A Taste of CDMX at Catrina Mexican Cuisine on Busch Boulevard
Plus, Bethia shares where to find zobo, a hibiscus drink you need to try.
Catrina Mexican Cuisine Starts a New Chapter on Busch Boulevard
By Erin Edwards
In the 1970s and ’80s, The Continent was a retail and dining destination—anyone remember the French Market? The Continent fell on hard times after the arrival of Easton Town Center, and these days the area around Busch Boulevard (so named for the nearby Anheuser-Busch plant) isn’t the kind of dining hub that, say, Bethel Road has become.
But we’re certain there’s at least one destination-worthy restaurant on Busch Boulevard and that’s Catrina Mexican Cuisine.
Catrina has been on the scene for a few years, but last year we thought the restaurant had closed for good. We missed the memo that it had simply relocated from its canary yellow building next to a used car lot on Ferris Road to a former Skyline Chili on Busch Boulevard. Had we known about the move, Catrina easily would have been mentioned in our recent Foodletter story, sarcastically titled “No Good Mexican Food in Columbus.”
Because Catrina does, in fact, serve very good, scratch-made Mexican food.
On a recent visit, owner Misael Bolanos told me a big reason for the move was the limited parking at Catrina’s previous location. Catrina, which is named after a skeletal icon of Día de Muertos (often depicted wearing a headdress), now has ample parking and is housed in a much bigger space—complete with a large solarium. There’s also a small bar in the back where you’ll find margaritas and beers. Other upgrades: Unlike the old location, this one has physical menus and accepts credit cards.
Bolanos proudly offers a Mexican menu of tacos, tortas, empanadas, soups and entree platters. It’s sprinkled with dishes inspired by his hometown of Mexico City (aka Ciudad de México, abbreviated to CDMX).
For example, on Catrina’s menu you’ll find a lot of lamb, which is a common ingredient in Central Mexico. On Sundays only, Catrina offers barbacoa de borrego, featuring slow-cooked lamb served with diced onions, cilantro and tortillas. I recommend adding one of the fresh salsas, green or red, served in squeeze bottles—but those sensitive to heat should beware the red.
Also offered one recent Sunday was Catrina’s excellent pozole rojo. This large bowl of hominy-and-pork stew comes topped with sliced radishes and shredded lettuce; it’s accompanied by fresh tostadas, a shaker of oregano and limes.
On a different visit, I enjoyed a generous platter of cecina adobada de puerco, thin pork cutlets marinated in red chile and vinegar; it’s served with rice, beans, grilled onions and corn tortillas. We also tried the lamb meatball soup known as consome de borrego, served with limes, cilantro and tortillas.
Birria-seekers will find the popular beef tacos here, accompanied by their requisite deep-red consome. (There’s even birria ramen.) The shrimp empanadas came highly recommended by our server, and we agree they’re top-notch.
If there’s one must-order at Catrina—I still have a lot of work to do on the menu, mind you—it’s the enchiladas verdes, tortillas filled with stewed chicken and smothered in a bright tomatillo green sauce that’s wonderfully lively on taste buds. To wash it down, be sure to order Catrina’s housemade agua fresca, served by the mini pitcher.
Bolanos says he recently added a trompo, a vertical spit used for making tacos al pastor. Right now, Catrina is offering three al pastor tacos for $6 on Wednesdays. We need to make a return visit to try those as well as the CDMX-style tacos, a Mexico City delicacy featuring french fries, pinto beans, grilled onions and a protein all snuggled in a corn tortilla.
Let us know in the comments if you make a trip to Catrina and what you recommend.
Find It:
Catrina Mexican Cuisine
6111 Busch Blvd.
(614) 505-0802
Global Drinks
Get to Know Nigerian Zobo
By Bethia Woolf
Over the last 16 years of taco truck exploration, I’ve drunk many quarts of crimson-red Jamaica agua fresca. This popular Mexican thirst quencher is brewed with dried hibiscus flowers. If you’re not familiar with hibiscus tea (aka roselle juice or Jamaica), it’s often compared to cranberry juice. It’s not just the color that’s reminiscent—hibiscus tea also has a tart, puckering quality. It’s fruity, sweet and sour.
In its various guises, hibiscus tea is a refreshing drink that’s also popular across Africa and the Caribbean, as well as in Thailand. In Columbus, you can find the Senegalese equivalent, bissap, at Dabakh Restaurant and the Jamaican version, sorrel, at Ava’s Taste of the Caribbean and other local Jamaican restaurants.
I recently tried the Nigerian style of hibiscus drink known as zobo, and I think it’s my new favorite variation. Based on a tip from Malini Swank of @lakesandlattes, I ordered the zobo tea at Foodateria Kenyan & Nigerian Kitchen, the restaurant that has taken over Wycliff’s Kitchen at 2492 Home Acre Drive.
While the new owners, Yetty Abimbola and her son Gideon, are Nigerian, they’ve kept Wycliff’s popular Kenyan dishes and added their own Nigerian specialties to the menu. So now, you can enjoy either East African, West African, or better yet, a medley of the two.
What really impressed me about Foodateria’s zobo tea is that hibiscus drinks can often be a little too astringent—this one isn’t. Yetty explained that Nigerian zobo tea (or at least her version) is made with pineapple juice, which helps cut the astringency. She also adds spices like cinnamon and clove. The result is more fragrant and balanced than typical hibiscus teas. It’s served over ice, and you can also buy it by the quart (or gallon!) to go.
Foodateria is open Wednesday through Saturday. In addition to the zobo, they also make a mango pineapple punch and an East African-style chai that’s heavy on the ginger.
Notes
Around the Columbus Food & Drink Scene
The accolades continue to roll in for Law Bird (740 S. High St.). The Brewery District cocktail and wine bar recently landed the No. 10 spot on Food & Wine magazine’s “10 Top Bars in the US, According to the Experts.” The recognition from Food & Wine comes not long after Law Bird was named a semifinalist for this year’s James Beard Awards in the Outstanding Bar category. Last year, we wrote about Law Bird’s monthly cocktail class series.
Easter is upon us, so be sure to check out Columbus Food Adventures’ list of local Easter-themed menus, events, sweets and more. You’ll see everything from The Refectory’s four-course Easter dinner to Pattycake Bakery’s cute lamb cakes.
An ’80s-themed dive bar is set to fill a long-vacant space in the Brewery District. According to Columbus Business First, VHS Social Club is expected to open this month at 520 S. Front St., formerly Brick American Grill. (Many will fondly remember the space as Handke's Cuisine.) The bar will feature ’80s and ’90s movie posters, darts, retro arcade games and even tables with TV/VCR units.
Have yet to find good Mexican restaurant outside of the southwest but hopeful this will surprise to the upside. T