First announced last year, fast casual Mexican restaurant Cilantro’s is set to open Friday, July 15 in its downtown Forest Lake location at 143 North Lake St. Owner Ross Tappe is currently hiring, and together with business partner Frank Montbriand hopes to bring on around 10 employees in the business’s opening weeks. The restaurant opens at 11 a.m.
The exterior of the business had not undergone any noticeable changes until recently, when a help wanted sign appeared in the window on July 12. Tappe, the former owner of Carly’s Cafe in Forest Lake, announced Cilantro’s in May 2015, but he told The Times he and Montbriand took a break in working to establish the business over the winter after a difficult process of obtaining permits at varying levels of government (current regulations, he added, may continue to keep the other restaurant he announced in 2015, the Old 61 Deli in the Town Square Building, from ever opening). However, he said that after working through some improvements at the space, he is excited to finally open Cilantro’s doors.
Tappe also announced that he and Montbriand are planning a second restaurant, Mason’s BBO, in 153 North Lake St., right next door to Cilantro’s. That restaurant does not yet have a concrete opening date, as it is still in the permitting process, he said.