Right Coast Taqueria finds home in Mineola

BY BRANDON DUFFY

A friendship that started nearly 30 years ago at Houlihan’s has since expanded into Right Coast Taqueria, which recently opened its doors in Mineola this July.

Dave Preisler said he and his partner would stay in touch after first meeting at the restaurant chain and eventually decided to put their combined corporate experience into something they both love.

“We both came from working at full-service, corporate restaurants,” Preisler said in an interview with Blank Slate Media. “We both said we’re done with that, let’s do simple, fast casual with a handful of employees. That’s how the idea was born.”

Right Coast Taqueria first opened in Deer Park in 2018. After initial success, plans to sign a lease on a second location came to a halt with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Preisler said.

“We realized we didn’t need to serve people in a big dining room,” Preisler said.

Right Coast created its first food truck that was first stationed in Holbrook, but demand for catering private events led to the creation of a second one.

The two trucks split their time between traveling to different events and acting as an “outdoor restaurant” in Ronkonkoma, Preisler said.

Continued on Page 41