Viva Mexico Keeps Family Traditions Alive with a New Cafe, Coming Soon

Jose Ruiz Jr. inside a packed house at Viva Mexico.

There’s a family-owned Mexican restaurant that many might walk past every day, never knowing that it has already beaten the odds of owning a small business by being open for more than fifteen years on Washington Street in downtown Providence. As several businesses around it have recently shut down, including Clementine and Debbie’s, both located on opposite ends of the same street, Viva Mexico marches on. The owner will soon be opening a second business with his partner on the same street inside a recently vacated storefront.

Jose Ruiz Jr. told the story of his parents, Jose Ruiz Sr. and Elia Ruiz, who came to this country from Oaxaca. They started out running a food truck before opening Garibaldi restaurant in Providence on the first floor of a multi-family home in 1992, followed by Viva Mexico in 2011. Also in Providence, Jose Ruiz Sr.’s sister, Maria Meza, opened El Rancho Grande with her family in 2007 (now closed), and launched a more regional Mexican restaurant, Dolores, in 2019 on the East Side with her family, including her two sons, Joaquin and Marco Meza.

The Ruiz family with their first food truck.

Local Mexican restaurants are traditionally a family affair with the matriarch often cooking recipes handed down for generations. Jose Jr.’s mother, Elia, still makes the mole. As a kid, Jose Jr. chipped in bussing tables at Garibaldi, and as he grew older, he took on more responsibility at Viva Mexico. When COVID-19 happened, Jose Jr. stepped up to figure out a game plan when the family considered closing Viva. He wanted to keep his family’s legacy alive, so he took it over, with some help from his brother. Cindy Lopez also joined the business three years ago while working two other jobs at Nicks on Broadway and G Pub, and she eventually transitioned to full-time work with Jose.

Jose Ruiz Jr. outside his family’s first Mexican restaurant.

“I wanted to be the one that took the initiative to take over and keep it going,” Ruiz says. “I put the whole family on my back, and I was like, I think I can make it happen.”

For her part, Lopez aided in daytime operations, then she would head off to one of her other jobs for the night. “We decided to try it out. Let’s work together and see how it goes, and if everything goes well, maybe one day we can open up our own restaurant together,” Lopez says. “That was always the goal.”

Cindy Lopez and Jose Ruiz Jr. inside the future Ello’s Cafe.

Now a couple, Joe Ruiz Jr., who owns Viva, and Cindy Lopez, who manages Viva’s operations, are teaming up to open a second business, Ello’s Cafe, sometime in early 2027. Ello’s will be a space designed to support the Latin culinary community by giving local bakers a platform to share their baking and cooking skills. It will be a cafe serving pan dulce, empanadas and bunuelos with coffee by day, and it will transition to a cocktail bar at night.

“This is really special because it’s something we’ve come up with together; it’s our idea, our concept,” Lopez says.

She wants to use the space as a teaching ground for the next generation. She came to America from Guatemala when she was eight, learned English in the Providence school system, and absorbed everything she knows in the hospitality industry through working at other restaurants. “Because I used to work in so many restaurants, and now that I’m going to have my own business, I want to build something for anyone that comes in to work at Ello’s to give them an opportunity to work for something that they can potentially be the ones running the restaurant one day,” she says. “I want to give them the opportunity to come in here and run the restaurant.”

Ruiz is excited to continue the tradition of working with his partner at a business they own together. “And kind of reliving what my mom and dad did too. They started out as a couple, so we get to relive that as well,” Ruiz adds. “It wasn’t until we started working together when it all kind of started clicking, and I kept comparing it to my mom and dad.”

Ruiz’s mother is still actively involved at Viva Mexico, even though she has retired, along with his dad. Elia comes in one day each week at 4 a.m. to make a big batch of the mole sauce for the restaurant. The Viva team also recently decided to market the sauce for distribution in New York.

For Ello’s Cafe, Ruiz and Lopez have already moved into the former Debbie’s space at 100 Washington St. On a recent tour, they described how the bar will be laid out for guests along the sprawling windows looking out into the city. Lopez plans to have her brother run the bar program to shine a light on his talents, too.

“Ello’s is based on community stories and traditions. We wanted to build something that can bring everyone in the industry together, giving them an opportunity to be in downtown Providence without having to pay high rent,” Lopez says.