High-End Mexican Coming To Patchogue Village With Ruta Oaxaca

PATCHOGUE, NY—Jose Castillo, Carlos Arrellano and Felipe Arrellano are a Mexican food dream team: Castillo owns popular Astoria Oaxacan spot Ruta Oaxaca and the Arrellanos have cooked at Rosa Mexicana in New York City and opened Besito in Huntington and West Islip.

Now the trio is working on what they say Patchogue Village still needs, even with its bustling restaurant scene and other Mexican cuisine: a high-end, gourmet, authentic Mexican dining experience. Ruta Oaxaca is taking over the former Swell Taco space at 30 E. Main St. with a planned opening in late January.

Castillo lives in Hauppauge and is Salvadoran by birth, Mexican by heart, he tells Patch.

"We all came here with big dreams."

Within two years, those dreams have led to a second restaurant after the success of the first.

"Patchogue Village was always on my radar, even before we opened in Astoria. We had the chance to open our first restaurant during the pandemic, and people said we were crazy. But we had faith and we knew what we were capable of creating," he said.

Ruta Oaxaca will serve the traditional dishes of the Oaxaca region of Southern Mexico—rich mole sauces, and the bar will also have 40 types of regional artisanal mezcals.

"You'll feel like you're walking into a high-end restaurant in Mexico City or Oaxaca," Castillo said.

The Arrellano brothers grew up working in their parents small taco restaurant in Mexico City. Their mother would cook traditional Oaxacan dishes and serve their entire town.

"Our food is very traditional, and cooked with love," Carlos Arrellano added.

The restaurant's name refers to the route traveled between Mexico City and Oaxaca, where one might stop by several delicious eateries and try recipes from different regions.

"It's also the 'ruta,' or the route, people will be taking from [all over Long Island] to Patchogue to come eat with us."

Ruta Oaxaca will be open seven days a week, with happy hour and a brunch from noon to 4 p.m.