Ruta Oaxaca is a unique Mexican restaurant chain that has come a long way in a relatively short amount of time, and is already wowing people with its unique and fascinating take on authentic Southern Mexican cuisine.
With locations in Astoria, Patchogue, Woodbury, and Brooklyn, Ruta Oaxaca got its start at its original location in Astoria, which opened its doors for business on January 3, 2021…right in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Owner Jose Castillo has extensive history in the restaurant business, having gotten his start in it at the tender young age of 14. However, in the middle of the pandemic, he saw an opportunity to open a new restaurant reflecting the authentic tastes of the cuisine of southern Oaxaca region of Mexico, and decided to take a chance.
“I sat down with my other two partners, Chef Carlos and Chef Felipe, and we always had a dream to own our own restaurant and the opportunity came for the Astoria location,” he said. “We went to go take a look at it, and we loved the feel and the connection that we got with the place, and even though it was in the middle of the pandemic and people thought we were crazy, we decided to open up our own restaurant because we believed in what we wanted to do.”
“We had a mindset where we wanted to introduce a completely different style of Mexican cuisine, reflecting the south part of Oaxaca, Mexico,” Jose continued. “So, we put a menu together, we loved the idea, we cooked and tasted it and realized it was totally different and that people were going to love it. When we found the perfect location, we did a lot of renovating and decorating inside and opened up and reception was overwhelmingly positive.”
One year into the original Ruta Oaxaca's existence, and once again opportunity presented itself, Jose noted; and the beginnings of a chain of restaurants began to take form as they soon opened their second location.
“The customers at the Astoria location loved what we did and loved the food, and we came across a great storefront on Main Street in Patchogue and we loved it,” he said. “We had been very interested in expanding to Long Island because our Astoria location became so well-known that people were constantly driving in from Long Island to experience our food, so we felt it was time to bring the taste of Ruta Oaxaca to Long Island residents. We looked around, and felt that Patchogue was a great opportunity, and it's turned out to be a big success.”
As time went by and more and more people started venturing back out into the restaurant scene following the end of the pandemic, Jose said that continued growth was warranted, leading to the eventual opening of their Woodbury in Brooklyn locations, both of which are also earning rave reviews and repeat business.
What sets apart Ruta Oaxaca from the competition is its emphasis on the authentic flavors from the southern region of Mexico, which differs greatly from the standard Mexican fare offered by the majority of restaurants in the United States.
“Oaxaca is very well-known for its culinary side, for its complex, very rich flavors in its sauce...it's very Mayan, very Aztec,” he said. “Having been born and raised in Oaxaca, and having our grandma’s recipes, we felt that we had the right ethic to really introduce authentic Mexican cuisine to Astoria and everywhere else that we go.”
Ruta Oaxaca is also lauded for their amazing hand-crafted cocktails as well as their extraordinarily well-stocked bars that boast over 150 different types of tequila, as well as a wide variety of other spirits that are the perfect accompaniment to any meal.
In addition to providing delicious, scintillating dishes in a comfortable and atmospheric setting, Ruta Oaxaca also specializes in event hosting, having adopted the business model following repeated requests from their clientele.
“A lot of people would tell us that they really love what we do and wanted to have private parties here, so we do all kinds of events at our locations,” he said. “We also just started doing a delicious Mexican-style brunch menu, it's amazing and people really love it. The people have really been embracing our event hosting business, we can provide full catering for it and everything, and the response has just been really, really positive.”
Following the growing chain’s rapid and successful expansion into four locations in a relatively short amount of time, Jose said that while opening elsewhere in the future is a distinct possibility, the plan currently is to concentrate on their current four restaurants to ensure that everything is done to absolute perfection for their many happy customers.
“We are running these places and making sure the consistency is there, we're saying hello to our regulars to be sure that they see us, because we are owner-operators and we really love to interact with our customers, and if you grow too fast you lose some of that,” he said. “For at least the next year, we just want to run our current locations and make them the best that they can be, connect with our customers, but perhaps in a year or so we might start looking around. But for now, we've just opened four locations in three years, so I think we've accomplished enough for the time being.”
Ultimately, Jose said that he gets an enormous amount of satisfaction in serving his customers, and invites everyone to come on down and experience the authentic taste of Mexico at their local Ruta Oaxaca location.
“We're very family-oriented, very down to Earth, and you're going to love every bite that you try here,” he said. “We cook with a lot of passion and a lot of love, and it comes through in the food and the service.”
To find out more about Ruta Oaxaca, please visit https://rutaoaxacamex.com. Also be sure to check out Ruta Oaxaca on Facebook and Instagram.