Located at 128 W. Wilshire Avenue, Fullerton, Les Amis is open 11:30 am to 9:00 pm Tuesday through Thursday, 11:30 am to 10:00 pm Friday and Saturday, and 11:30 am to 8:00 pm on Sunday. Closed on Monday.

When passing by W. Wilshire Avenue, one might not spot Les Amis, a restaurant tucked between other storefronts in downtown Fullerton. Yet stepping inside, guests are welcomed by smooth music and a cozy atmosphere. After nearly 17 years in business, the Middle Eastern restaurant continues to serve flavorful, high-quality food intended to evoke the feeling of a home-cooked meal.

Owner Jinan Montecristo said her passion for entrepreneurship and hospitality was never something she discovered or developed. It had always been a part of her.

“Managing a business was just always there. It was a development of sorts,” she said. “It seemed so natural.”

Montecristo recalled that as a child, she enjoyed making pretend meals out of grass and flowers. Her mother and grandmother also had a history of owning restaurants.

Later in life, she worked at several five-star hotels, including a Four Seasons location. Through these experiences, she learned about hospitality before eventually moving into hotel food and beverage operations.

Beyond her early career, Montecristo said her love of cooking, experimenting with flavors and elevating a meal, helped shape her future in the restaurant industry.

“I am a very artistic person, and I love the art of anything. So when I make meals, I am interested in the outcome, the presentation and flavors,” she said.

Despite her passion, Montecristo said the early years of Les Amis were difficult as she learned the challenges of running an independent business. She described experiencing growing pains while adjusting to managing an entire restaurant.

“Financially, it was a huge struggle because it was very new, and the income-to-work ratio was not equal,” she said. “We also did not understand the aspects of taxes and bills. We were not interested in that, so it was a struggle trying to learn how to be business people.”

Since then, Montecristo has learned from those hardships and developed skills to manage both the logistical and creative aspects of Les Amis. The restaurant primarily serves Lebanese cuisine inspired by Montecristo’s heritage. She grew up eating food from Lebanon, including dishes made from recipes her mother brought from her childhood there. Before opening Les Amis, Montecristo noticed a lack of Middle Eastern restaurants in Fullerton.

“Lebanese food was never really as popular as it should be,” she said. “It is a little corner of the world that nobody has experimented with or introduced [through] food.”

Most of the menu is based on dishes Montecristo remembers her mother and grandmother making. Although the recipes have been adapted for a restaurant setting, she said Les Amis aims to preserve the taste of homemade food.

Montecristo is also working to add new options to the menu, including less familiar Lebanese dishes, to broaden customers’ understanding of Middle Eastern cuisine.

“For Middle Eastern food, most people are familiar with hummus and shawarma, but there is so much more to this cuisine,” she said. “I think a really great window into any culture is through food. The more introduction you have to different types of food, the more it helps you build a well-rounded view of different places in the world.”

Although Montecristo is dedicated to serving healthy, flavorful Lebanese food, she said maintaining ingredient quality while managing costs can be challenging.

“Everyone always says, ‘Just [buy the cheaper ingredient], nobody can tell the difference,’ but it is too hard for me to do that,” she said. “I would rather take the smaller profit and deliver the product I want. I do not value profit over product.”

Despite the demands of running her own business, Montecristo said she continues to enjoy the freedom that comes with being a restaurant owner.

“I think in general for people to be successful they have to be an artist at what they do,” she said. “You have to have that heart and soul into whatever it is you are doing. I personally cannot do anything if my heart is not in it.”