Popular Mexican Restaurant Expands With 1st Nassau Location

MINEOLA, NY — After opening six Lucharitos restaurants in Suffolk County, the Mexican eatery has its first Nassau location.

The grand opening is being held for the Lucharitos in Mineola on Friday evening.

"It's our largest location [with] over 4,000 square feet," General Manager Mike Rogers told Patch, "which is close to double in size of our next biggest restaurant. We really liked the potential of going into a brand new space. You could really get creative with some of the concepts and designs."

While customers familiar with the other Lucharitos will recognize the menu items, including burritos, empanadas, tacos and nachos, the Mineola eatery offers a new concept for this restaurant by adding a cafe.

"We're serving gelato and gelato-based desserts," Rogers said. "We're doing homemade waffle cones or taco shells for the gelato. We also have cappuccino and drip coffee."

Beyond quality and service at the new restaurant, Rogers already feels a bond with the neighborhood.

"We do a discount with first responders and the hospital workers (NYU Langone Winthrop)," he said. "We're just trying to stake a claim in the community."

They've already been involved with local schools, setting up events and donation drives.

With the restaurants in Aquebogue, Center Moriches, Greenport, Mattituck, Melville and Ronkonkoma, the time was right for the western expansion.

"We saw a market for a quality Mexican restaurant that was family friendly and thought Mineola's perfect," Rogers said.

The newest Lucharitos, though, is less casual than the other locations, "but it's still got the fun tequila bar vibes."

Lucharitos is located in the Morgan Parc building at 199 2nd Street.