Cilantro Fresh Mexican Grill is a fast-casual Mexican-style restaurant that opened in New Haven, Connecticut in 2012. It was founded by restaurateur couple Chris Guerra and Sara Holycross. Guerra opened his first restaurant, Dayton Street Apizza, in New Haven in 1998 when he was just 23. The success of the pizzeria was enough for him to open a sister pizzeria, First Street Apizza, in Seymour in 2005. Eventually Guerra decided to purchase the building that Dayton Street Apizza was housed in. For the opposite side, he had originally thought about opening a Chinese restaurant. Then he and his partner Holycross realized that Mexican culture was thriving in New Haven. Many of the kitchen staff at Dayton Street Apizza were of Latino descent and they would frequently heat up their authentic Spanish and Mexican meals in the kitchen. Although fast-casual chains such as Chipotle Mexican Grill or Moe's Southwest Grill were popular, Guerra and Holycross eschewed the assembly line style of food preparation for a traditional made-to-order style of preparation. This meant that their food would be fresher and the menu more nimble. When it opened in 2012, Cilantro was met with much acclaim. Guerra sadly passed away unexpectedly in 2016; Holycross continues to run his three restaurants. My wife and I have been to Cilantro several times and have never been disappointed. When they first opened, my wife and I had recently started dating and she lived in an apartment down the street. We've been fans of their food ever since. We recently stopped there for dinner with our two boys on Cinco de Mayo. Cilantro's take-out business was pretty busy that day, but the dining room wasn't too crowded for sit-down meals. We started off with some of their complimentary chips and salsas as well as a large order of their delicious "Guacamole". For our entrées, I had the "Tostada Salad w/ Steak" (fried flour tortilla shell filled with/ lettuce, black beans, guacamole, sour cream, & pico de gallo), my wife had the "Shrimp Bowl" (fresh grilled shrimp, lime, jack & cheddar, pinto beans, red cabbage, pico de gallo, tangy dressing), our older son had the "Kids Steak Taco" (soft corn tortilla w/ cheddar cheese), and our younger son had the "Kids Chicken Quesadilla". Everything was delicious; super fresh ingredients and all bursting with flavor! Unfortunately, Cilantro does not have a bar: no margaritas for us. However, they do carry bottle beer, wine, and sangria. I enjoyed a cup of "Red Sangria while my wife enjoyed a cup of "White Sangria". I must say that in addition to the excellent food, Cilantro also has excellent staff and service. Overall, we had another very enjoyable experience. The high-quality food and competitive prices here must not be overlooked. read more

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It's 2026 and this restaurant needs some new reviews to clean out the negativity. I love this restaurant. I've been there when it's busy, slow, when I am nice or have RBF, and when I tip big or zero, but the service is always top notch. The food is always served fresh and doesn't taste like it came from a can, and I have never been sick, in fact my gut is always happy when I eat here, unlike eating at Taco Bell. The people there are always nice and the atmosphere is lovely. People need to start leaving reviews when they love a buisness instead of just when they dislike the buisness. read more

Cilantro Fresh Mexican Grill - The cowboy burrito - Desserts Near Me - New Haven, Connecticut

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Heading back from a road trip needed something to eat popped off the highway and found this location. The food was delicious. The service was really very good. There's no ambience to speak of. You could sit down you can eat, but the place is clean and they are so gracious it's fast food without really tasting like fast food and we had tons of leftovers. We walked in just before they were closing and didn't know that and they said nothing which really goes to speak about how they treat the customer. Enjoy! read more

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Food and service very good. We picked did takeout, it was ready when we arrived and hot when we got home. The food was fresh and cooked well. read more

Nice place Good Mexican vibes Great tacos Great rice and beans Even the water is great Real Mexicans cooking the food I even got to drink a beer with them read more

I take back what I said in my last review about always recommending cilantro. Last week was my last time going there for good. They overcharged me for what I ordered, and especially for the quality. It's not nearly as good quality as it used to be. They also didn't put as much stuff in my quesadilla as they used to. Definitely won't be returning, which is really unfortunate because I used to get takeout from there so much that they knew my order by heart. I always swore by it until I hadn't gotten it in quite a while and my recent experience tarnished that. read more

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Pretty disappointed with my lunch. Had the carnitas nachos. It was very greasy and very bland. No hot sauce available, no salsa to cut through the grease. Served in a takeout container even though I was eating in. Took 15 minutes to come out even though the restaurant was pretty empty. Also the restaurant smelled like cigarette smoke. I think someone was smoking by a back door and it drafted in. Wouldn't return. read more

Pretty good! Ordered delivery and it came warm and relatively fast. Got the shrimp burrito and it was delicious. Came with some free chips and salsa, which I really appreciated. The veggie burrito was also delicious. Unlike many other veggie burritos I've had before. read more

Cilantro Fresh Mexican Grill - Desserts Near Me - New Haven, Connecticut

Cilantro used to be one of our favorite little restaurants, both eat in and take out. We started eating there right when they opened. I liked that it was simple. A small restaurant should focus on a smallish menu to be reliably great, and that's what Cilantro did so well. It was in our steady rotation, probably once every couple of weeks; at least once per month. It was very good. Not because it was incredibly authentic Mexican food that blew my mind every time I ate it. But because it was reliable, tasty, and fresh. Owners: remember that you put "Fresh" in the business name for a reason. It was a differentiator, and it was true. Well, sorry, but now it's not so fresh anymore, and I know you know it. I wonder if you eat your own fish tacos, or chips, or carnitas, or churros. Or inspect the presentation that leaves the kitchen. I really wish you'd use biodegradable / compostable containers instead of styrofoam, too. I'd rather you raise prices and bring back the love than stay on this trajectory. read more

Fantastic carnitas! I absolutely love them. Can not forget the Mexican Coca Cola with it!

The tacos were amazing! The server was really kind. The rice tasted exactly how my abuela makes it

Just ate at Cilantro Fresh Mexican on a Sunday evening. Outrageous. Elote - corn on the cob w Mexican toppings. OMG. To die for. Carnies taco. Best of the best. Better than any Mexican restaurant around. Flavorful. Tender. Delisioso. Drinks and salsas - perfection. And our guy Dan - could not have been nicer or more helpful or efficient. The cook was dynomite. I give this place a rare 10 outa 10. Our entire family loved it. Will be back often. read more

Went to this place on a whim after bowling at Amity Bowl. So GLAD I did! Cilantro is like Chipotle but fresher!!!(I know I didn't think it was possible either) We enjoyed a taco plate which consisted of pork, chicken and steak-they give decent sized potions and sides with the plate option. Everything was DELICIOUS, would definitely go back when in the area!!! The restaurant is on the small side but definitely enough room to dine in with friends and small groups. They also do sell adult beverages (beer possibly a marg) along with authentic Spanish soda. read more

Cilantro Fresh Mexican Grill - Desserts Near Me - New Haven, Connecticut

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Chicken Tortilla Soup and Garden Salad were both good, but the staff preparing orders need to pay better attention to what they are doing. I ordered through UberEats. Each item supposedly comes with complimentary chips and salsa, so I made my selections of chips with green salsa... I've received no chips and no salsa at all. Also, I paid $1.50 for "extra dressing" for the salad and I received "one dressing" only. Like I said earlier, the soup was good but good thing I ordered the "large", because I couldn't imagine what size the small soup is. The so-called "large" soup came in a 16 ounce pint container. Usually "large" is a 32 ounce quart container. I don't know if I will order again since there was multiple items missing from my order. read more

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I met a friend here for lunch .. we were craving Mexican food and decided to go here because the restaurant was suppose to have authentic Mexican food. I had a steak burrito which was tasty and full of fresh ingredients. I actually could only eat half and brought the other half home for dinner. I am a fan of this place and am excited to go back and try something else on the menu. My friend also enjoyed their lunch !! :) thumbs up !! read more

Love the 2-taco dinner with healthy options like tofu & sweet potatoes! The rice & black beans & cabbage slaw are also yummy!

Went there today. Had a shrimp bowl that was excellent! The flavor was smoky and on point. Then owner was very nice and helped us with the menu. The restaurant is clean and inviting. Will definitely return. read more

Unfortunately we felt sick after our meal. The taste was a bit off. The veggies tasted canned or at best frozen. read more

Inflation must be affecting the restaurant!! I ordered nachos w/ chicken and chicken quesadillas. Omg!! They changed the cheese, looked and tasted like Cheese whiz, from the jar!! Very disappointing. The chicken, doesn't even taste fresh. We won't be going back. read more

3.5 stars bc I hold mexican food to CA standards. For the region this is a solid 4 star. Good portion on the burritos, which come with a little side of chips and salsa. We like that! They could make the burritos have more spices, sour and chilies to make it taste better. Give an option like a "Haven kick" because otherwise their burrito is a little bland. Salsa is pretty good for the region. If they took a trip to LA or SF and tried some Mexican food they'd get inspired and maybe bring some of those more intense, forward citrus, chile and tad more salt flavors back to our area here. read more

This place had been somewhat of an out of reach, bucket list type place for a long while. My wife often drives by here on her way to work, and she had noted on more than one occasion that she liked the look and curbside feel of the place. And we're both kind of self-admitted Mexican fan-boys. The problem is that I rarely leave my home town, and when I do...I do everything I can to get back to my town as soon as possible. So, sadly, it just never came together. And every time we mentioned it, I was afraid I was missing something special. As it turns out, I was. As it turns out, this past weekend found me at the Southern Connecticut State University with my son and girlfriend and her sister for an admittance interview. We had been there most of the morning and didn't finish up until around 2, so, clearly, food was a priority. I hadn't even considered Cilantro and was pretty set on barbecue at House of Bones. As we were leaving, my son's girlfriends was like "oh, there's this awesome Mexican place right around the corner, you should try it." Here's the old math people: "Mexican" + "around the corner" = awesome. Firstly, getting in to and out of the location can be challenging, especially during "busy-ish" hours. So I'm thinking some people might just pass it by without giving it a 2nd thought. If you're that person, give it a second thought. The interior of the place was clean and quiet, with just a few other late-lunchers seated as we walked in, and as we approached the counter...I was greeting by a large menu on the wall that read like a who's who of my digestive addiction list. Everything literally sounded amazing. I started easy with a taco combo plate with chicken and steak. My son decided to start with a hail mary and pull the trigger on the Carne Asada, and our lady friends went with Cali Burrito (in a bowl) and the Sweet Potato tacos. The format of the place is awesome, like...my favorite type of format. Order at counter, get a number, sit down, number called, eat, leave. No messing around with table side service, and in and out and on your way much faster. Once your order is place, you're each handed a personal sized bag of tortilla chips and offered a kind of dipping sauce salad bar selection. I went with the "hot" salsa, and it was amazing. Chips were just about perfect as well, and to be 100% honest, this was my of my favorite parts of the meal. We sat down with the chips and drinks and our number was called about 10 minutes later, no issues with the wait time. Visually, the food was amazing looking. It kind of reminded me of those fancy plates of Mexican food in California that I see on cooking and travel shows. But as we all know, looks can be deceiving...sometimes, now and again...just not in this case. Everything was spot on. Meat was fresh and seasoned perfectly, toppings, rice, beans, it was all just about perfect. The thing that stood out most to me was that it didn't taste like "Mexican" food; that is, it didn't taste like that standard type of Mexican food you can find anywhere. Very unique seasonings and you can tell that there was much time and effort put in to the menu items. Luckily, the menu isn't huge (which is a good thing), and I should be able to hammer through the whole thing within a year. Given the variation of the 4 dishes we ordered though, I would say that it's safe to say that it's all good across the board. And considering the fact that you can get a full plate of stuff and be full afterwards for like $10 should really seal the deal. This place is a must-try if you're in the area. We left super happy, and I couldn't wait to get home to tell my wife about the awesome Mexican restaurant I had discovered in New Haven. She was quick to remind me that we had talked about the place numerous times and that it was actually HER that discovered it. I was quick to tell her how nice her hair looked today. :/ read more

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Some of the best vegetarian/vegan friendly Mexican food options in the area. Humbly located inside of a train station.

This place is super cute inside and has a nice vibe. The waitress was polite and patient as it was our first time there. My husband loved his tacos but my food was lacking. I got a quesadilla (which is pretty hard to mess up) and rice and beans. The quesadilla was good but It was all lacking seasoning which is not what you would expect. We got a side of guacamole that tasted like nothing. After stealing my husbands lime, adding a bunch of salt, and mixing in my pico de gallo (which also tasted like nothing) it was good. I guess just get the tacos if you go-- my husband says he would love to go back. I personally wouldn't. read more

The service was amazing and the food was just as good if not better. The mango habanero tacos were delicious and I will 100% be getting more next time I come. Compliments to the chef! And a big compliment to the hostess/hostess was so friendly and kind to us. While this was a quick meal for us it was one of the more pleasant experiences we've had lately. Highly recommend! read more

I typically don't review restaurants, especially not sub par reviews, but after trying Cilantro a few times I'm always left disappointed. Everything is fresh and the food tastes good, but when my burrito bowl is predominately sour cream and guacamole, so much so it eats more like soup than anything else, I'd say the proportions are off. I absolutely hate to say this because I typically always try to support local over big chains, but Chipotle is *shudders* better than this. read more

Cilantro Fresh Mexican Grill - Desserts Near Me - New Haven, Connecticut

I've been to Cilantro fresh a few times now. The first I really enjoyed, but now I'm starting to think that was an exceptional day :/ which sucks because I really want to support this business. Another order was totally messed up by the kitchen-- I had to drive back for my order. This third order was just not looking fresh. I ordered the fish tacos. The meal looked gray and wilted, the fish looked soggy. I didn't try it. Super disappointing, maybe some things to work on! read more

First let me say that the ambiance at the restaurant is awesome. Great decor, lighting and artwork. Unfortunately the food is simply not up to par. I had a steak tostada bowl which lacked flavor in every way. The steak was dry and tasted like it was unseasoned and charred. I had high hopes based on the look of the restaurant but I'd rather eat at a food truck. read more

Really disappointing this time. I used to go there often during the pandemic when I lived and worked in the neighborhood. Never a single problem with my order. Times hanger changed. Somehow they totally left everything I asked for it of my burrito and overcharged me for extra stuff they left out and with no beans whatsoever and mostly rice. Refuses to refund me when I called twice. I will call my creditor . read more

Always excellent and quick. It is like a better quality Chipotle. My family likes the burritos, I love the enchilada. I would love if they added a roasted tomato salsa. the salsa's & guac are really good. Excellent choice for fast and delicious Mexican food. read more

First time trying this out. Stopped with my 23 month old on the way to the aquarium. My daughter's rice and beans from her kids meal was served with a staple sitting on top. Not even a folded, used staple. Not sure how no one sees that. Not a single person working seemed phased by this. The server whose fault it obviously wasn't gave a quick apology and brought another plate out, but that was it. I just can't get over this being in a kids plate. A 23 month old who wouldn't know any better if she got a staple in her mouth and god forbid if she swallowed it. read more

Cilantro's been open for a while and I had to wait a little bit a few months later until I visited to make sure that they've settled into the neighborhood. The building is on a corner of a busy street they definitely have good location. There is parking available which is definitely a plus. During my first visit, I ordered a garden chicken salad. I was very impressed with the size and the amount of chicken and avocados. They definitely did not skimp on it. The lemony vinaigrette was very light and refreshing which went very well with the grilled chicken. Plus it did not have a lot/ any oil which I liked because most vinaigrettes are too oily for me. My husband got the Queso burrito with steak. He was impressed with the size and the taste- fresh and flavorful. They had a salsa bar with four varying levels of heat. We go for the hottest salsa and it went well with my salad and the hubby's burrito. The only thing that we were disappointed about was that the AC wasn't working on that hot & humid afternoon. But things happen. When I returned the other day for my takeout order, it was nice to see that it was a busy Sunday night..and the AC was working. I ordered the shrimp burrito bowl and my husband ordered the Queso burrito with steak again. The service was as fast as it could go for a busy night. At least I got to play some Candy Crush as I waited. When I got home I wasn't sure if I was surprised to see that there wasn't any rice in my burrito bowl. I thought it came with it for whatever reason. However after reading the menu again I should have added it or ordered it as a side. Even though my bowl was lacking rice it was still delicious. The shrimp was very tasty and grilled to perfection with a slight char on it. I guess its a great dish if you don't want any carbs...Since my husband was very quiet as he ate his burrito I assume that it was to his liking and he had no complaints. So far I'm definitely pleased that Cilantro opened up in my hood and has added a different flavor to the usual dining and take out experience. It's a great place with fresh delicious food and very nice counter staff. read more

Cilantro Fresh Mexican Grill - Desserts Near Me - New Haven, Connecticut

This was my favorite restaurant for the past five years. Highly recommended it to everyone I know. The food was always so good and the workers were so friendly and great. Ordered it weekly. The food is not good anymore I've given it about 6 tries despite it being sub par. They forget the dressing on the salads every time and the pico / guacamole is usually just bad and NOT fresh, dry steak, shrimp just looks weird. It's so sad and I hope they can redeem themselves. Don't recommend it anymore. read more

I had a craving for nachos. I went here because it was close to where I live. They did not disappoint. The nachos were delicious.

Great fresh burritos and endless salsa bar with good variety. Tastes fresher than Chipotle and much, much healthier than Five Guys. A nice addition to the new haven/Woodbridge border and a must go-to when driving back from a1 Toyota. We've been happy with the several times we've been here, both take out and eat in. Oh and they now have a liquor license with a good selection of brews and wines. Clean bathrooms too. No complaints. A great lunch for two was around $24. read more

Cilantro is our favorite place for take-out in New Haven. The food is fresh, and the staff takes special requests seriously and graciously. I especially appreciate Callie, who's recall of our favorite orders is astonishing. I recommend the charbroiled burrito. I get it with tofu, and it's the best burrito I know -- full of protein rather than carbs. Never had a bad meal there. I order a large guac each week so I can have avocado toast like a hipster in the morning all week long. read more

First let me start by saying I love Mexican food. Cilantro certainly can't have the word fresh in it and not offer fresh foods. There are far too many Mexican restaurants with actual fresh foods I the surrounding areas. The chicken on the quesadilla seemed frozen as well as the beer battered fish. The ambiance and service is very good, however this is about quality dining. I'm not sure I've ever been to any place that offers a "burrito bowl" without any rice ($4.50 for a side of rice). Fix these things, and Cilantros will be a much better place. read more

Something is wrong with their food. Their steak quesadilla and beef tasted terrible! They definitely changed the recipe! Not going back.

I love stopping here for quick tacos or some take out. The menu has a lot of variety, but I often end up getting the same thing! I'm a diehard fan of their fish tacos-- fried fish, cabbage, and some kind of sour cream. I sometimes grab a carnitas taco too, which is always super moist and tasty. I always go with the avocado salsa, the light green one. It's nice and creamy and adds just the right amount of spice to my tacos! I've never been disappointed here. The food is consistent, and the staff is super nice, too!! read more

Best Mexican food in town! I grew up in Southern California so I definitely am picky about my Mexican food. Coming to the east coast and settling for unauthentic Mexican food was pretty frustrating, but Cilantro is exactly what I needed! I highly recommend their guacamole and verde salsa! It is always made fresh and is so delicious; I crave their guac all the time! I can't get enough of it! I also love their chicken and tofurky tacos! The tofurky tacos are pretty spicy, but I love some good spicy tacos. The aesthetic in the restaurant is also very beautiful; they have a polished interior design with a modern Mexican theme. If you're looking to stop settling for unauthentic Mexican food, I would definitely swing by this tasty establishment. read more

This is an update of my previous review. I just wanted to reiterate how wonderful this place is. They added tofunky tacos (tofu tacos) to the menu and they are EXCELLENT. I'm not even a huge tofu person. Staff is still friendly. Food is still bangin. Highly recommend, especially to the struggling student, because the prices are great and the quality of the food is good. I just wish they'd sell jars of the salsas. I can never get enough of the green one. read more