ever franchise location in 2024, in Wheeling, Illinois, just over a year after launching its franchising programme.
In July 2024, restaurant operators Alex and Max Dreevs signed a franchise deal to develop 100 locations in Florida.
Cilantro Taco Grill has bolstered its corporate leadership with new talent to support its growth, and formed a strategic partnership with US Foods, resulting in a new commissary in Houston, Texas.
Cilantro Taco aims to inaugurate seven new locations in 2025, three in Texas and Florida, and four in Illinois.
These openings occur less than two years after Cilantro Taco Grill introduced its franchise opportunity in partnership with franchise development company Fransmart.
Their shared goal is to expand the next generation of Mexican fast casual concepts to 1,000 locations worldwide by 2034.
Fransmart CEO Dan Rowe added: “Cilantro Taco Grill is redefining the Mexican fast-casual space with its authentic flavours from south of the border. While others try to replicate authentic Mexican cuisine, Cilantro Taco Grill and the Morfins’ recipes are as real as it gets. After a phenomenal year of growth in 2024, we’re incredibly optimistic about 2025 and beyond.”
As of March 2025, Cilantro Taco Grill operates 18 outlets and has more than 100 signed locations in Illinois, Texas, Florida and California.
