Pre-opening & development
Concept planning, kitchen design, equipment, permitting coordination, staffing, training, and launch readiness.
Culinary consultant · Restaurant operations · Santa Monica / Los Angeles
Build the restaurant.
Sharpen the operation.
Carlos Abeyta brings culinary craft and operating discipline together, from first concept and kitchen design to opening day and profitable execution.
U.S. & Mexico · English & Spanish
25%Revenue growth
15%Labor cost reduction
3New locations launched
98%Customer satisfaction
Capabilities
Where culinary vision becomes an operating system.
Senior-level support for owners, hospitality groups, and chef-driven concepts preparing to open, grow, or improve performance.
Menu & culinary systems
Menu development, recipe standards, production systems, quality control, and execution built for consistency.
P&L & cost control
Food and labor analysis, purchasing, inventory, scheduling, vendor strategy, and practical margin improvement.
Team & service standards
FOH and BOH recruiting, onboarding, coaching, operating procedures, and service standards that hold under pressure.
Inside the operation
Hands-on leadership, from the line to the launch.
Food, systems, and people come together during service. Carlos stays close to the work while building teams that can execute without compromise.
The point of view
A menu is only as strong as the systems, people, and numbers behind it.
Carlos works across the entire restaurant, aligning food, flow, labor, purchasing, training, and guest experience around one clear concept.
Selected experience
More than 25 years in the kitchen and beyond it.
Director of Operations & Executive Chef
Quiriego Restaurants LLC · Remote leadership, Scottsdale / Mexico
Head Chef / Culinary Consultant
Bis on Main · Bellevue
Executive Chef
Quiriego · Hermosillo
Executive Sous Chef
Steelhead Diner · Seattle
Sous Chef
Shutters on the Beach · Santa Monica
Additional leadership experience includes Spartina, La Régalade French Bistro, Harrah's Hotel & Casino, and high-volume restaurant operations across Washington, California, Nevada, New Jersey, Arizona, and Sonora.
About Carlos
Chef-led thinking.
Operator-level accountability.
Carlos Abeyta is a Santa Monica-based Executive Chef, Culinary Consultant, and Director of Operations with international experience developing restaurants from concept through opening and ongoing execution.
His background spans rustic Sonoran and Mexican cuisine, French and Italian kitchens, Pacific Northwest seafood, luxury hospitality, high-volume service, and multi-location development. From Los Angeles, he helps lead Quiriego's Scottsdale operation remotely while remaining equally at home at the pass, in a construction meeting, or inside the P&L.
Follow Carlos on InstagramNew projects
Opening, improving, or rethinking a restaurant?
Tell Carlos what you are building and where the operation needs to go next.