Triangle Mexican restaurant expands to a second location. Where to find it
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Kahlovera grew from a food truck to a Chapel Hill restaurant, then expanded to Durham.
- New Durham site at 2812 Erwin Road adds seating and sits near Duke Hospital.
- Menu keeps food-truck staples, highlights birria, burritos, tacos and vegetarian plates.
A taco joint that started out as a food truck just opened its second brick-and-mortar restaurant in the Triangle.
Kahlovera Mexican Bar & Grill, a Mexican restaurant serving tacos and popular dishes such as carne asada, recently expanded into Durham. The first location, in Chapel Hill, debuted about six years ago, Katherine De Oliveira, who handles the behind-the-scenes work for the restaurant, told The News & Observer in a phone call.
Her husband, Edy Barahona, owns the restaurant, which is named for the artist Frida Kahlo.
After operating out of a food truck for a couple of years, attracting customers and seeing demand for the food, Barahona decided to open a permanent restaurant.
Kahlovera’s menu kept the same items served during its food truck days, and added more options.
Again seeing a demand from customers, Barahona saw an opportunity to expand to a second location, this time in Durham. The new restaurant is larger than the original and offers much more seating for customers, De Oliveira said.
Kahlovera’s menu
On weekends, Kahlovera serves quesabirria tacos and a birria dinner ($15), which De Oliveira said are popular orders.
Throughout the week, Kahlovera’s burritos ($14-$15) — available with steak and shrimp, grilled chicken and chorizo, and grilled steak — are top-sellers.
The restaurant sells street tacos filled with a customer’s choice of meat options, served three to an order with rice or beans ($15-$17). It also offers huaraches, oval-shaped corn refried tortillas topped with a customer’s choice of meat plus lettuce, refried beans, pico de gallo, queso fresco, sour cream and jalapeños ($13-$14).
Vegetarian options ($14-$17) include tacos, a burrito bowl, a burrito and fajitas, spotlighting ingredients such as grilled bell peppers, zucchini, squash, rice and beans.
Its tortillas, salsas and other menu items are made from scratch.
Kahlovera’s new location
Kahlovera is located at 2812 Erwin Road in Durham, walking distance from Duke University and its hospital.
It’s not the first Triangle restaurant with food-truck origins.
The Latin Effect, which began serving dishes including baleadas, arepas and pupusas last year on Chapel Hill’s busy Franklin Street, started as a food truck in 2020.
Though it closed last year, downtown Raleigh’s Mofu Shoppe traced its origins to the food truck Pho Nomenal Dumpling.
This story was originally published January 22, 2026 at 3:22 PM with the headline "Triangle Mexican restaurant expands to a second location. Where to find it."
