A new taqueria is about to fill one of Main Street's most talked-about vacancies. Tlahco Taqueria will hold a soft opening at its new Beacon location, 142 Main Street, on Thursday, October 1, from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m., giving Hudson Valley diners their first taste of chef Fermin Ortega's third restaurant.
The Beacon spot marks Ortega's third location overall and the second to carry the Tlahco name, according to Hudson Valley Post. Ortega already owns Casa Ortega in the Village of Wappingers Falls and the original Tlahco Taqueria in Pleasant Valley, and the Beacon restaurant is being billed as an expansion of that same team. Regular operating hours for the new location have not yet been announced, per the same report.
Filling a Space With a Rough Recent History
The address carries some baggage. Tito Santana, which had served tacos, burritos and other Mexican favorites on Main Street since 2011, closed in 2025 after structural problems led building officials to order it to cease operations, and its lease was subsequently terminated. The restaurant had sat empty for more than a year before Tlahco's arrival, the outlet reported.
The building's troubles were detailed by the Highlands Current, which reported that Beacon's building department identified seven violations at 142 Main Street on May 6, 2025, including severe deterioration of floor joists caused by wood-boring insects. Tito Santana's owners blamed the shutdown on a dispute with their landlord over serious building maintenance issues. A lawsuit filed by tenant Milan Nigam is seeking at least $400,000 in damages, alleging that landlord Lindley Todd LLC failed to make required repairs before the city stepped in.
A separate account from A Little Beacon Blog noted that Tito Santana had a year remaining on its lease when the cease-operations order came down, and that the vacated property was later listed on LoopNet for $4,000 a month — about 78 percent higher than the $2,250 Tito Santana had been paying.
A Chef's Path From Grandmother's Kitchen to Main Street
Ortega's own story stretches back to Mexico, where his interest in cooking began while helping his grandmother in the kitchen, according to Tlahco Taqueria's own account of his background. After moving to the United States, he started as a dishwasher, worked his way up to line cook, and eventually took charge of a restaurant kitchen entirely.
That trajectory shapes the food at his restaurants, which the team describes as blending traditional Mexican flavors with New York City kitchen techniques and influences. It's a formula that's already found an audience at Casa Ortega and the Pleasant Valley Tlahco, and one the Beacon location is expected to carry forward on a stretch of Main Street with no shortage of Mexican food options in the wider Hudson Valley.
Coverage from earlier this year showed the Beacon buildout moving along well before a date was locked in. As far back as May, local outlet The Beacon reported that work on the space was progressing even though there was no date for opening just yet. Thursday's soft opening finally puts a timestamp on that long-anticipated arrival.
