One of Suffolk County’s standout taco joints will soon open a new Wading River location, northforker has learned.
The owner of Mesquite in Sound Beach, the hidden gem of a Tex-Mex eatery specializing in unique tacos, will open at the former Grind Café across from the Duck Ponds sometime in October.
“There was a demand for it,” said Craig Scali, owner of Mesquite as well as the popular Mesquite taco truck parked on Route 111 in Manorville. “And the space was available.”
The new eatery will offer to-go and eat-in counter service at the 16-seat restaurant. Like Mesquite in Sound Beach, it will offer soda and bottled water though beer and wine is BYO. Scali said he might eventually seek a permit to sell beer and wine at the Wading River location.
Now in its eighth year, Mesquite offers a traditional Tex-Mex menu, but its unique $5 specialty tacos — like pulled pork with ricotta cheese and granny smith apples and a chicken cutlet taco with lemon aioli, cabbage slaw and Frank’s Red Hot — set it apart from other places.
Scali, who once owned Salsa, Salsa in Port Jefferson and Blond in Miller Place, will bring the same creative flare he brought to Sound Beach in 2006 to the new Mesquite.
“We’ll start with a similar menu,” Scali said. “We’ll offer specials as well.”
The Grind Café closed Labor Day weekend 2013 and briefly reopened as Maryann’s in 2014 before shuttering again. That eatery, which opened on North Country Road in August 2011, sold specialty breakfast sandwiches, gourmet coffee and catering.
Mesquite will join North Fork Bacon, which opened in April, in offering niche cheap eats in the Wading River area.
Wading River residents will soon have another South-of-the-Border option. We reported in July that Avo Mexican Grill will open on Route 25A.
