Dirty Taco + Tequila RVC — Restaurant in Town of Hempstead

First time coming here and waited an hour and a half on Saturday night for booth seating. That is a no no. They have to figure out a better method for their wait times. But thank you to the owner tom for coming out after an hour and giving waiting customers a sample of fries they are really good. Now when my friend & I were seated it took a few mins for us to be seen whereas the table of 3 women had a waiter almost instantly but once we had our waitress Charyall(i can't remember the spelling correctly) she was awesome and attentive during a very busy night. My friend and I tried for appetizers the mac & cheese and the chicken dumplings. The dumplings are really good. The mac and chesse needs to be worked. It had some flavor but it was runny and we laughed at the fact there was actually cheese puffs on it. I'd suggest bread crumbs, bacon or something else and definitely bake it. We returned that item and had the chicken wings in their thai sauce which was a much better option and upgrade. A little too much sauce & i may be nitpicking but dumplings & wings are worth it 100%. For drinks my friend had their jingle juice special which he loved and it was recommended by our waitress and I had a watermelon mocktail(non alcohol drinker over here). Both recommendations were awesome and I can say they do a good job with their drinks and when it comes to giving you water the wait staff goes to each table that has water and makes sure you are filled up without even asking which is always great. Utensils and the table was clean by the way which is a plus during a really busy night. Now for the tacos that we had I ordered the pork taco and the kung pao chicken and my friend got the jamaican jerk and the buffalo shrimp. Kung pao chicken to me stole the show with its amazing flavors, I wish it was hotter when I got it. The pork taco was alright but personally I didn't finish it, it was messy & needed something more oh and another tortilla to handle all the juice & oil from it. My friend loved their buffalo shrimp taco and even said it to our waitress that he doesn't like blue cheese but the flavors work well together. As for the jamaican jerk taco it was dry and unnecessarily spicy is the way my friend described it and after one bite he didn't continue with it then had it switched out for those mexican street fries which is another winner on their menu hot, flavorful, and delicious. We decided to give their desert a try and went with the cake which was good, maybe a little too sweet for a tres leche cake. Idk if they make it in house though because we got the impression they just cut it off of a sheet and served it. Now the owner Tom came around and introduced himself to get our feedback which was appreciated. Suggested stopping by earlier in the day to make an appointment and coming back later to see about being seated better. I'm not sure that idea will work his wife annmarie was helpful in getting us seating while she stood as the first person of contact and was keeping us posted during the wait time when we almost walked out. Good to know they're both from my rosedale/valley stream area. This is a good place that with overtime I hope they figure out a better system to combat the wait time because that was another complaint people around me had, whether they feel its worth it or not waiting an hour or more definitely is not and some menu items need to be adjusted and to make sure the tacos are hot on arrival. I'll come back to try this place again 3.5-4 star...

⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3/5 – Decent First Try, But Not Enough to Bring Me Back

I had been hearing a lot of buzz about Dirty Taco and finally decided to check out the Sunrise Highway location with my wife for a casual dinner. The vibe definitely leans trendy—dim lighting, bold décor, a kind of street-food-meets-gastropub energy that draws a good crowd. We went in with an open mind and decent expectations, but overall, I’d say the experience was just okay. Not terrible by any means, but not enough to make me want to come back.

Let’s start with the positives: the service was friendly and pretty attentive. Our server checked on us a few times, got our order right, and made sure we had drinks and napkins when we needed them. The food came out relatively fast, and everything looked good presentation-wise. The place has a fun, upbeat energy, and the menu is definitely creative—you can tell they’re aiming to push the boundaries a bit with nontraditional taco combos and fusion elements.

We ordered a few different tacos to try a variety: the Korean short rib, Buffalo chicken, and the crispy shrimp. I also got a side of street corn and my wife tried the brussels sprouts.

The tacos were… fine. They weren’t bad, but they didn’t wow us either. The Korean short rib had good flavor but was really heavy on the sauce, to the point that it overpowered everything else. The Buffalo chicken was super salty and almost felt like something from a bar menu rather than a taco joint. The crispy shrimp was probably the best of the bunch—well-fried and had a nice crunch—but even that one wasn’t super memorable. All the tacos felt like they had potential but were kind of overthought, like they were trying too hard to be edgy or different.

The street corn was disappointing—it came out lukewarm and drowned in sauce, making it mushy. The brussels sprouts were better, but again, nothing that made us want to rave about them. As for drinks, we had two margaritas—good, but pricey for the size.

The space was loud, which I understand is part of the vibe, but it made conversation a little tough. And the seating was tight—tables were kind of packed in, and it didn’t feel like a relaxing meal. For a place that’s clearly trying to be a local favorite and stand out with personality, it just didn’t feel balanced between food quality and concept.

In short, it was an okay experience. I’m glad we tried it once, but I probably won’t be going back. There are too many other spots with better tacos, more comfortable atmosphere, and less of the over-the-top “Instagram trendy” vibe. If you’re nearby and curious, it might be worth trying once—but for me, it didn’t live up...

Ok, if you haven't heard of Dirty Tacos, especially if you like to dine out on the weekends and don't have kids with you. This is the place for it all. It all depends on what location you go to. They have serveral. I won't list them all but this location was in Rockville Center. We tried the one in Wantaugh and Woodbury. Wantaugh was very party but Rockville Center right on Sunrise Hwy was intense.

So of course we were greated by the hostess and she was very nice. We told them that we would like to sit by the window to look out on Sunrise Hwy. Kind of like the Manhattan thing. I told her there is no rush. She was very please when I said that. I can see the tension leave. Of course we strolled right to the bar. I love a bar where everything is just controlled kaos.

The bartender greeted us and said I'll be with in moment. He did come back in moment. Well again I forgot to take down the names of the drinks. Mine was a bourbon old fashion. Delicious as well as it continued my relaxing night with my wife. My wife ordered a tropcial drink on the menu. We finished them and reordered the house margaritas. OMG!!!! I felt like I was in Cancun again.

If you ever been to Cancun you know how the bartenders make their margaritas. Oh yeah! We then the hostess came to us and had our table. The server came over and took our app order. My wife loves there nachos. What was nice is they put things on the side because she is not a big fan of diced tomatoes and gaucamoli (I hope I spelled that right). Again delicious like in the other Dirty Tacos.

You know when the food is good, when you can order the same thing and it tastes the same no matter what location you go to. Well believe it or not I was still hungry. I ordered cheeseburger taco. Holy Sh!&T Batman. I never thought that ground meat with cheese on a taco can taste so freakin good. I was amazed. My wife was stuffed. Not me. I have a cows stomach.

Then my wife shocked me. She said how about a last drink. Well I'm game. Again I'm an A$$ and didn't know the names but they were good. I promise next time in my reviews I will have names of drinks and dishes.

In conclusion with our kidless weekend after coming from the Tap Room. Dirty Tacos scored big. We ended up talking to the manager who manages Wantagh. He was there for the night only. Christopher is his name. Very nice man. He invited us to see him at Wantaugh. We will. He said to bring the kids. That will be up to my wife. Both places Tap Room (read my other review) and Dirty Tacos. So go have fun leave the worries home and enjoy...