Brothers deliver Mexican fare that goes beyond standard dishes
In Spanish, “dos sabores” means “two flavors.” I’m assuming the new Mexican restaurant bearing this title is referencing its owners — brothers Miguel and Cesar Ramirez — rather than its appealing cuisine because the eatery clearly features more than two flavors. Less blatantly apparent: The establishment, open since May, offers a couple of easy-to-love Mexican dishes not seen in most taquerias.
Adding to its moldbending profile, there are multiple ways to refer to the business. But whether you know it as “Dos Sabores,” “Do2 Sabores,” or “2 Sabores Taqueria and Mexican Grill” — the latter appears on its awning and menu — expect to enjoy freshly made, mostly great-tasting food.
You can also expect a humble, if not Spartan, dining room located in a strip mall just north of East Dublin-Granville Road. In parlaying their former taco truck (since sold) into a brick-and-mortar operation, the Ramirez brothers have created a tidy space with helpful table service plus a few lively decorations. Above a new wooden floor, you’ll find botany-textbookworthy illustrations of sunflowers, papel-picado banners, a couple of TVs that often show Mexican soccer games, and a photograph of a Ferris wheel with “Puebla” written in the foreground in large, colorful letters.
Puebla, the culinary hotbed near Mexico City where mole was invented, is the city that also gave birth to a locally uncommon, musttry item available here: the cemita. Essentially a terrific round torta, the sandwich is fashioned with a standout house-baked roll that’s puffy, has a crinkly shell and conjures sesame-seeded brioche.
In addition to a selected filling — try the thin, crisp and delicious chicken schnitzel called Milanesa de pollo ($9) — standard cemita toppings include addictive Oaxaca cheese, avocado, The barbacoa memela at 2 Saboras The cemita de milanesa de pollo at 2 Saboras
ham, creamy refried beans and either pickled jalapenos or sweet-and-spicy chopped chipotles (or both, if you’re like me). For even more oomph, hit it with the spicy (and good) red and green hot sauces dispensed from tableside squirt bottles.
The memela, a relative
steal at its $4.50 to $5 price tag, is the other rare, musttry item available here. Related to the huarache and sope, it features a flat-andthin griddled handmade oval masa disk that arrives toasty and crisp. Atop this comforting raft are refried beans, queso fresco, lettuce, What: Dos Sabores Taqueria and Mexican Grill Where: 6042 Huntley Road Contact: 614-781-0713, www. facebook.com/do2sabores Hours: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Fridays, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturdays and 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday. Rating: (out of five) Price range: $2 to $16 Ambience: simple but tidy space with a few lively decorations and helpful table service Children’s menu: yes Reservations: no Accessible: yes Liquor license: none Quick click: A couple of rare but easy-to-love dishes help distinguish this generally strong-performing new taqueria.
tomato, onion, cilantro plus plenty of a chosen taco-style meat. The barbacoa, which recalls pot roast stewed in red mole sauce, works well.
Fairly typical taqueria fare rounds out the eminently navigable menu. Fans of guacamole would be wise to order it as the uncommonly nuanced and balanced version freshly prepared at 2 Sabores is among the best I’ve sampled this year ($6 for a generous portion; served with warm house-fried tortilla chips that could’ve been less oily). Unlike myriad others elsewhere, this guac is neither too creamy nor too chunky, and its perfect chili kick is modified by just enough brightness and cilantro.
The tacos are solid (most cost $2). As expected, they’re “street-style” and assembled