Welcome to another installment of Brief Bites. As we wrap up the summer months and enter fall in a couple of weeks; below is a list of restaurants which I went to over in July and August that stood out to me the most. I recommend giving each of these places a try at some point, should you want to visit.
Dirty Taco & Tequila- Smithtown, NY
Starting off small with this one since I didn’t get the chance to take many photos, I had caught wind of Dirty Taco once from a news article I once read back in April which said that it was opening new locations. Everything about Dirty Taco honestly shocked me in a good way. For starters, atmosphere was a first just due to how vibrant, lively, and busy it seemed. It was a Friday night, tables were filled with people chattering, a live music group was playing in the background. Servers were bustling to tables and to tend to new crowds of people entering. Their menu for tacos seemed massive, with over 29 unique tacos, each having both meat and vegetable options.
My favorite taco of to the three I ordered was their pork belly taco with a watermelon salsa and a Korean BBQ Glaze. Surprisingly, the watermelon added a nice bit of sweetness which didn’t overpower the rest of the taco and paired well with the fattiness of the pork belly, adding a nice bit of crunch for texture.
Next on the list was their Korean Short Rib Taco, which featured a kimchi slaw and spicy mayo all on a corn tortilla. This taco was also great! The spicy mayo provided a nice bit of creaminess and slight heat to the tender meat of the short rib. All of the short rib juices ended up being caught underneath one of the tortillas, leaving no juice lost and made for a nice moist taco which was devoured instantly.
Unfortunately, my last taco of the day had to be a taco classic that lacked a bit in the flavor department. My Carne Asada Taco was a bit slightly underwhelming as the steak proved a bit hard to chew and lacked a bit of flavor. And it’s unfortunate once you realize that you’re paying $6 dollars for a taco that’s just okay.
Besides that, overall, I enjoyed my experience at Dirty Taco. The side that I got -their Mexican Street Corn on the cob smothered in crema made me forget about the Carne Asada Taco. I’d recommend giving this place a visit at one of their six locations on Long Island.
1653 Pizza Company – Huntington NY
I think I found this Pizzeria and restaurant while browsing Instagram one day and just had to come check it out for myself. I stopped for a quick lunch with me and my partner here, mainly just feeling like eating a couple of pizzas and that’s it.
One thing that I try to really look for in restaurants the atmosphere; I’m always paying attention to how a restaurant looks, how it’s designed and just generally what kind of vibe it makes me feel.
In my opinion, this is a cute visual restaurant that made me feel as I’ve stepped in a little hidden corner of Italy or somewhere. The restaurant feels very open, wine bottles, and vines and décor hanging on the walls, I felt like I was somewhere secluded yet comfortable despite being open. Fans are running above you constantly, and combined with the wood fired pizza and the staff oven tucked away in a corner right nearby the entrance of the restaurant as soon as you walk in, it just gives very relaxing vibes.
Pizza here, however, is a different story. We only got two pies here, both being wood fired pizzas, the Bronx Bacon and their Potato and Bacon Pie.
One thing I really enjoyed about the Bronx Bacon Pizza was the flavor that was packed in it. Savory, earthy tomato sauce accompanied with pockets of bomba chili for a nice kick of heat that sneaks up on you. A nice, slightly charred fresh crust which is pliable yet soft enough to munch on. My favorite thing about this pizza, however, was their dollops of Bacon jam all over the pizza, acting like little bacon bombs which gave the pizza a nice little burst of umami and saltiness.
The crust, the integrity and structure of the Pizza however falls a bit flat. When you pick up a slice, it flops downward a lot. I know it’s a small nitpick and could easily be fixed normally by folding a pizza but folding it still didn’t save it. It just continued to flop down, leaving everything, sauce toppings and all, to fall off a slice at times, exposing it as just a naked crust of a Pizza. At one point I just started eating my pizza with a fork and knife to save face. The crust of the pizza tasted a bit gummy and was a bit on the chewier side. It makes me wonder if the pizza had a bit more time in the oven to improve that crust, would it be better to eat.
The Potato and Bacon Pizza is very similar to the Bronx Bacon one in that it has an extremely great flavor profile as everything meshes well. The Fontina cheese mixed with those pockets of bacon and caramelized onion makes it seem like you’re eating a thick potato and bacon cheddar soup in bread form.
I would call these great pizza in my eyes in terms of flavor but the crust somewhat holds it back. Something else to note is that these are $22+ dollar for essentially 10’’ personal pizzas. However, I could see myself going again and giving their pizzas another shot and trying out new things in the menu. I’d recommend giving them a chance.
Old Fields BBQ- Huntington, NY
I’ve been recently craving BBQ and wanted some on Long Island. As of now, I am currently working on a list of restaurants for me to visit, and BBQ restaurants are certainly on the list. In the meantime, Old Fields BBQ in Huntington seemed promising to go to.
I’d mainly been craving brisket and pulled pork, so that’s what I had for my meats for the day. Focusing on the pork first, the pulled pork was extremely tender and flavorful, which was amplified once covered in Old Fields BBQ sauces specifically the Smoky BBQ sauce and Bourbon BBQ sauce, each providing a different distinct taste to the pork.
The Brisket wasn’t bad; it was easily fork tender and pulled apart well. It was slightly dry once chewing, but smothering it in their Vinegar based BBQ sauce seemed to help alleviate the dryness for me. The Vinegar BBQ sauce might be my favorite just as to how it compliments with the meat, as you get both an acidic tang and spices with the sauce combined with the fattiness from the brisket.
Meat aside, surprisingly all the sides were stars of the show in my opinion. The wedge-shaped French fries were extremely crispy on the outside, yet fluffy and soft on the inside as well as piping hot too. Their cornbread, a BBQ classic, was surprisingly big, shaped like a mini brick ,and a bit dense to the touch of a fork. However, it softens up quick thanks to it being covered in a delicious, sweet honey butter. The honey butter helps moisten and sweeten up the cornbread, and the cornbread absorbs all the juices leading to each bite being not dry and perfectly comforting.
Mac & Cheese, another BBQ classic was honestly my favorite part of the meal. The macaroni was absolutely covered in their thick cheese sauce, it’s almost hard to describe how flavorful it is; it’s honestly just a great cheese sauce covering macaroni, and that’s all you really need to know. It was so good I almost considered ordering another bowl.
Finishing out the meal was only complete with ordering a peach cobbler, topped with ice cream. In my opinion, the peach cobbler was a bit on the mushier side, and I didn’t get a whole lot of peach flavor when eating it. It wasn’t bad, but not great either.
I’d recommend giving this place a try as their meat section has more things such as burnt end ribs, chicken, sausage, and more. A couple of meats with some great sides and you have a satisfying meal on your hands.