LA GRANDE — Raul’s Taqueria, 1302 Adams Ave., is expanding for a second time in La Grande’s downtown district to create a dining room with seating for 60.

This expansion and remodel will increase the restaurant’s total seating capacity to nearly 100.

Co-owners Arturo Escamilla and his father-in-law, Raul Correa, are excited about the expansion because it will enable the restaurant to host more people and more parties.

“Unfortunately, in the past we had to turn down (large) reservations or parties because we didn’t have enough seating,” Escamilla said. “Now, with the expansion we’ll be able to serve more of the bigger parties.”

The dining room expansion is slated for completion by early spring of 2025, at which time the Mexican restaurant will occupy storefronts at 1302, 1304, and 1306 Adams Ave.

Escamilla and Correa founded Raul’s Taqueria in August 2011. By June 2021, they expanded into the adjacent space at 1304 Adams Ave., formerly Looking Glass Books, to create Raul’s Cantina with a bar and seating for 40 people.

The second expansion is underway at 1306 Adams Ave., the vacated office of Charles Gillis Attorney at Law, and it will be open to customers by the end of winter or early spring of 2025.

“When attorney Gillis left his space a year and a half ago, we right away contacted the landlady and asked her if we could move into that space,” Escamilla said.

This additional space will allow dining for 60 more people and can serve as a party room. Escamilla anticipates the necessary remodel work will include laying new flooring, painting, adding electrical lighting and opening the wall between the cantina and the new dining room.

“We’ll cut open the wall 24 feet wide and 9 feet tall,” he said.

The new dining room will have two new restrooms and five or six TV monitors mounted to the walls. This will mean Raul’s Taqueria and Cantina will have a total of at least 10 TV monitors so dining guests can enjoy sports games and other broadcasts.

“In the new dining room, we will have new tables, chairs, booths and a small stage for when we want live music once in a while,” Escamilla said.

Outside, the storefront already has received a fresh coat of paint, and soon new windows will be installed.

“The idea with the expanded dining room is to extend our hours on weekends, especially with events,” Escamilla said. “We want to make this place family friendly, but also a comfortable place for people to party and watch football games, baseball games, soccer or any kind of event on TV.”

In the future, Raul’s Taqueria will host a grand reopening with a chamber-sponsored ribbon cutting ceremony. “Once we have a date set up for that, we will announce it on Facebook and Instagram,” Escamilla said.

The co-owners credited their steady growth and success to their loyal customer base, good food and reasonable prices.

“We always try to do our best to keep the highest standards in the kitchen,” Escamilla said. “Our last health inspection resulted in a score of 99%, so it’s a lot of hard work in every aspect of the restaurant.”

Raul’s Taqueria is open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. weekdays, and on the weekends, from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. The restaurant’s menu is posted on Facebook. Raul’s Taqueria accepts phone-in orders for pickup or delivery via Door Dash.

The establishment also caters to all kinds of events, including weddings, company and holiday parties, and picnic gatherings. Contact Escamilla or Correa at 541-624-5230 for details.