This week our search for the best tacos in Chatt Town brought us to Sabor Catracho on Ringgold Road. This is actually a Honduran restaurant that also carries a few Mexican plates.
It’s not much of a stretch to have a Honduran restaurant offering Mexican Food. Honduras is part of Central America which is bordered at their north by Mexico and at their south by Colombia.
I’ve been to many local restaurants that offer Mexican and Guatemalan food and Guatemala is Honduras’ next-door neighbor. Catracho is the term used to refer to someone from Honduras. The term is also widely used to describe their vibrant, comforting, and hearty culinary traditions of the country.
Okay, the geography and cultural lessons are over. Now let’s look at this location.
When I first moved to Chattanooga this exact location was first the brick-and-mortar spot for Go Gyro Go before they went back to their food truck. After Go Gyro Go it became Coqui which offered Puerto Rican food. When Coqui closed it opened as Sabor Catracho. Then suddenly, it closed. I thought the location was jinxed or something.
It turns out that it was closed for almost a year after a fire in April of 2025 caused significant damage to the restaurant. RNR Tire, in the same strip mall, was spared from any fire damage.
So, I was pleased when I saw the now open banners and the parking lot full of cars. Inside you are greeted by a Honduran flag, a brightly lit interior, mid-size, yet roomy dining area and a couple of big screen TVs.
They have Mexican Street tacos. On weekdays they offer steak or chicken. On the weekends they also offer beef tongue and barbacoa beef. They serve breakfast from 7-11 a.m.
The Honduran classic is the Baleada Especial. It’s a flour tortilla filled with beans, cheese, sour cream, avocado, egg and your choice of steak or chicken.
I dined on a weekday, so I ordered one chicken and one steak taco and a side of frijoles (refried beans). The taco shells are larger than others double stacked, and the tacos are served with a lime wedge and slices of cucumber and radishes.
The beans were thick. My spoon stood straight up, that’s how thick they were. But they were fantastic. The steak was tender, so was the chicken. These tacos were delicious and now my curiosity is piqued, and I need to go back and try their beef tongue taco.
They have breakfast tacos. Eggs with ham, or Mexican chorizo taco, or ham alone, or egg and chorizo. They have regular tamales or you can get their Elote tamal.
They have an extensive lunch and dinner menu. What Hondurans call pastelitos is what we know in Mexican restaurants as empanadas. Three empanadas come in an order, and they’re served with coleslaw and sauce (aka pico-de-gallo). There were several dishes listed that mentioned tajadas, which is their version of fried plantains so now I’m also curious to see whether they are sweet like maduros or crisp like tostones.
They have Mexican style Carne Asada plate and their Honduran version which uses sausage instead of meat. They have soups and stews available on weekends and their sopa marisquera looks amazing, so yeah, I need to drop in on a Saturday. Shrimp, crab, calamari, clams, and octopus in a deep, rich broth and served with rice and corn tortillas.
They’re open Monday through Saturday from 7 a.m. until 9 p.m. and Sundays from 10 a.m. until 8 p.m.
Sabor Catracho
- 3507 Ringgold Road, Chattanooga
- (423) 654-9394
- facebook.com/profile.php?id=100093502125963
- $$ - $$$
What’s your favorite taco place and why? Send me an email at Pattyl@brewermediagroup.com