Dirty Taco and Tequila to open in Smithtown and Port Washington

It’s shaping up to be a Dirty spring on Long Island: Local chainlet Dirty Taco + Tequila is fixing to open two new locations in June, one on the Smithtown Bypass and another at a marina in Port Washington. That’s right: Soon, you’ll be able to have your kung pao chicken taco and dirty apple martini with a view of Manhasset Bay.

Tom Cataldo Sr., who owns the company with his wife, AnnMarie, and son, Tom Jr., said that the Smithtown store, formerly Greene Turtle, would be the largest to date — 265 seats. It doesn't scare him. “We’re already doing a huge volume in the other stores," he said. "it’s just that people have to wait 2½ hours to sit down.” In Smithtown, he’ll have double the kitchen space, triple the refrigeration.

Dirty Port will take over La Motta’s Dockside, a fixture at the Manhasset Bay Marina since 1994. The 100 interior seats are supplemented by a covered patio that seats 75 and a deck that seats another 150.

The Cataldos plan to operate Port Washington as a restaurant between April and November but, in the off season, it will function as a catering venue for bar/bat mitzvahs, showers and other events. Smithtown’s vast space, he said, will have a flexible design so that it can also offer on-premise catering.

“Up until now,” he said, “the only semiprivate room we’ve had has been in Patchogue — it accommodates about 32 people and it’s always full.”

The first Dirty Taco + Tequila opened in Wantagh in 2018 with 36 seats. Rockville Centre (120 seats) followed in 2019; Woodbury (65 inside, 50 outside) in 2020 and Patchogue (175) last year.