Dos Hermanos, a Columbus-based fast casual Mexican restaurant, opened an Athens location Oct. 18. The restaurant is located on 18 S. Court St., and shares space with Bubbles Tea & Juice Company, replacing Firdous Express.
The restaurant currently has about 30 employees, all students at Ohio University, and opened up with minimal advertising and notice.
Robert Packer, Dos Hermanos’ director of operations, commented on the decision to engage in a soft launch, as opposed to a larger opening.
“We don't really do like a corporate rollout, we want to embed ourselves locally,” Packer said. “We want to kind of have that opportunity to establish the relationships within the community, hire from the community. We view hospitality as a civic contribution, if you will, and in creating gathering spaces and economic impact and cultural value.”
Max Priest, readiness, operations lead at the Athens Dos Hermanos location, is an OU alumnus and said he wants to make sure customers are happy with the food prices.
Right now, the restaurant's entrees are priced between $5 and $16, starting with a single taco at $5 and going up to a market burrito at $16.
However, Priest said the restaurant plans to bring prices down by about $2 in the next couple of weeks.
“That's something that we are very conscious of, depending on what store and where it is,” Priest said. “I would rather serve hundreds more people for a couple of dollars less than have people be turned away by the prices.”
Other than the location recently opened in Cincinnati the Athens restaurant is the only Dos Hermanos location outside of Columbus. Priest said many in Athens might be unfamiliar with the chain and wants to bring Athens and OU flair into the restaurant.
“We're gonna get some OU swag back there, and then we're gonna get an Our Lady of Guadalupe mural back here, and then do a little Athens twist,” Priest said. “We're actually gonna have our employees do it, so we were gonna get a local artist, and then we ended up having some employees who are really awesome artists.”
Packer said the restaurant is open until 3 a.m. every night to address the need for late-night food options.
“There is a great need of good fresh food available late night, both for students and third shift workers and other people who sometimes have a little less access to quality, fresh, daily-made food,” Packer said. “We wanted to be able to kind of fill that gap there in Athens and the community.”
The Dos Hermanos location serves food such as burritos, tacos, quesadillas and nachos. Packer said the restaurant is most notably known for its daily made salsas and its birria tacos.
Packer commented on how Dos Hermanos utilizes authentic Oaxacan recipes to create fresh food.
“What truly sets us apart are the traditional family recipes and hospitality, the true Oaxacan hospitality, and true Oaxacan recipes that have been passed down through Vicente and Fidel’s family recipes,” Packer said.
The restaurant utilizes two kiosks to order food and is also partnered with DoorDash, Grubhub and Uber Eats to provide delivery services.
Additionally, Packer expressed the location's intentions to collaborate with OU organizations.
“I know that some of the university organizations have reached out for large group ordering and catering services, so we will partner and either do direct delivery on those, or we can partner with third-party delivery services,” Packer said.
