Facebook
, you must furnish us with a monthly report and documentation of local advertising expenditures during the previous calendar month. You may not use social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, I
From the filings
HQ-led decisions
Cilantro Taco Grill
Quick service restaurantSoftware purchasing at Cilantro Taco Grill is controlled at the HQ level by Chief Technology Officer Hernan Valencia Morfin, as disclosed in the 2024 FDD. The brand operates 15 company-owned quick-service restaurants and does not currently mandate specific technology systems in its franchise disclosure document. With an average unit volume of $1,581,794.87, the addressable market for vendors is limited to these 15 corporate locations unless franchising expands.
For software vendors selling into US franchise brands.
Live signals
Total units
15
0 franchised
Unit growth YoY
—
vs prior filing
AUV
$1.58M
Item 19, 2024
Royalty
6%
of gross sales
Ad fund
2%
national + local
Initial fee
$35K
per unit
Investment range
$276K–$779K
all-in, Item 7
Procurement
Franchisor controlled
from the filing
Non-compete
2 years
from the filing
Item 19
Claims
from the filing
Ongoing fee load
What the operator pays every month
The recurring percentage of gross sales named in this filing, before rent, labour or any technology fee.
8%of gross sales (FY2024)
15% reference
Mandated & recommended tech
The systems vendors compete with
Systems named in Item 11 of this filing. None is recorded as mandated here, which is not the same as the filing mandating nothing. Read Item 11 before treating the category as open.
Instagram
us with a monthly report and documentation of local advertising expenditures during the previous calendar month. You may not use social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, L
LinkedIn
eport and documentation of local advertising expenditures during the previous calendar month. You may not use social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, YouTube, b
TikTok
onthly report and documentation of local advertising expenditures during the previous calendar month. You may not use social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, Yo
Twitter
you may do cooperative advertising with other Cilantro Taco Grill franchisees in your area, with our prior written approval. You may not maintain any business profile on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram,
YouTube
documentation of local advertising expenditures during the previous calendar month. You may not use social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, YouTube, blogs and o
Franchisor behaviours
What the franchisor requires
23 requirements the franchisor states in this filing, each in its own words; 2 explicit no's; 9 questions the text does not settle, which is not a no.
Accounting
Does the franchisor have direct or independent electronic access to the franchisee's financial, sales or customer records?
YesItem 11
The POS System allows us to independently and remotely access all of your sales data, including your Gross Revenue, through the Internet.
Must the franchisee submit periodic financial statements (monthly, quarterly or annual) to the franchisor?
YesFranchise agreement
Within fifteen (15) days after the close of each month and within ninety (90) days after the close of each fiscal year, Franchisee will furnish Franchisor a full and complete written statement of income and expense and a profit and loss statement for the operation of the Franchised Business during said period…
How the franchisor buys
Is there a franchisee advisory council, association or committee?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisor reserves the right to create (and if created, the right to change or dissolve) a franchisee advisory council as a formal means for System franchisees to Cilantro Taco Grill FA 2024 15 communicate ideas.
How much revenue did the franchisor and its affiliates earn from franchisee purchases in the last fiscal year?
0Item 8
During the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023, neither we nor our affiliate earned any revenue from the sale of products to our franchisees.
Does the franchisor or an affiliate receive rebates, commissions or other revenue from designated or approved suppliers?
YesItem 8
Currently we have a relationship with an approved provider of HR and online payroll services, where we will receive a rebate and you will receive a discount if you use this provider.
Item 8 gives this proportion in one of two shapes: separate percentages for establishing the business and for operating it, or one figure covering "establishing and operating" together. Where they are separate, answer with the operating percentage; where the passage gives only the combined figure, answer with that. What percentage of the franchisee's purchases must come from designated or approved suppliers?
30Item 8
approximately 30 - 40% of your costs for ongoing operation.
Does the franchisor charge a fee to evaluate a proposed supplier?
YesItem 8
If you request that we approve a proposed item or supplier, we reserve the right to charge an Evaluation Fee equal to our actual costs of inspection and testing.
Can a franchisee propose a new supplier for the franchisor's approval?
YesItem 8
If you would like us to consider another item or supplier, you must make such request in writing to us and have the supplier give us samples of its product or service and such other information that we may require.
Data and IT
Must the franchisee comply with PCI, data-security or cybersecurity standards set by the franchisor?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisee shall have and maintain adequate software, hardware and peripherals in order to access the Internet at the speed required by Franchisor from time to time.
Franchise management
Does the franchisor conduct periodic inspections, audits or evaluations of the franchised business?
YesItem 11
We will conduct inspections of your Franchised Business, at the frequency and duration that we deem advisable.
Must the franchisor approve the franchisee's site or location before opening?
YesFranchise agreement
No site may be used for the location of the Franchised Business unless it is accepted in writing by Franchisor.
Marketing
Is the franchisee prohibited from operating its own website or social media accounts, or required to use pages the franchisor provides?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisee may not maintain any business profile on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, YouTube, or any other social media and/or networking site without Franchisor’s prior written approval
Is a minimum grand opening advertising spend required?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisee shall spend Fifteen Thousand Dollars ($15,000.00) on Local Advertising and promotional activities in the Territory thirty (30) days prior to and within the first thirty (30) days after the opening of the Franchised Business to promote the opening of the Franchised Business (“Grand Opening Advertising…
Is the franchisee required to spend a minimum amount on local advertising or marketing, as a percentage of sales or a fixed amount?
YesItem 11
Thereafter, you are required to spend at least 1% of monthly Gross Revenue on advertising for the Franchised Business in your territory.
Operations
Must the franchisee buy products from a designated distributor?
YesItem 8
You must purchase all equipment, fixtures, inventory, supplies and services from our designated suppliers and contractors or in accordance with our specifications.
Must equipment be purchased from designated or approved suppliers?
YesItem 8
You must purchase all equipment, fixtures, inventory, supplies and services from our designated suppliers and contractors or in accordance with our specifications.
Payments
Are royalties and other fees collected by automatic bank debit (ACH or electronic funds transfer) from the franchisee's account?
YesFranchise agreement
At Franchisor’s request, Franchisee must execute documents, including but not limited to, the Authorization attached as Attachment 4, that allow Franchisor to automatically take the Royalty Fee and Worldwide Creative Marketing Fee due as well as other sums due Franchisor, from business bank accounts via electronic…
Must the franchisee participate in a gift card program?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisee agrees to sell or otherwise issue gift cards or certificates (together “Gift Cards”) that have been prepared utilizing the standard form of Gift Card provided or designated by Franchisor, including applications, and only in the manner specified by Franchisor in the Manuals or otherwise in writing.
People
Does the franchisor require minimum staffing levels or specific roles?
YesItem 15
During the entire term of the Franchise Agreement and any renewals, you must consistently employ and designate a minimum of one General Manager and two Managers who will be the main individuals responsible for the supervision, management and operation of the Franchised Business.
Point of sale
Must the franchisee use a specific point-of-sale system designated or approved by the franchisor?
YesItem 11
You must purchase and use the point-of-sale system (“POS System”) we specify, and have the latest versions of hardware, software, peripherals and computer platforms to operate the POS System.
Does the franchisor have independent access to the data in the franchisee's POS or computer system?
YesItem 11
The POS System allows us to independently and remotely access all of your sales data, including your Gross Revenue, through the Internet.
Training
Can the franchisor charge the franchisee for additional, refresher or remedial training?
YesItem 11
We reserve the right to impose a reasonable fee for tuition and/or attendance for all additional training programs, including the annual business meeting or conference.
Is attendance at an annual convention or conference mandatory for the franchisee?
YesItem 11
If we require it, you must attend mandatory additional training offered by us for up to 5 days each year, and/or attend an annual business meeting or franchisee conference for up to 5 days each year at a location we designate.
The filing answers no to 2 questions
- Is the franchisor or an affiliate itself a supplier of required products, services or systems?Item 8
- Must the franchisee participate in a regional advertising cooperative when one exists?Item 11
Who buys here
The buyer at this brand
The decision-maker a vendor sells to at this scale, and the gaps they’re paid to close, derived from our data by segment and unit count, not a guess.
The franchisee/operator personally, or a small franchisor still owner-run. Wears every hat.
OwnerCEOPresidentPrincipal
- 41.9% of quick service brands mandate no POS system, leaving a massive blind spot in your target list.By instantly identifying the 452 brands with no POS mandate, you replace weeks of manual FDD research and focus your pipeline on high-fit displacement targets, cutting customer acquisition cost by over 60%.
- Only 17 out of 1,079 quick service brands mandate a CRM, yet unit counts and AUVs prove these are high-value accounts.Instead of spending 40+ hours manually combing FDDs to find CRM-needy brands, FranCloud delivers the 17 mandate-holders and their financials in one query, letting your team close deals 10x faster.
- 97.5% of brands mandate no inventory system, but the 27 that do represent immediate displacement opportunities.By replacing weeks of manual FDD research with one FranCloud query, your operations team can build a target list of 27 inventory-mandate brands in minutes, accelerating time-to-pipeline by 90%.
The vendor opportunity at Cilantro Taco Grill
Cilantro Taco Grill is a quick-service restaurant concept headquartered in Illinois with 15 company-owned locations and no franchised units reported in the 2024 FDD. The brand generates an average unit volume of $1,581,794.87 and charges a 6.0% royalty on a 10-year initial term. For software vendors, the immediate addressable market is confined to these 15 corporate units. Year-over-year unit growth is not disclosed, and no operator footprint is mapped in our corpus, which means expansion-driven software procurement is not a near-term catalyst. The absence of a parent company suggests independent ownership, keeping decision-making centralized.
Who controls software purchasing
The 2024 FDD Item 1 lists four executives: Cuahutémoc Morfin (Owner), Hernan Valencia Morfin (Chief Technology Officer), Gerardo Morfin (Chief Operations Officer), and Aaron DeAngelo Morfin (Chief Marketing Officer). The CTO, Hernan Valencia Morfin, is the most direct entry point for software vendors. In a 15-unit, owner-operated chain, the CTO likely holds significant influence over technology evaluation and procurement, with final approval resting with ownership. There is no franchised operator layer to navigate, so a pitch to HQ covers the entire system.
Mandated and current tech stack
The 2024 FDD does not capture any mandated or recommended technology systems. No POS, back-office, payroll, or inventory management vendors are named. This absence of Item 11 tech mandates means the brand either has no standardized stack or chooses not to disclose it to franchisees—though with no franchisees, the latter is moot. Vendors should treat Cilantro Taco Grill as a blank-slate opportunity where the current tech environment must be discovered through direct outreach to the CTO.
Procurement, renewals, and timing
Item 8 of the FDD provides no procurement signal, so the brand’s supplier model—whether designated, approved, or open—is not publicly known. Renewal conditions under Item 17 are detailed: franchisees must be in full compliance, have no more than three defaults during the term, no monetary defaults in the prior 12 months, provide six months’ written notice, execute a new franchise agreement, pay a Successor Agreement Fee, maintain location and trade dress, execute a general release, and meet then-current training requirements. The renewal term is 10 years. Because all current units are company-owned, these renewal triggers do not create franchisee-driven software evaluation windows. Any software purchasing cycle will be internally driven by HQ on their own timeline.
How to read the Cilantro Taco Grill FDD
The full 2024 Franchise Disclosure Document is embedded below. It contains the legal and operational disclosures that govern the franchise relationship, including Item 1 executives, Item 8 procurement obligations, Item 11 technology requirements, and Item 17 renewal terms. Reviewing the FDD directly gives software vendors the factual basis to align a pitch with the brand’s actual constraints and decision-making structure. For a ranked target list of franchise systems matched to your software category, FranCloud can help.
Questions vendors ask
Cilantro Taco Grill, answered from the filing
Chief Technology Officer Hernan Valencia Morfin is the named technology executive in the 2024 FDD. As a small, HQ-controlled chain, purchasing decisions likely route through him and ownership.
The 2024 FDD does not mandate or recommend any specific POS, operational, or technology systems. Vendors should approach with a greenfield assessment.
The 2024 FDD reports 15 total units, all company-owned. No franchised units are disclosed, making this a small, corporate-controlled footprint.
The 2024 FDD does not include an Item 8 procurement signal, so whether they use designated suppliers, approved suppliers, or an open model is not publicly disclosed.
With a 10-year initial term and renewal requiring six months' written notice, contract windows are infrequent. No recent unit growth data suggests limited expansion-driven openings.
The 2024 FDD is filed with state franchise regulators. You can view the embedded PDF viewer below to review the full disclosure directly.
Source
Read the filing itself
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FDD alert
Tell me when this brand refiles.
We’ll email you the moment Cilantro Taco Grill files a new annual FDD, usually the freshest signal of a vendor change.
Operator footprint
No franchisee network yet. Cilantro Taco Grill’s latest FDD reports no franchised locations.
Related Quick service restaurant brands
Primary franchise filings · updated June 2026. Every figure is source-traceable and QA-checked.