Restaurante El Quetzal, a Central American restaurant that has served Riverhead from the east end of Main Street, now has a second dining room in the middle of downtown. The new El Quetzal Restaurant & Bar is open at 300 East Main Street, across from the Long Island Aquarium, and Downtown Riverhead marked its arrival with a ribbon cutting and grand opening this week.

The address will be familiar to downtown regulars. It is the space most recently home to Insatiable Eats, the pasta restaurant and caterer, which is now listed as closed there.

Two El Quetzals on one street

The original Restaurante El Quetzal remains open at 1020 East Main Street, east of the downtown business district. The two are less than a mile apart on the same road, so the new location puts the restaurant within walking distance of the riverfront, the Suffolk Theater, the aquarium and the downtown parking along the Peconic.

The downtown restaurant keeps long hours. Its listing shows it open from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekdays and from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays, which makes it one of the few places on that stretch of Main Street serving breakfast before the shops open. The original location lists 9:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday, and 8 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. on weekends.

What the kitchen serves

El Quetzal cooks Central American and Mexican food across breakfast, lunch and dinner. Its menu runs from breakfast plates and burritos to tacos, including birria tacos, chicken dishes and a combination platter named for the restaurant. The new location adds a bar, which is reflected in its name, El Quetzal Restaurant & Bar. The restaurant also caters and takes orders online.

The quetzal the restaurant is named for is the national bird of Guatemala, and a long green tail feather of the bird is a familiar symbol across Central America.

Downtown's newest dining room

The opening adds to a cluster of Latin American restaurants that have opened along East Main Street over the past few years, joining the aquarium, the Suffolk Theater and the riverfront boardwalk as reasons to come downtown. Downtown Riverhead, the district's business organization, hosted the ribbon cutting.

Plan a visit

  • Downtown: El Quetzal Restaurant & Bar, 300 East Main Street, Riverhead; weekdays 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., weekends 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.
  • Original: Restaurante El Quetzal, 1020 East Main Street, Riverhead; 631-591-3314
  • Online: menus and online ordering through the restaurant's website

Sources