Lucharitos opens in Mineola
The luchita plate at Lucharitos in Mineola. Credit: Newsday/Melissa Azofeifa
This might be the seventh restaurant opening for Marc LaMaina, but launching the new Lucharitos in Mineola comes with a lot of firsts.
"This restaurant is, I want to say, our first full-scale restaurant where we have truly different sections of the space," LaMaina said. "We have the space to do some fun things there."
Lucharitos has restaurants in Greenport, Mattituck, Aquebogue, Center Moriches, Ronkonkoma and Melville. This is the Tex-Mex eatery’s first Nassau location. The restaurant, which opened earlier this month, is housed in a 4,000-square-foot facility on the ground floor of the Morgan Parc luxury apartment building.
There are seats for about 100 diners indoors and 60 outdoor seats under the pavilion, LaMaina said. The ample space has provided an opportunity for LaMaina to add a host stand and merchandise area for the first time. Guests can find merch like sweaters and masks as well as hot sauces from North Fork hot sauce company, Greenport Fire.
The Mineola eatery also features a gelato station and coffee bar serving waffle cones ($9 for 2 scoops of ice cream), ice cream-stuffed croissants ($12) and tres leches ice cream sandwiches ($12) served on North Fork Doughnut Company doughnuts. LaMaina partnered with Jamesport’s North Fork Moto for the coffee.
The restaurant's interior has an edgy, urban-industrial feel, which is new for the brand. Local artist Anthony Catania created a mural for the dining room depicting a robot "kid lucha" fighting Godzilla. An octagonal bar adds elegance with seats for about 22 guests.
Lucharitos’ menu stays true to the brand with fan favorites like the traditional carne asada tacos ($6.50) and the nacho-man nachos ($16). The luchita platos ($23) are served with guests choice of chicken or grilled vegetables, corn tortillas, black beans, rice, guacamole and sour cream.
LaMaina was one of two Long Island restaurateurs to slash his menu prices by 20% last year to help families struggling with soaring food costs. Though LaMaina admits he found the opening of the brand's largest restaurant daunting, he says he is happy and stronger for having gone on the journey.
"I learned a lot in the past two years," LaMaina said. "I learned a lot of what not to do and what to look for on our next projects, so in retrospect this was a great experience."
Lucharitos, 199 Second St., Mineola, 516-252-5100, lucharitos.com, Open 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday to Thursday, 11:00 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Sunday.
Melissa Azofeifa is a restaurants reporter with Newsday's FeedMe team. Having grown up on Long Island, she loves talking about food and its impact on culture. A graduate of Stony Brook University, she joined Newsday in the fall of 2024.
