Pepe’s Cantina

Pepe's Cantina is a privately held, multi-location Mexican restaurant chain operating six full-service Florida restaurants plus a fast-casual sub-brand (Pepe's Express), serving consumer diners and event catering customers with dine-in, takeout, and delivery.

Company typePrivate
Founded2019
HeadquartersWinter Park, United States
Headcount11–50
GTM typeB2C
OfferingServices

What Pepe’s Cantina does

Pepe's Cantina is a privately held, multi-location Mexican restaurant chain headquartered in Winter Park, Florida. Founded in 2019, the company operates full-service restaurants across six Florida locations — Winter Park, Clermont, DeBary, Oviedo, Port St. Lucie, and St. Petersburg — with three additional locations announced as coming soon in Boca Raton, Seminole, and Viera. The company also operates a fast-casual sub-brand, Pepe's Express, located at Avalon Park in Orlando, signaling a format extension beyond the original full-service concept.

The menu offering centers on Mexican cuisine including Mexican tapas, tacos, fajitas, enchiladas, seafood, brunch, and a broad beverage program spanning house and craft margaritas, cocktails, beer (including a proprietary Sol y Amigos lager co-produced with BOWIGENS), and wine. The company layers a daily promotional cadence (Happy Hour, Margarita Monday, Taco Tuesday, Bottomless Sunday brunch) onto its menu to drive repeat visits. Distinctive menu items include vegan/Impossible Beef options, hibiscus-infused and paleta-rita cocktails, and rotating seasonal "Drink of the Month" features.

The business model is primarily direct-to-consumer restaurant operations generating one-time per-visit food and beverage revenue, supplemented by catering services for corporate and family events and a nascent franchise opportunity. Revenue mechanics are volume-driven across dine-in, takeout, and delivery (free delivery on orders over $30 within 5 miles) through multiple online ordering platforms including getsauce.com and toasttab.com. The company is privately held, appears founder/family-owned with no disclosed institutional capital or parent company, and operates exclusively within the United States (Florida).

Pepe’s Cantina firmographics

Firmographics

Name: Pepe’s Cantina
Legal name: Pepe's Cantina
Website: https://pepescantina.com
Company type: Private
Founded year: 2019
Operating status: Operating
Headcount range: 11–50 employees
Short description: Pepe's Cantina is a privately held, multi-location Mexican restaurant chain operating six full-service Florida restaurants plus a fast-casual sub-brand (Pepe's Express), serving consumer diners and event catering customers with dine-in, takeout, and delivery.
Ownership category
akta.pro rank

Pepe’s Cantina industry classification

Industry

Product category: Mexican Restaurant
NAICS: Full-Service Restaurants (722511), Limited-Service Restaurants (722513)
SIC: Retail-Eating & Drinking Places (5810)
akta.pro primary industry: Mexican & Tex-Mex Fast Casual (THAFABAC)
akta.pro secondary industry: Mexican/Latin QSR (Tacos, Burritos, Bowls) (THAFAAAE)

Keywords

Mexican restaurant chain
Full-service dining
Event catering services
Restaurant franchise opportunity
Authentic Mexican cuisine

Where Pepe’s Cantina is headquartered

Location

Headquarters

HQ city: Winter Park
HQ country: United States
HQ region: North America

Offices10 records

Markets served

Pepe’s Cantina business model

Business model

GTM type: B2C
Offering type: Services
Cost components: Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

Restaurant Dining: Full-service Mexican restaurant offering dine-in experiences with menu items including tacos, fajitas, enchiladas, seafood, and premium margaritas. Revenue generated from food and beverage sales across multiple Florida locations.
Catering Services: Catering menu available for events with special menus for family and corporate events. Contact form-based booking system for catering orders.
Delivery and Takeout: Online ordering through multiple platforms including getsauce.com, toasttab.com. Free delivery for orders above $30 up to 5 miles.

Pricing tiers

Model	Billing	Price
Unit Pricing	Pay-as-you-go	Mexican Tapas
Unit Pricing	Pay-as-you-go	Dinner Entrees
Unit Pricing	Pay-as-you-go	Brunch
Unit Pricing	Pay-as-you-go	Beverages
Unit Pricing	Pay-as-you-go	Daily Specials

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels7 records

Marketing channels6 records

Pepe’s Cantina product offering

Product offering

Core offering

Pepe's Cantina is a multi-location Mexican grill restaurant chain operating full-service and fast-casual dining locations across Florida. The company sells authentic Mexican cuisine — including tacos, fajitas, enchiladas, seafood, brunch, craft cocktails, and margaritas — through dine-in, takeout, and delivery, supplemented by event catering services and a franchise program. A proprietary beer (Sol y Amigos) is co-developed with BOWIGENS brewery for the brand.

Product overview

Pepe's Cantina is a Mexican grill restaurant chain operating as a multi-location full-service concept across Central Florida, with a quick-service sub-brand called Pepe's Express. The core offering centers on authentic Mexican cuisine featuring innovative culinary techniques, with menu categories including Mexican tapas, tacos, fajitas, enchiladas, dinner entrees, Sunday brunch, margaritas, craft cocktails, and a rotating drink of the month. Additional services include catering for events and a daily happy hour promotion. The portfolio consists of the main Pepe's Cantina restaurant brand with multiple Florida locations, the Pepe's Express sub-brand for quicker service, and supplementary offerings like seasonal cocktails and event catering.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

Pepe's Express: Fast-casual Mexican dining location at Avalon Park, Orlando FL

Companies that use Pepe’s Cantina

Customer profile

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Pepe’s Cantina technology and API

Technology

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API: No
API docs
API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Pepe’s Cantina partnerships and signals

Strategic signal

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

BOWIGENSminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSol y Amigos Mexican-Style Lager is made specifically for Pepe's Cantina by BOWIGENS. This is a proprietary beer partnership creating a custom brand for the restaurant chain.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Pepe’s Cantina competitors and assessment

Company assessment

Broad incumbents

Taco Bell: QSR Mexican giant that dominates value-driven Mexican occasions and establishes category norms for delivery, digital ordering, and limited-time promotions that Pepe's must react to.
Chipotle Mexican Grill: Largest US fast-casual Mexican operator. Sets the consumer expectation bar on speed, custom burrito bowls, and digital ordering that Pepe's competes against for the same weeknight occasion.
Qdoba Mexican Eats: National fast-casual Mexican chain competing for the same lunch and dinner traffic. Wide menu (tacos, burritos, fajitas, vegan options) overlaps directly with Pepe's offering.
Chevys Fresh Mex: Casual full-service Mexican chain emphasizing fresh ingredients and a strong happy hour. Comparable dining format and target occasion.
On the Border Mexican Grill & Cantina: Full-service Tex-Mex chain with a strong cantina-style beverage program (margaritas). Most comparable full-service peer in atmosphere, menu, and bar attach to Pepe's.

Direct peers

Tijuana Flats: Florida-headquartered fast-casual Tex-Mex chain with multiple Florida locations, offering very similar tacos, burritos, and daily specials model. Direct geographic overlap makes it the most comparable peer.
Rosa Mexicano: Upscale full-service Mexican restaurant group with a notable margarita program. Comparable in elevating Mexican cuisine beyond QSR norms, matching Pepe's positioning.
Taco Cabana: Regional full-service/fast-casual Mexican chain concentrated in Texas. Comparable multi-format Mexican strategy and daypart-focused marketing.
Moe's Southwest Grill: National franchise-based Mexican fast-casual chain offering tacos, burritos, and fajitas. Closely matches Pepe's menu architecture and franchise-led growth strategy.
Uncle Julio's: Full-service Mexican chain with from-scratch menu and scratch-margarita focus. Closest comparable to Pepe's full-service Mexican positioning and craft beverage orientation.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Pepe’s Cantina financial estimates

Financial estimate

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Pepe’s Cantina leadership team

Management profile

Number of profiles

Pepe’s Cantina funding detail

Funding detail

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Pepe’s Cantina M&A and investment

M&A and investment

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Pepe’s Cantina

What does Pepe’s Cantina do?

Is Pepe’s Cantina a public or private company?

Pepe’s Cantina is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.

When was Pepe’s Cantina founded?

Pepe’s Cantina was founded in 2019. It employs 11 to 50 people.

Where is Pepe’s Cantina based?

Pepe’s Cantina is headquartered in Winter Park, United States, in the North America region.

How does Pepe’s Cantina make money?

Three revenue lines are on record. Restaurant Dining is the primary driver. The others are catering Services and delivery and Takeout.

Who are Pepe’s Cantina's main competitors?

Broad incumbents on record are Taco Bell, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Qdoba Mexican Eats, Chevys Fresh Mex and On the Border Mexican Grill & Cantina. Direct peers are Tijuana Flats, Rosa Mexicano, Taco Cabana, Moe's Southwest Grill and Uncle Julio's.

Does Pepe’s Cantina have an API?

No public API is recorded for Pepe’s Cantina.

What industry is Pepe’s Cantina in?

Pepe’s Cantina's product category is Mexican Restaurant. Its primary akta.pro industry code is THAFABAC, Mexican & Tex-Mex Fast Casual, with a secondary code of THAFAAAE, Mexican/Latin QSR (Tacos, Burritos, Bowls). Its NAICS code is 722511 and its SIC code is 5810.