Popular South Tampa Mexican eatery Taco Dirty expanded to Riverview about a year ago, but abruptly closed the location this week.
The Riverview outpost, located just off U.S. Hwy-301 at 10460 Stelling Dr., was the fast-casual concept’s second location from parent company Ciccio Restaurant Group (CRG).
Jason Brunetti, CRG’s director of operations, told the Tampa Bay Business Journal‘s Madalyn Blair that despite investing over $1 million into the Riverview location, it was never profitable and lost “up to $20,000 a month.”
“We spent millions of dollars to open that restaurant and try to keep it open,” said Brunetti to TBBJ. “It never generated a profit, not once. When you’re losing that much money every single month, how long could you go before you say enough is enough?”
The Riverview spot opened in May of 2025 and shared a plaza with The Milkshake Factory, Wing Snob, Einstein Bros. Bagels, Mission BBQ and a cannabis dispensary. It was also within a few hundred yards of a Moe’s, Chipotle, Tijuana Flats, Taco Bell, and a Qdoba.
“I thought, how could those folks out there in Riverview not appreciate something completely different than a chain restaurant that you could eat at in any other city in Florida?”, continued Brunetti.
The original Taco Dirty location in South Tampa is still open at 2221 W Platt St.
Pitch in to help make the Tampa Bay Journalism Project a success.
Subscribe to Creative Loafing newsletters.
Follow us: Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | BlueSky
This article appears in Sept. 17 – 23, 2026.