Oasis Restaurant Doubles In Size: 'Now, It's A Real Dine-In Feel'

CREST HILL — It's been nearly a year since brothers Adrian and Christian Avila rolled the dice, taking a giant leap of faith by opening the Oasis Mexican Restaurant — a Mexican restaurant unlike any other in the Joliet area, the brothers insist — behind the Speedway gas station between Plainfield and Caton Farm Roads.

This week, the Avila brothers unveiled their major dining room expansion. Oasis Mexican Restaurant doubled the size of its indoor restaurant seating by expanding into the building space next door, formerly occupied by DebtStoppers.

If you have not visited Oasis for many months, you may not recognize the place anymore. The Avila brothers opened up their ceiling. They added plenty of neon signs. The walls were painted turquoise. A tropical island-theme bar has been added to the newly remodeled restaurant that is best known for its birria taco and quesabirria taco dinners.

Oasis also added several TV monitors throughout the restaurant to show sports. The expansion allowed the Avila brothers to expand their kitchen.

Adrian Avila told me he's very pleased with how the remodeling project turned out.

As for the inside of Oasis, Avila had this to say:

"It looks young. It looks fun. And there's more seating, of course. Things have been going very well for us in the first year."

One of the biggest challenges facing the Avila brothers is the fact that Oasis is located "in a hidden plaza." In other words, you don't see Oasis driving along Plainfield Road or Caton Farm Road. You just have to know that it's there.

"We call it our hidden Oasis," Adrian remarked.

The plaza is also home to Urban Kitchen, which opened in the corner along Plainfield Road after Russo's Italian deli went out of business.

"I feel people do know we're here from our social media presence," Adrian Avila remarked this week.

Oasis is now open seven days a week, from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. The brothers hope to have their bar open to serve alcohol to customers, around the time of their one-year anniversary in mid-September.

As for the food, "It's just such a small menu, but it does very well for us because it's so simple," Adrian replied.

Overall, most of the Oasis business is generated through online restaurant orders, the brothers said. They work with GrubHub, UberEats and Door Dash.

"Right now, 80 percent is online ordering, but we would like to increase our dine-in ordering," Adrian Avila explained.

Under their new arrangement, Oasis now features 12 different tables plus another six stools at the bar for people to eat, increasing their total seating capacity to about 55.

The Avila brothers say Oasis has a strong presence on social media with Facebook, Tiktok and Instagram and that's been a huge reason for their growth and ability to attract repeat customers during their first year of business in Crest Hill.

You can follow them on Facebook at: Oasis Mexican Restaurant, on Instagram at Oasismexrestaurant and on TikTok at Oasismexbirria.

Without a doubt, Adrian Avila said, their birria and quesabirria tacos continue to be the top sellers on the menu for Oasis.

"With the quesabirria, 10 out of 10, it's the most popular dish, and it does phenomenal for us. And people love the steak tacos, like they love it. For appetizers, corn in the cup and the loaded nachos" are popular.

As far as the remodeling and expansion, "We wanted to separate ourselves from just being a Mexican restaurant joint, to a full dine-in experience, so that's why it really looks like an oasis," he reflected.

"In the second year, we just want to take it to the next level."

At the Oasis, the Avila brothers are striving for quicker service on all aspects of the restaurant "as we continue to learn every day," Adrian Avila said. "One of the biggest things we focus on is speed."

Why did the Avila brothers decide to double the size of their restaurant and take over the DebtStoppers property?

"We were running out of room," Adrian Avila said. "We were running into each other. You could hear the conversations of the people sitting next to you, so we really wanted to give people their space. Now, it's a real dine-in feel."

Related Joliet Patch coverage:

Oasis Opens On Plainfield Road: 'We Focused On Being Different'

Urban Kitchen Restaurant Off To Good Start: Manager