Kokopelli, the flute-tooting Hopi trickster fertility god whose emasculated likeness appears on more tie-dyed T-shirts, skateboards, beach towels, and fanny packs than Bob Marley’s, arrived in Wicker Park a few months ago in the form of yet another upscale taco joint. If the neighborhood seems to have hit critical mass for this particular kind of cheffy taqueria (see Big Star, Antique Taco, Takito Kitchen, Authentaco, and occasionally Xoco Bistro), it’s because the City Council secretly rezoned it as a taco increment financing district, subsidizing the proliferation of $4 tacos.
Some of these tacos aren’t too bad, their flavors distinct and bright. It should be no surprise that the best tacos on the menu are the ones that are the least complicated, like the Rasta, featuring snappy chimichurri-marinated shrimp with pickled onions, bell pepper tapenade, and a nutty pumpkin-seed salsa. But in most cases it seems like a fourth element is one too many. The La Chota has tamarind-glazed pork, sweet-and-spicy coleslaw, and pickled vegetables—why does it need bacon too?
1324 N. Milwaukee 773-698-7670kokopellichicago.com
