Taquero Mucho opening in Dix Hills

Max Carballo is on a roll these days. Or perhaps it's more accurate to say he's on a bun. The Los Angeles native recently brought Mexican hot dogs to Long Island with the opening of his new cart, Mama Rosita, that operates on weekends at his Taquero Mucho food truck in Bay Shore. And in the next month, he also plans to open his first brick-and-mortar Mexican restaurant in Dix Hills. 

Mexican hot dogs come in many varieties, but Mama Rosita specializes in the Cali dog, also called the Danger dog or the Tijuana Dog. It's typically the purview of street vendors who walk around populated areas and events with little carts, cooking up bacon-wrapped hot dogs and peppers that send savory aromas out into the street. 

"You find this in downtown L.A. everywhere. And actually they're all over the place in California," he says. "I grew up eating these. I was going to school, getting out and they were selling over there. I'd eat like four or five of those. The street vendors. that's where the real food is." 

A Cali dog is a little different from a Sonoran hot dog, which is the iconic Mexican street food of Arizona and Sonora to the south. While the Sonoran dog has beans, the Cali dog has grilled peppers, and it's often served on a regular hot dog bun rather than a thicker bolillo roll. Carballo says he's also inspired by the hot dogs of Mexico City, which he says are called hochos, and come topped with extravagant ingredients like Mexican street corn. 

Carballo's hot dog ($9.50) is equally over the top, like a torpedo of calories, sauces and fats. He typically throws the bacon-wrapped beef dog on the flattop and then cooks the peppers and onions on top of the bacon grease, but during a recent Friday night he'd just run out of peppers. Even so, he managed to throw on nacho cheese, ketchup, mayo, mustard and then a boatload of Hot Cheeto dust, finishing it off with a blistered chile toreado pepper. Eating one of these sends dueling feelings of ecstasy and guilt like shivers through your body. 

Carballo has two Taquero Mucho food trucks in Bay Shore and Brentwood, but for now he's only operating Mama Rosita at the Bay Shore location from noon until he sells out, Friday through Sunday. In the next month, he also plans to open a Taquero Mucho restaurant in the former home of Red Cajun and Grill at 15 E. Deer Park Rd. in Dix Hills. He plans to serve the same California style tacos that put him on Newsday's top tacos list, as well as full dishes like enchiladas, chilaquiles and specials like a lobster tail a la diabla. 

"I want to people to recognize and show more respect about Mexican food. because I believe we deserve it and we're doing great about it," he says. "And Taquero Mucho's proving that real flavor can be found now on Long Island." 

Mama Rosita, 1654 5th Ave., Bay Shore, 631-299-1391, instagram.com/mama_rosita_hot_dogs/?hl=en. Open noon to sellout Friday through Sunday.