Lupita’s to Open New Location in Downtown State College

A local, family-owned Mexican restaurant with two locations in Centre County is getting ready to open a third — this time in downtown State College.

Lupita’s Authentic Mexican Food plans to open at 312 W. Beaver Ave., in the former John’s Shanghai on the ground floor of the Palmerton Building, according to a post on the restaurant’s Facebook page.

“We want to thank all of our customers for always supporting us and for making all of this possible!” the post stated. “Many thanks to all our colleagues and a thousand more to our family for always supporting us.”

The restaurant is aiming to open in March.

Owners Maria Guadalupe Rojas Orozco (nicknamed Lupita) and her husband, Emilio Lopez Ramirez —both of whom moved to central Pennsylvania in 2001 from their small hometown in Oaxaca, Mexico — opened the first Lupita’s in 2019 inside the Uni-Mart complex at 3180 W. College Ave. in Ferguson Township

The restaurant’s authentic Oaxacan offerings became an immediate hit, leading to a second location at 200 Mill Street in Milesburg, which opened last year.