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The Cochiloco taco, a large flour tortilla griddled with cheese, then loaded with pork, grilled pineapple, guacamole, cilantro and onions
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Cochiloco is located at 3340 W. Moore St. on the ground level of The Otis development in Scott’s Addition.
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The dining room inside Cochiloco was inspired by taco shops in Mexico.
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The team behind Cochiloco imported these metal tables that are commonly found in Mexican taquerias.
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The dining room inside Cochiloco
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Cochiloco has a spacious dining room, featuring an indoor-outdoor bar with a garage-style window that connects to the patio.
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Diners can order food at the walk-up counter inside the restaurant or at the takeout window in the patio area. Online ordering is also available.
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The metal framing around the bar was designed to resemble the metal commonly used for homes in Mexico.
From the foldable metal tables scattered across the dining room to the checkered cement floor, bright tiles and bar stocked with buckets of salsa and cut radishes and limes, stepping inside the newly opened Cochiloco is like entering a portal to Mexico: A sip or two of tamarind agua fresca, and it feels more like you’re in a taco shop in Jalisco than on the ground floor of a modern apartment building in Scott’s Addition.
Located at 3340 W. Moore St. in the bottom level of The Otis development, the fast-casual Mexican concept made its debut earlier this week. Drawing inspiration from taquerias in cities such as Mexico City and Guadalajara in Jalisco, and states such as Monterrey or Sonora, Cochiloco co-owner Paulo Benavides says, “Those metal tables are usually in taco shops in Mexico, … so I found a place that made them in Mexico and sourced those. The type of checkered tiles [in the dining room] is very iconic of Jalisco and the towns surrounding Guadalajara. It really means something to us that we’re from there.”
Paulo and his brother, co-owner and chef Nelson Benavides, were born in Jalisco and come from a family of restaurateurs. Together, the pair operate Hibachi Box, Hibachi House and Y Tu Mama, and they also owned Pepe’s before selling the business to employees in 2021. For Cochiloco, the duo are joined by longtime business partner Adan Delacerda, as well as Walter Amaya, who has worked in the kitchen with Nelson for the last 13 years.
“We’ve been in hospitality since we were born,” Paulo says. “In Mexico, you have to help out your family; you go to school but help out. I can remember walking around as a kid taking orders at the table.”
While the aesthetic details inside Cochiloco, which translates from Spanish to “crazy pig,” are a thoughtful ode to the Benavides’ home country, so are the food and drink offerings. Guests place orders at an orange-tiled walk-up counter, and the menu taps into the traditional, with tacos including carne asada, adobada/al pastor, carnitas and grilled chicken. Diners will also find special tacos including the namesake Cochiloco, a large flour tortilla griddled with cheese then loaded with marinated pork, grilled pineapple, guacamole, cilantro and onions, and the Campechano, a meaty combo of carnitas, housemade chorizo and chicharron on a corn tortilla. Quesabirria tacos — braised beef or chicken grilled with cheese in a tortilla and served with consommé for dipping — a huge hit at sister concept Y Tu Mama, are also available.
Another Cochiloco specialty is the crispy, comforting tacos dorados. “It’s very down home for us, like Jalisco-style,” Paulo explains. “In Mexico, before we moved here, our dad used to have a restaurant called a cenaduria … more like a mom-and-pop place that opens in the evenings, and one of the big things we sold the most of there is these fried tacos.”
Using a recipe from the Benavides’ mother, Beatriz, the tacos dorados are typically vegetarian creations but can be spiked with carne asada or chorizo. Filled with seasoned mashed potatoes, tortillas are then fried and topped with lettuce, sour cream, pico de gallo, queso fresco and a “Jalisco-style tomato sauce, or salsa, that’s not too thick, but has a bit of spice and a bit of jalapeno,” Paulo says.
Other items include quesadillas, burritos, loaded Cali fries, nachos, chori pollo (chicken and rice with cheese sauce and chorizo), and sides such as garbanzo soup and elote, aka Mexican street corn. The menu is a mix of fare familiar to the brothers, and to the public. “People are expecting something from us, but we also want something on the menu that is nostalgic to them,” he says. “We have the cheese sauce, the white sauce, we got it.”
With a larger kitchen at Cochiloco, Paulo says, the hope is to roll out specials gradually, and he hints that Nelson has a knack for seafood-centric dishes such as ceviche or aguachile. As for beverages, housemade agua frescas can be spotted swirling in drink dispensers at the bar. Along with margaritas and draft Mexican beers, there are also eight batched cocktails available, a collection of refreshing, fruit-forward sips that can be made with tequila, mezcal or rum. The drinks range from the Cochi-Paloma and Cochi-Horchata to the Guayabitos, made with guava juice, banana puree, ginger liqueur and passion fruit juice, or the Mango Mio, a mango, passion fruit, lime, pineapple, coconut water and Cointreau concoction.
The space is complete with an outdoor patio and takeout window. Paulo says Cochiloco was designed with the neighborhood in mind, and it supports their vision of shifting away from full-service restaurants.
“We wanted to do something [with] that sort of like casual atmosphere, good food, [where] someone in a hurry can get a quick bite and drink; no frills, street tacos and Mexican favorites,” he says. “[Cochiloco] is a very nostalgic place for us, and hopefully for Mexican people that go there.”
Cochiloco is open Monday through Thursday from 4 to 10 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
