DOHO Taqueria in Mount Airy fuses Mexican and Asian flavors, with help from Mural Arts Program

Like a lot of caterers, Mount Airy-based Catering By Design had a lot of free time after its 2020 events were postponed by pandemic restrictions.

It embarked on one project: preparing meals for Step Up to the Plate, a hunger-relief organization that converts donations into meals prepared by local kitchens and served to people experiencing homelessness and food insecurity.

Their more recent pivot is a Mexican-Asian fusion takeout/delivery spot called DOHO Taqueria, which specializes in rice bowls as well as fluffy bao tacos. (The name is a portmanteau of “DO” for dough and “HO” for the location on Hortter Street, just off Germantown Avenue.)

Through Catering By Design owner Peter Loevy’s association with Mural Arts Program chief Jane Golden by way of Step Up to the Plate, it got a boost: The high schoolers in the art program helped to design DOHO’s logo.

Chef Roth Perelman had wanted to open a taqueria for about 10 years but decided on the fusion approach.

The plan is to turn DOHO into a sit-down restaurant. Until then, orders must go through DoorDash and Grubhub. Pickup will send you on a curious route along Catering By Design’s outside wall and into the back door of the catering kitchen to get your food.

There’s solid execution of the cheffy bao tacos, which are substantial for $5 each, including umami mushroom, with pickled beet, grilled shishito, scallions, and sesame crema) and hot chicken, with fried chicken, copious bread-and-butter pickles, chipotle sriracha, and kewpie mayo.

One real menu star was a tempura shrimp bowl ($12), which had a generous helping of 10 battered shrimp and plantain chips atop saffron-seasoned jasmine rice, soy black beans, corn, radish, and pickled shishito, topped with carrot ginger dressing and crema. Napa cabbage can be subbed for the rice.

Hours: 4-9 p.m. Tuesday to Sunday.