CREST HILL — Despite having a hidden location in the strip mall behind the Speedway gas station on Plainfield Road, Adrian and Christian Avila are two of the most creative entrepreneurs in the Joliet area. The brothers are constantly re-inventing their business, Oasis Mexican Restaurant.
On Thursday, a company was installing new Oasis signs on their building. These days, the walls of their restaurant are red for their Valentine Day’s pop-up theme. And get this: Oasis is now home to one of the largest margaritas you will ever find in the entire Joliet area.
This week, the Avila brothers rolled out their new Margarita Towers for Oasis. This thing is absolutely gigantic! The brothers said it’s 3 liters of margarita, which, if you do the math, comes out to about 101.4 ounces, or eight separate glasses of margaritas.
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The Margarita Tower is $75, but it’s enough alcohol for a party of four to eight people, the brothers explained. It’s available in traditional lime, mango, strawberry and cucumber.
Oasis obtained its liquor license about a month ago. “As we got our liquor license, the demand has been so high,” Adrian Avila said.
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“A lot of people like to drink while eating,” explained Christian Avila. “Now you can enjoy a margarita with a quesadilla.”
Of the four flavors, Christian Avila said he prefers the mango margarita the best.
He said mango has been the most popular choice during their first week of offering the Margarita Towers.
The Margarita Tower makes sense for groups of four people, since, oftentimes, “they get two rounds,” the owners pointed out.
“The Margarita Tower makes it simpler,” Christian Avila explained. “You avoid going through many cups, many refills and so much wait staff time.”
The Margarita Towers “come with sparklers, so it’s pretty awesome,” Adrian said.
During COVID, Joliet Patch profiled the Margarita “Yard Cups,” that were introduced in downtown Joliet in the summer of 2020 at Catrinas Mex, the restaurant that replaced The Keg, but those were only 24 ounces, and Catrinas Mex later closed.
“I feel like no one does it locally,” Adrian Avila said, referring to the Margarita Towers.
On the other hand, if you and your friends are not in the mood for consuming 101.4 ounces of margaritas, Oasis has plenty of other options on its bar menu.
There are 12 drinks listed under Classic Cocktails including a regular-sized margarita for $9, Red Sangria for $10, Michelada for $9 and Cafe De Horchata for $10.
“We have all types of beer, Corona, Modelo, Pacifico, Victoria as well as Heineken, Miller Light and Bud Light,” Christian Avila said.
Including the four Valentine’s Day Drinks, Oasis now has 16 cocktails available.
The four Valentine’s Day Drinks include Baby Girl Mimosa, Sweet Heart Sip, Love on the Rocks and the Love Potion. The Love Potion is served in a glass with a pink sugar rim, and it combines RumChata poured over ice with Strawberry Fanta “for a sweet and magical libation.”
“We’ve decorated the whole place, this is Day One of our Valentine’s Day pop up,” Adrian Avila said at Thursday’s interview. “We painted the walls. We’ve got pop-ups, we’re hanging candy hearts. And we’re going to keep decorating. March is St. Patrick’s Day, so the first day of March the walls will be green for the colors of St. Patrick’s Day and themed drinks. We’ll do a different theme every month. May is Cinco de Mayo.”
Oasis also offers drink specials on its regular-sized margaritas on Mondays and Wednesdays, the margaritas are $7 all day.
Christian Avila said they’re expecting to add six video slot machines by May.
When the brothers first opened Oasis Mexican Restaurant in September 2022, their restaurant mostly focused on take-out food orders. Now, they’ve doubled the size of their sit-down restaurant and their kitchen by expanding into the vacant storefront next door.
“Dine-in has increased and with the Margarita Towers, we’re really transitioning it into a dine-in restaurant from what used to be just a take-out restaurant,” Christian Avila remarked.
The brothers are so excited about all the sweeping changes that they’re contemplating holding a “re-grand opening” celebration in the spring. They strongly urge people who visited Oasis maybe a year or more ago to stop by anytime to see all the changes they’ve made.
“So you can experience what Oasis is,” Christian said. “There was definitely a learning curve in the beginning.”
Counting the owners, Oasis is now up to nine permanent employees.
And in less than 18 months, Oasis Mexican Restaurant has received 418 Google Reviews, averaging 4.7 stars, the brothers proudly pointed out. Oasis is open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Oasis also offers a brunch menu from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. As for their regular menu, you can order a cheeseburger and fries, or go with their Birria, tacos, tortas, burritos, seafood and 10 different dinners. Two seasonal dishes on the menu are Pozole Rojo and chicken tamales.
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