Everything you need to know about the new Sabor opening Uptown on Monday—plus the 3 most-ordered menu items

Dalton Espaillat is opening his 12th Sabor Latin Street Grill location at 300 N. College St. on Monday at 11 a.m.

The fast-casual restaurant should start serving alcohol about a week after the opening date. The menu should feel familiar — there won’t be any changes from his other locations for now, but there could be new menu items in the future.

The 5,000-square-foot location will be two stories, with the restaurant group’s corporate headquarters on the second floor. The first level will house the restaurant, which will feature a kitchen at least twice the size of the other locations.

“Half of the kitchen is going to be to support the daily operations, and the other half is for catering and also for training purposes and testing new menu items,” Espaillat said.

Espaillat expects around 60-70% of the orders to be for takeout. But if you’d prefer to stay a while, the restaurant can seat around 40 people.

The murals inside, done by artist Juan Eduardo Martinez, features scenes from El Salvador and the Charlotte skyline. Street food vendors from the Dominican Republic are featured, as well as Telma Moran (making tortillas). Moran owned a bodega in New York City and is the source of many recipes on the Sabor menu. The mother of Miriam Espaillat, Sabor Director of Community Engagement, and the mother-in-law of Dalton Espaillat, Sabor Owner, is also pictured on the wall. Check out the mural here.

If you’ve somehow never been to a Sabor, here are the most popular menu items, according to Espaillat:

Arepa

Venezuelan style white maize cake filled with shredded chicken, diced tomato, onion, cheese and rosada sauce, $5.95

Yuca Sabrosa

Yuca fries with shredded chicken sautéed with tomato and onion, topped with cabbage, pico de gallo, cabbage cotija cheese and rosada sauce, $8.95

Empanada

Fried pastry filled with cheese and your choice of ground beef, shredded chicken, chorizo or veggies, $3.95

Sabor’s hours will be Monday-Sunday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.

This story was originally published January 10, 2019 at 12:03 AM with the headline "Everything you need to know about the new Sabor opening Uptown on Monday—plus the 3 most-ordered menu items."