Cochiloco | Scott's Addition — Restaurant in Richmond

In Richmond last weekend for my wife’s birthday. She had to work on Friday so I decided to lounge around and explore Scott’s Addition and the surrounding area. She recommended this place after one of her client’s introduced her to it while she was in town a few weeks ago.

I walked over from the hotel and got there within 10 minutes of them opening and there was already a small line and several other people that had already ordered. Good sign #1.

Immediately when you walk in you notice a bar setup to your left, made out of an old shipping container but painted vibrantly. The bartender was very friendly, as most people in Richmond seem to be, and welcomed me in immediately. You order your food further towards the back of the restaurant and pick from several types of tacos, burritos, and quesadillas.

Let me get this out of the way….this place is expensive. To me, 2 tacos for $10+ is pretty insane. If you get three tacos the price drops to about $4 a taco which is still a bit of a stretch IMO.

I ordered two of their tacos especiales (1 Cochiloco taco and 1 Sonora taco). The Cochiloco taco has adobada pork (al pastor), cheese, grilled pineapple, guacamole, cilantro and onions while the Sonora taco came with carne asada, cheese, roasted Anaheim peppers, beans, guacamole, cilantro and onions. Sounds great. The only problem was that I didn’t realize that all of those things came ON the taco. I incorrectly assumed that the guac and beans would be on the side which is definitely not my preference.

These tacos were stuffed to the brim and somewhat hard to eat. Flavor-wise, each was very good though I surprisingly preferred the Sonora (carne asada)…I’m typically al pastor all day.

After the tortillas collapsed over the sheer girth of these tacos I ended up finishing them off with a fork. A cardinal sin, I know, but I had to do what I had to do. For $13, I wasn’t wasting these bad boys.

Cochiloco has a self-serve salsa bar that had 4 or 5 different offerings. I tried the habanero salsa, the pico de gallo, and the salsa matcha. The habanero was the best to me because I love some heat. The pico was great and added a nice pop of freshness that those thicc tacos needed. The salsa matcha was like just about every other salsa matcha I’ve tried. Oily and earthy and the heat doesn’t resonate with me. I think I just don’t understand it.

Overall, even though my review may sound critical, I would definitely go back here. I think I should have stayed in my normal wheelhouse and stuck with the traditional tacos over the tacos especiales and probably would have loved it.

Next time you’re in Scott’s Addition, be sure to check out Cochiloco! If you’re a taco purist like me and prefer more simple tacos, I’d recommend avoiding the espeicales and sticking...

The first time I went here I was quite annoyed because their website says they are open until 12 on the weekends but that actually stop serving food at 10 pm (only the bar is open until 12 am). They need to post that information online because most casual restaurants that are open late at least have a late night menu with a limited number of dishes. I decided to come back another day and got the birria tacos. The flavor was just okay to me, I think Big Chile and Abuelitas have better birria tacos. I also think the drinks are over priced seeing as they have huge jugs of premixed flavors and all they do as add the liquor of your choice when you go to the bar. $14 for a drink that’s pretty much premade is steep seeing as there are nice bars in the area that make the drinks from scratch for the same price or less. For a restaurant where you have to pick up food from the counter, seat yourself, and clear your own tables, I think it’s overpriced. I would still consider coming back to try something else since my friend liked her quesadilla but I would probably stick to to-go orders because it’s...

This is a very cool hip spot in Scott's Addition. The carne asada tacos and shrimp quesadillas are really delish (especially the shrimp quesadillas). Great selection of specialty cocktails. I recommend the Sandia with tequila (You can choose the liquor for your cocktail, which in and of itself is a novel concept I love). Nachos and tostadas are also excellent. Bartender was very kind and gave me a tour of the tequila selections. This place has a unique selection of tequilas. A few that were unknown to me (and I'm kind of a tequila snob). When I was there a wild animated show was playing on the massive flat screen TV. Music cranks pretty loud, so you can't expect quiet conversations. The interior design and decor is creative, artistic and fun. It adds to the kitschy Latino vibe. Overall, a welcome addition in The...