You don’t head to a place like Sabor Latino for the nachos, for the same reason you don’t head to Chinatown for beef and broccoli. Bastardized versions of ethnic dishes are available at practically every eatery across the country (Applebee’s, for example, promises “England Fish and Chips” and a “Santa Fe Chicken Salad”). So if you’re fortunate enough to stumble into a place that stays relatively true to its origins — this one fuses Mexican and Salvadoran dishes — it’s often best to take your chances with less familiar offerings.

With that in mind, orders of tamal de elote ($2.50) and tacos dorados ($4.50) landed on our table. Fluffy and tender as cake, the wedge-shaped masa corn tamale boasted fresh corn flavor and paired brilliantly with a slightly salty slab of queso fresco and a dollop of sour cream. Fried-spring-roll-like beef tacos, meanwhile, improved with a dip into the tomato-y hot sauce, as the charred wrappers lost some of their bitterness.

A huge rice-and-vegetable-stuffed vegetarian burrito ($4), while a bargain for empty stomachs, didn’t compare to the smoky spirals of grilled shrimp — a/k/a camarones a la plancha ($12) — bolstered by traditional platos tipicos accompaniments: rice, salad, and a pool of tasty refried beans. And though dessert options include flan ($2.50), tres leches cake ($2.50), and either strawberry or pineapple cake ($2.50), our stomachs were sated after draining the vase-like schooners of refreshing pineapple and melon smoothies ($3.50).

Sabor Latino, 254 Brighton Avenue, Allston | open daily, 7 am - 10 pm | 617.779.0022.

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