Edgar Victoria
Alebrije | Nashville TN
July 2026
Edgar Victoria was a little lost when he wandered into his first restaurant job at a friend's chicken wing joint, but despite his lack of experience, his work ethic and attitude quickly propelled him from busser to dishwasher to cook. After bouncing around a few franchise kitchens, Victoria found his footing at Capitol Grille in Nashville, Tennessee, where he learned classic cooking fundamentals and officially caught the hospitality bug. In 2013, Victoria took a break to work as a kitchen manager, before returning to cooking in 2017, gaining leadership experience in kitchens across Nashville.
In 2020, the pandemic and a subsequent layoff fueled Victoria to go out on his own. He began doing pop-ups at places like Bastion and Arnold's Country Kitchen, centering his menus around the Mexican cuisine he grew up with in Mexico City and Oaxaca, Mexico. The pop-ups turned into food trucks, where he sold street food like Mexican fried chicken to a dedicated local following in East Nashville.
Encouraged by the outpouring of support, Victoria established a brick-and-mortar in 2025, bootstrapping the business with his partner Dora Martinez, who provides desserts and agua frescas for the restaurant. Alebrije, named after the iconic Oaxacan papel picado figurines of fantastical creatures, reflects the creativity and imagination that Victoria pours into his weekly-changing menu—one which reimagines classics he grew up eating such as his crackling fermented potato and chorizo flautas. Victoria donates to local causes like Nashville Food Project and Pencil, and continues to foster young cooks eager to learn in a supportive environment.
