Dos Bros announces three new locations in Chattanooga area

Mexican cuisine restaurant brings local flavor to market

Two years after the debut of Dos Bros in Cleveland, Tenn., - and six months after adding a second store in the food court of Hamilton Place mall - the owners of Dos Bros are looking to open three more locations in the next year.

The Mexican cuisine restaurant is building stores in Hixson and Ooltewah and looking for a downtown site for another Dos Bros location. The new 3,200-square-foot location in the Town Center North shopping center, near the Target store on Highway 153, should open this summer. An Ooltewah site being built in the White Oak Crossing off Lee Highway should be ready to open in early 2018, and the restaurant developers also want to add a downtown site soon.

"We're doing great in both Cleveland and Chattanooga, and we just feel like we offer a special kind of food that isn't offered by anyone else," said Milan Patel, who co-founded Dos Bros with Kush Shah in 2015. "We hope to be open within 90 days in Hixson, but it just depends upon construction."

The Hixson site is located where Blue Coast Burrito previously operated a store and is across Highway 153 from Moe's Mexican Restaurant and Tex Mex Grill.

"When we opened in Cleveland, there really wasn't another burrito restaurant, and we were incredibly well received," Patel said. "Even in the food court at Hamilton Place, we're the only Mexican offering. So we're kind of excited entering the Hixson market and to show what we are really made of going against some national chains in the area."

Patel and Shah said they see themselves "as the little hometown guys taking on the big established brands," and they work to support local community programs where they operate.

"We want to keep the brand consistency and quality, so for now we want to focus on the Chattanooga and Cleveland markets and see how that goes before we consider going to other cities with this concept," Patel said.

The restaurants are in leased space and typically cost about $400,000 to build out each site, Patel said. The new Hixson store will likely have 30 to 35 employees.

Patel, who also owns Orange Leaf and also previously developed a Pita Pit in Cleveland, opened the first Dos Bros along with Shah. The two developers compliment one another "and it's really been a perfect fit," which yielded the Dos Bros (two brothers) moniker.

Dos Bros, which bills itself as "your hometown fresh Mexican grill," uses locally sourced vegetables, hormone-free meats prepared daily. As a fast casual restaurant, the typical meal ticket is $10 or less without a tip, Patel said.

"We have good quality, fresh food, but it comes out much faster than a traditional sit-down restaurant," he said.

Contact Dave Flessner at dflessner@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6340.

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