Opening this weekend, Cocina brings hard-to-find Mexican fare to Summerhill

On a Saturday morning in early February, Luis Enrique Perez stands in a silver Airstream trailer at the southeast corner of Piedmont Park, prepping an order of fruta loca—a colorful bowl of strawberries, pineapple, Mexican candy, and tamarindo, finished with the Mexican chile-lime seasoning Tajín—for a customer. Others are lined up for coffee and more substantial breakfast foods like granola and burritos. The scene might be familiar, but the business is new: Last fall, the trailer previously operated by Banjo Coffee was taken over by Stroll Coffee y Snacks, a joint venture between Luis, who’s originally from Mexico; Andy Bibliowicz, of Atlanta Collaborative, whose parents are from Ecuador; and Marissa Childers, the founder of Tanbrown Coffee, a specialty roaster focusing on beans from Asia. 

It’s been a busy year for Luis, the owner of Chispas Snacks Atlanta, a mobile cart that serves the kinds of antojitos—Mexican-style street snacks—that now have a permanent home at Stroll. As he cuts fresh fruit, he talks about everything he’s got in the works. 

On February 14, Luis is set to open Cocina, a pop-up restaurant in residence in the beer garden behind Summerhill brewery Halfway Crooks. Every Friday through Sunday, he’ll serve Mexican dishes that might be hard to find elsewhere—dishes that “go beyond what people are used to, such as tacos and burritos,” he says. 

Born in Guanajuato, Mexico, Luis grew up coming back and forth to the United States, with his family finally settling in the Chamblee area when he was about 11. Cocina’s chef, Domingo Gallardo, is from the Mexican state of Guerrero; the restaurant’s menu will focus on dishes from that area and from Michoacán, with homey specialties like spicy chicken flautas, oxtail soup, and pozole blanco—served with fresh tortillas, homemade salsas, and desserts such as churros drizzled with chocolate.

Luis booked a DJ to play Latin American music at Friday’s opening, and has future plans to bring in mariachis and other Mexican performers, and to stream soccer games on the big screens. The vibes are a vital element, he says, at Cocina as well as at Chispas: “We make you feel like family,” Luis said. “It’s like when you’re invited to a carne asada, you’re having good food, good relationships, and if you don’t know anybody, we make you feel welcome.”

That’s not all Luis has planned: In May, he’ll open Te Quiero Tacos in the food hall at Terminal South, a mixed-use development under construction in Peoplestown. Partnering again with Andy Bibliowicz—who he’s also working with on Cocina and Chispas Snacks—Luis is still envisioning what the taqueria’s menu will look like. The food will be inspired by Mexico City, he says, with street-style tacos and other hearty preparations. For the next few months at the Cocina pop-up, he’ll be experimenting with recipes and testing out potential dishes for the Te Quiero menu. 

Luis didn’t always think he’d end up making food a full-time passion. Though he had worked  in restaurants before, he’s also spent time in another big Atlanta industry: film. He works as a set dresser for TV shows and movies. But he lost his job temporarily in 2023, amid the strikes organized by the Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA, a union representing workers in the film, TV, radio, and music industries. 

That was a setback, Luis says, but it pushed him to take his career in a new direction—toward Mexican snacks. “It was a little bit of a struggle, but it is something that I’ve always wanted to do. A year before that, my wife and I went to Mexico and we enjoyed all the snacks and tried everything. And then, from one day to the other, I thought, ‘Hey, why don’t I do that?’”

Working with his wife, siblings, and a friend who helped with marketing, Luis founded Chispas Snacks Atlanta in summer 2023, taking his mobile cart around the city to set up at breweries, pop-up events, and private parties. Inspired by the mobile carts vending fresh fruits on Mexican city streets, Chispas offers cups filled with churros, esquites, and riotous combinations of savory snacks (Takis, Hot Cheetos) and sweet snacks (cut fruit, peach rings, Swinkles), plus salsas and other hot sauces. When possible, Luis buys fruit at the farmers’ market, changing the menu a few times a year depending on what’s in season. He also makes his own chamoy, a sweet-spicy syrup with tamarind, cayenne, chipotle, and other seasonings. 

Luis and his two partners at Stroll Coffee y Snacks became acquainted while working in the food industry. They’d been talking about collaborating on a project when they learned that Banjo Coffee was subletting its eye-catching Airstream trailer at the corner of 10th Street and Monroe Drive—then decided to go in on the business together. Currently, the cafe serves customers from Wednesday through Sunday, but in the summer it’ll be open every day. 

For Luis, it’s inspiring to be part of an all-immigrant venture in the heart of Atlanta. “Part of the reason why that location means a lot to me is because I feel like it’s the center of Atlanta,” Luis says. “To be able to serve antojitos in the center of Atlanta is a huge accomplishment for Chispas—but also for Latinos.”