| Fatima's Grill | |
|---|---|
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 Interactive map of Fatima's Grill | |
| Restaurant information | |
| Established | 2016 |
| Owner | Ali Elreda |
| Food type | Fusion (Lebanese–Mexican) |
| Dress code | Casual |
| Location | 7840Firestone Boulevard,Downey,California, 90241, United States |
| Coordinates | 33°56′38.5″N118°8′26.8″W / 33.944028°N 118.140778°W /33.944028; -118.140778 |
| Website | www |
Fatima's Grill is arestaurant specializing inLebanese andMexicanfusion cuisine. First opened as ataco stand in 2016, its main location is presently located at 7840Firestone Boulevard inDowney, California, part of theGateway Cities region ofLos Angeles County.
Fatima's Grill was opened in the summer of 2016 by Ali Elreda, aLebanese American who grew up in the predominantly-Hispanic neighboring city ofBell.[1] The restaurant is named after his daughter.[2]
Elreda, who previously had no significant cooking experience, conceived of the restaurant and many of his recipes while working in the kitchen at theFederal Correctional Institution, Safford inArizona,[3] where he was serving a 7.5-year sentence fordrug trafficking.[4] After opening the restaurant, Elreda at one point had to return to Safford to list his ingredients, as he sourced many of the items he uses in his dishes from the prison commissary.[3]
In January 2022, Fatima's Grill opened a second location along Gage Avenue in Bell, with basketball playersStephen Jackson andMatt Barnes serving as special guests for the location's opening.[5] Subsequent expansions would lead to the restaurant opening franchised locations inMontebello,Long Beach andParamount, and in November 2022 it announced that it would open its first location outside of California inDearborn, Michigan, with additional locations also opening inBrooklyn inNew York City as well as indowntown Los Angeles.[6]
Fatima's Grill currently occupies a corner space in astrip mall along Firestone Boulevard,[1] located across from aStater Bros. supermarket,[7] and down the street fromJohnie's Broiler, another notable Downey restaurant. The restaurant serves around two hundred customers daily,[1] with much of its traffic being driven by itsInstagram account, which has over 165,000 followers.[4] A number of celebrities have patronized the restaurant as a result of social media, including singerSean Kingston and basketball playerBryon Russell.[4][1]
The restaurant's menu is anchored around different variations ofburritos,tacos,quesadillas,wraps andFrench fries,[3] informed by Elreda's experiences in prison and his need to cook with whatever ingredients that were available.[4] Much of the restaurant's success is driven by the visual nature of its social media presence, with diners taking pictures of their orders in a way that helps them go viral, in turn driving further traffic.[4] Many dishes featureFlamin' Hot Cheetos as a signature ingredient, which was introduced to the menu at the suggestion of Elreda's daughter in September 2017,[2] and are now considered to be some of the menu's most popular offerings.[1] All meat served by the restaurant ishalal.[3]
Due to theCOVID-19 pandemic in California, Fatima's Grill closed its dining room and transitioned to a takeout-only operation, with staff members covering for one another particularly when their family members contracted the disease.[8] In the summer of 2020, a viralTikTok video led a crowd of hundreds of people to congregate at the restaurant, which led to hours-long waits for food. The incident led to Elreda nearly closing the restaurant entirely, though ultimately it was decided instead to very strictly enforce pandemic restrictions.[4]
