Taco Dia Opens in Newtown from the Bailey’s Backyard Team

Crispy baja fish taco

On the heels of their quarter century anniversary, Bailey’s Backyard, and its original and forever owner, Sal Bagliavio have a sequel.

And no, it’s not following in the exact footsteps of Bailey’s—one of Connecticut O.G. farm-to-table restaurants.

The cocktail menu features eight different fresh juice margaritas, a handful of zero ABV mocktails, and a mix of strong slow sippers and refreshingly lighter drinks.

Ristorante numéro dos for Bagliavio and chef/partner Forrest Pasternack, who returned to Bailey’s recently, are entering the world of tacos with Taco Dia—because every day is taco day, not just Tuesdays.

If you’re at least a little familiar with Bailey’s, Bagliavio and Pasternack entering the realm of Mexican cuisine isn’t that shocking. Bailey’s is very New American, and if you’ve eaten there, Mexican pops up on the menu frequently, and especially on their Wednesday night Market Table tasting menu.

If adult chicken fingers were a thing, it’s these with chili sauce, honey butter, and crunchy slaw.

Esquites - cotija, Oaxaca cheese, chili mayo, cayenne, cilantro, lemon, and scallions

Eat your greens! Taco Dia is about vibrancy and freshness, so a few salads are a thing.

Ensalada verde - artisan greens, edamame-tahini puree, toasted pistachios, cucumber, mint, sweet baby peppers, tomatoes, edamame, radish, sherry vinaigrette.

“Bailey’s is a melting pot; we have French, Asian, Italian, Mexican,” Bagliavio says. “Our original thought coming to Newtown was another Bailey’s, but there’s already an American restaurant across the way. We thought about Italian, like an Italian gastropub (both of us then expressed our mutual love of Bar Sugo in Norwalk and how much we miss it), but there’s so much Italian here already.”

Oddly enough, the space where Taco Dia is in now, is where Quattro Osteria was located. When the location presented itself to Bagliavio, Pasternack, and a third partner Franco Gencarelli, it made sense numbers wise, and they got to work lightening and brightening up the restaurant.

Fresh fried tortilla chips and homemade salsa

“We decided that Mexican was needed in this area and everyone is traveling to go get tacos, so let’s give them what they need,” Bagliavio says. “Forrest and I went to Mexico, to San Luis Potosi, because that’s where our tortilla machine was made. We went to see it in action and had a lot of food and drinks in the area.”

Tortilla machine?! Yeah, you read that right. And by the time you read this, Taco Dia will be making and pressing their own tortillas with their own specialty masa from Nixtamal Tortilleria La Milpa de Rosa in Hopewell Junction.

Ahi tuna taco - ginger and cabbage slaw, fresh pico, sesame seeds, toasted sesame aioli

Beef birria - tomatillo salsa, aji, queso, cotija, birria consommé for dunking

Pork belly al pastor - achiote onions, sweet baby peppers, roasted pineapple, cilantro

What Taco Dia is preaching here with homemade tortillas for its tacos and some of that Bailey’s Backyard ethos of getting as much produce and herbs as possible from local farms, is freshness.

“That’s what we’re doing here,” Bagliavio says. “Freshness is where we’re taking it. Nothing is sitting out waiting. Connecticut corn (is in season) and we’re going through six bushels a week. Snow Hill Farm (in North Salem, NY) is growing for us year-round in greenhouses.”

Right now, Taco Dia’s menu is full on Mexican and Mexican inspired apps, vibrant salads, plenty of fresh juice margaritas and craft cocktails, bowls, and lot of different tacos to stay true to the restaurant’s moniker. Some of Taco Dia’s intro tacos include a juicy, overflowing with shredded short rib birria taco, an Asian influenced ahi tuna taco, a Cali-Mex crispy fish taco with spicy citrus mayo, and other traditional Mexican tacos like chicken tinga, chorizo, and carnitas. 

Happy hour is already in full swing and pull tabs are involved with the possibility that you’ll either pay full price (womp, womp) or there’s a chance you’ll get your drink half off or for 50 cents! And by press time, Taco Dia will have already launched weekend Mexican brunch.

And did we mention that the entire food menu is gluten free?

“The kitchen is completely gluten free,” Bagliavio says. “There’s some gluten at the bar, in some spirits and in beer, but that’s it. We’re not using anything in the kitchen that even comes from a facility with gluten in it.”

32 Church Hill Road, Newtown
203.304.1865, tacodia.com