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Celebrating 9 Years of Sabor
On July 4th, 2013, the first Sabor Latin Street Grill opened its doors on Hawthorne Lane with a mission to bring authentic Latin American street food to Charlotte. Now, nine years later, Sabor is 18 locations strong and still growing, extending beyond Charlotte to introduce its unique pan-Latin menu across the Carolinas.
“It’s been a fun rollercoaster,” says founder Dalton Espaillat, reflecting on Sabor’s growth. “The first two years, we were trying to figure out our identity and our place in the Charlotte food scene. After we were recognized for our freshness and authenticity, I decided to risk it all and continue to open stores in bigger markets within Charlotte.”
Once Sabor hit its five year anniversary, Espaillat knew he was ready to expand outside of Charlotte. Currently, Sabor has locations all over the Charlotte metro area, two locations in South Carolina and has just this year extended as far north as Winston-Salem, NC, with plans for a grand opening in Durham, NC later this summer.
But Espaillat doesn’t foresee Sabor stopping there. He hopes to deliver the fresh, authentic and bold flavors of Latin street food to even more people: “We want to start franchising after we develop the Triad and Triangle Area markets [in North Carolina] so we can start promoting our franchising opportunities outside of our state.”
Even with franchising opportunities on the horizon, Espaillat still sees the restaurant’s tight-knit family of employees as the heart of Sabor.
“The biggest achievement is our core employees that started with us have their own Sabor franchise location [in Kannapolis, NC], which turned out extremely successful for them,” he says. “I love seeing everyone rising together and success to spread around the people that helped us be successful.”
Did all this reading make you hungry?
Good reads deserve good eats. So now that you’ve filled your brain with fresh knowledge, it’s time to fill your stomach with our bold Latin street food.
