Tony's Tacos opens at The Shops at SunVet in Holbrook
A trio of Scarpetta tacos at Tony's Tacos. Credit: Mike Scotto
Holbrook, the wait is over: Tony’s Tacos at The Shops at SunVet welcomes guests this weekend, opening the doors to the sixth outpost of the ever-growing fusion Italian taco brand on Saturday.
After numerous delays, owner Mike Scotto “can’t wait to welcome Holbrook,” which joins Scotto’s five other Long Island locations, in Floral Park, Franklin Square, Garden City, Huntington and Elmhurst. This is the second opening of three shopping center restaurants: The first, at the Queens Center (Elmhurst), opened in late July. Now comes Holbrook’s The Shops at SunVet. The Green Acres Mall space in Valley Stream debuts in early 2027.
This new site is outward facing at the renovated Shopst, and the large restaurant covers over 4,000 square feet, with both indoor and retractable outdoor seating and a garage bar, and the familiar, colorful atmosphere of Tony’s Tacos.The menu at all Tony’s Tacos is the same at all locations, with favorites like the chicken Milanese taco ($6.85), the chicken Parm taco ($6.25), and the steak and cheese ($7.25) joining even more hybrid creations, including the hot crispy chicken ($6.25) with habanero and spicy mayo, the surf and turf with steak and shrimp ($7.25), plus the addition of seasonal selections like fall’s squash and mushrooms taco ($5.95) or apple pie margarita with a cinnamon rim ($10). For a limited time, there’s a lasagna taco ($6.85) with burrata.
Scotto’s first site opened in Floral Park in 2019 as a stand-alone concept with “just 12 seats,” Scotto said. Then came expansion to Franklin Square, Huntington and Garden City, all walkable villages that brought foot traffic. The new mall locations are strategic to increase the brand's visibility, Scotto said. "When you sign a lease with the Queens Center, people can go there for Foot Locker — for millions of reasons — and then they find you," he told Newsday at the time of the lease signing.
Scotto came to the United States from Italy in 2014 and trained alongside Umberto Corteo — of the Umberto’s Italian restaurant group — rising to executive chef. He tried his first taco at the age of 29, and while he wasn’t impressed, he could see the appeal. That planted the seed for what would become Scotto's fusion invention. Tony’s Tacos’ "tortilla" is made with 00 Italian flour and no yeast, and is toasted in garlic and oil. Scotto stuffs them with ingredients like rotisserie chicken, sausage and broccoli rabe, meatballs, and, of course, chicken Parm.
"I started with one location a year. And now we're doing five locations a year," Scotto said. "It scares me a little bit, but it's the same headache — one or five.”
True to his word, Scotto is nowhere near ready to rest. He has several more openings planned across Long Island through next year, with leases signed at the Levittown Mews shopping center on Hempstead Turnpike, as well as in Babylon on Deer Park Avenue.
Tony’s Tacos at The Shops at SunVet, 5801 Sunrise Hwy., Holbrook; 631-850-0087, tonystaco.com; Open Monday to Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday 10 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., Tuesday, Friday and Saturday 10 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.
A global freelancer who has checked her suitcase to raise her young daughter on her native Long Island, Marie Elena will always make time for good mezcal, even better tacos and killer conversation. Preferably, in a corner bar seat. She can be found on Instagram at @mariesworldeats.
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