Kokopelli Restaurant & Tequila Bar

Got a groupon for the tasting menu
They are OUT OF BUSINESS effective ¹²⁄₁. Yeah a day after a groupon went out.

I cannot review Kokopelli since my reservation was cancelled due to a mix-​up with their license with the city. I’ll let you know once they call me (like the host said they would) to reschedule my reservation.
Best of luck Kokopelli working through all the paper work with the city.
Can’t wait to try your tequila — I’d love to love you and bring more business in.

aaaaand once again Groupon saved my ass a lot of money.
Décor: The restaurant itself is actually pretty nice. Brighter than most restaurants and there are these neat beaded curtain/​walls that allow them to place tables close together while maintaining some privacy for the diners.
Service: Waiter was really on top of things; as we finished each course our next one was arriving. Great timing made for a seamless meal.
Bf purchased a Groupon for the Chef’s 5-​course tasting menu for 2 for $ 40. Now I was expecting some teeny tiny portions, but it was full-​size everything. I didn’t think my stomach cavity was going to make it through this meal intact.
Appetizer: corn fritters and green chili stewed chicken.
Tamale: Braised beef and BBQ chicken. Meat was on top of the tamale not in it. weird, but good.
*almost full at this point.
Soup: Southwestern corn bisque. (Sweet, super rich, almost too rich).
Entrée: We both got the NY strip which was cooked exactly to our specifications. Served with creamed corn which was remarkably similar to the corn bisque, hmmm.
Dessert: At this point most of my blood was hard at work, trying to digest the inhuman amount of food I have just eaten. In lieu of that… I don’t really remember this last course very well.
Tequila: We both ordered 1 drink a piece since this IS a tequila bar. They were both very strong; I guess that’s what you’re paying for.
Bill before coupon: $ 142.00
Bill after coupon: $ 24.00 (for the drinks) Thanks Groupon.
So, the food is pretty good but VERY expensive for what it is. I’m not sure I would be pleased with this bill if I hadn’t had a coupon. (It would have panned out to $ 170.00 with tip for 2 people!!!). This would have been acceptable if the food was outstanding, but it just… wasn’t; many of the flavors just kinda fell flat. If you want A LOT of food for about $ 70.00 less, go to Chima or Fogo de Chau.
Would I go back? Most likely not. If I did it would go to try the blue corn fried calamari, bison sliders, and bronzed salmon.

Extremely disappointing. Short version: LONG wait for everything, expensive lackluster food, extremely inattentive and unhelpful service.
Long version:
Went here for a birthday dinner with a medium-​sized group recently, and we couldn’t wait to get out of there by the end of the meal. Unfortunately, we did a lot of waiting.
The restaurant itself is lovely – lots of light; clear, modern décor; a beautiful bar. We had a lot of time to admire it amidst all the waiting we did.
Everything took ages to get to our table, and the service was terrible. Whenever we wanted to get our server during the meal, he was nowhere to be found. Most of the other servers kept disappearing from the dining room as well – it seemed as though the place was understaffed, except that it wasn’t even that full.
We waited a long time for our margaritas and… they weren’t stellar. I wouldn’t even say they were particularly good. They were just over the hump of «unobjectionable.» I’ve had better in pretty much any nice bar. I was also a bit disappointed that they came in basic rocks glasses. There was all this beautiful glassware in the bar, and combined with the fancy décor, I kind of expected to get nicer presentation.
The wait for our food was unacceptable – especially since this restaurant doesn’t even offer any complimentary starters. If we were going to wait 25 mins for our drinks alone, and well over half an hour for food, it would at least have been nice to have some chips and salsa to tide us over. At some point, one of the other guests looked around and said «hey – look around – do you see food on ANY of the tables?» And he was right, there was maybe one table with any sort of food on it.
The food came out in a rather haphazard fashion as well. One of our party ordered a side as an appetizer, and didn’t receive any food when the rest of our apps came out. Usually restaurants understand that you need to arrange the service so that people aren’t sitting there hungry without any food while everyone else is eating, but not so here. We even went up to a waitress at the bar (could not find our server – as mentioned above) and inquired about the side-​as-​appetizer and asked that it be brought out soon – and nothing happened. Our friend had to wait for his side to be brought with the main meal, which – of course – was only delivered after another wait.
The food itself was not impressive. It was not bad – but this is not a cheap restaurant. For this money, I would prefer that the food be better than «all right.» Some of the dishes were nice, but a lot were mediocre, and it generally tended toward bland. I might feel more charitably toward the food had the service and the experience itself not been so frustrating, but I still feel like I can spend the money better elsewhere.
We couldn’t get the waiter to get the dessert menu. We had a hard time getting him for the check. I had asked for a birthday dessert to be delivered to our table for the birthday girl, and I was beginning to think it wouldn’t get there. It did, finally, arrive – after all the other desserts! It was supposed to be a surprise – should have been carried out with the dessert menu – what if she had decided to order a different dessert and didn’t even have room for it? Although once she tasted it, she didn’t want it anyway – it was a pound cake that tasted like cardboard, and was topped with a raspberry sauce that absolutely did not work for it.
We had asked for the bill at the same time we ordered dessert, and we still had to wait after we were done eating it to finally receive it. I think we even had to ask one more time. We were seriously contemplating just walking out, since the servers didn’t seem like they could be bothered to get us our bill.
Anyway, not worth it.

My boyfriend and I had «dinner» at Kokopelli last night (I’m using quotes because the food was so bad I’m not sure it even constitutes as a meal). We had made reservations for dinner at 9:15. When we got there, they made us wait for about 15 minutes before seating us, and once we were seated, we were so close to the couple next to us that we were practically sitting in their laps.
It took about 20 minutes for a waiter to come over to us to offer us water or take a drink order. Once we finally ordered, it literally took over an hour for us to get our food, which came out soggy and overcooked.
I would only recommend having dinner here if you’re not too hungry, because you’ll be waiting over an hour to get fed. Bring a book. Or better yet, go somewhere else.

TEKELA.
tequila.
there we go. by the time you leave, you’ll be too drunk off of 6 different types of tequila to care much anyhow. but your stomach won’t ache because you’ll eat plantain fries to coat your mucosa.

I have dined here twice. Once when it first opened with Chef Gina Rodriguez, and the other time during Sips. Let’s talk about my first experience back in Jan ’11. They were first starting out, so the remnants of the previous sushi place were still around. It was a Southwestern Tapas place with purple neon lighting! I think that was the only thing that bothered me because the food was incredible! We were a table of four (including one vegetarian), so we ordered the whole left side which had all seafood/​veggie options. We tasted an ahi tuna appetizer, tamales, shrimp, and all things from the sea. Delicious from the start to end! Service was great since there were only a few tables that were seated, and the chef even stopped by to say hi. Definitely made me want to come back!
Which I did, but probably at the wrong time. Fast forward to today at Sips. New chef, new lighting (thank goodness that neon bright-​in-​your-​face lighting was gone!), and crowds. There were people everywhere, especially the bar area. The whole back dining area was filled to capacity which made it a lively atmosphere, but it was hard to talk to the people who I was with. They were literally millimeters away, yet we had to keep repeating ourself to make out what the other was saying! Service stretched itself thin since our server was taking and delivering orders for everyone in this area. She did get our orders right, but somehow the food was lacking in taste and the presentation that delighted me months back. The menu is not tapas-​style anymore, but we were able to try the (plaintain) chips and trio of salsas, ahi tuna crudo, and the crab and cheese dip. The crab and cheese dip was memorable, but they only give you 5 quarter-​sized pieces of bread. Note: They charge an extra $ 1.50 for more quarter-​sized bread!
I might try it again. Hoping for a better experience!

I finally had a chance to dine at Kokopelli, outside the parlance of a Unilocal Elite Event and it was pretty good.
A few of us came here after the inaugural sips across the street. It was a hot evening and we were in need of AC and then food, in that order.
I began with a glass of cabernet and the table ordered the corn fritters, buffalo sliders and the chorizo mac and cheese.
Corn fritters were fried at a good temperature that left them light and flavorful. They were served with a tomato soup-​esque dipping sauce which I liked. The bison sliders were the best of show in my opinoin because each part of the sandwich, (burger, cheese, pickle and bun) all came together very well. The slider was cooked perfectly and had lots of flavor. The chorizo mac and cheese while tasty did not thrill me. The first two items alone make me want to go back and sample more of the menu.
Our waiter was prompt and very pleasant. I see Kokopelli as a place that flies under the radar a bit but where you can walk in for a rather decent meal at a very fair price.

Kokopelli: calling your food ‘tapas’ does not give you the excuse to allow your guests to leave hungry after a ‘four-​course’ meal. Nor does it give you the excuse to make your food bland and cold.
FWIW, the upstairs lounge has cool drink glasses served up with surly service.
Let me remind you that restaurants and lounges are actually in the service industry, where excellent service are necessary before even thinking about good food or drinks.

I had come here for a pre-​Valentines dinner, and walked away with a mediocre experience. I recall our server being very eager and anxious to please which was great, but a bit overbearing since we were one of two tables in the whole place. The tapas were hit or miss with what we ordered. The tequila flights were pricey but made sense to do at a tequila bar. All in all, I wasn’t wowed and didn’t think I would be returning until…
For the finale of my birthday night out, all I wanted to do was dance. And I didn’t want to deal with a crowded dancefloor, being surrounded by grinding couples, or long lines to take a round of shots before the next great song played. I know its selfish, but I almost wanted an entire dancefloor to ourselves for my friends and I to act like crazy dancing fools without any weird looks or ridicule. I was skeptical when my friend suggested this place and unaware that there was even a dance floor, but the Upstairs Lounge at Kokopelli did not disappoint for my birthday mission!
It was a Saturday night, so I was surprised how empty it was, but perhaps still being a new-​ish place on the scene they haven’t attracted many yet. I thought the music was great as the DJ played a mix of old and new familiar. My two girlfriends and I must have danced for 2 hours straight with our husbands looking on just wondering if we would ever collapse. I know I lucked out with this place’s lack of popularity on a Sat. night, and I may screw my spot here for a crowd-​free good time in the future, but I definitely recommend this place to the masses who are looking to, in the words of Lady Gaga ‘J-​J-​J-​Just Dance’!

I returned Kokopelli for a second meal and am sad to say it will most likely be my last. The food is still great, but unfortunately the suffocating, and at times perplexing, service was enough of a turn-​off to not want to go back.
Upon arriving, my date and I were seated directly next to another twosome. Not something that would bother me, except for the fact that the entire restaurant was empty, and at max one group came throughout the meal. I was RIGHT next to another person, close enough to accidentally touch their table or arm. Why would the hostess EVER seat us there?
The waitresses (who was even our waitress? who knows. so many random people constantly coming and going it was impossible to tell) were overbearing and way too talkative. They pressured us to order more, constantly asked if we wanted more to eat, and really did nothing positive.
We brought a $ 50 food certificate that we had purchased online for $ 25. I’m sure they sell a lot of these (several hundred at least), but when I went to use it to pay I was greeted with what only could be called rudeness. The waitress seemed confused and, honestly, annoyed. I was still planning on tipping on the full amount, as I always do with these sorts of certificates, so there really is NO reason for her to be disrespectful about my using it. It took forever for her to return with the check, which came with yet another passive-​aggressive rude statement about using the certificate
In the end, I really am sad at how horrendous the entire service experience was. Still, the food is great. I can only hope that the chef/​owner figures out how awful their hired help is fix it fast, before it leads to the demise of the restaurant.

REVIEW FOR NIGHTLIFE:
I first went to Kokopelli for an Elite event, and I’m happy I returned to check it out again. I went on a Saturday night, and while it was a little empty (probably because it’s still fairly new and could use a few promoters) me and my friends had a decent time.
I really enjoy the music at Kokopelli because they play a little bit of everything (hip hop, house, oldies, pop, electro, etc.). Basically, the DJ will play anything to keep the people dancing, so that’s always a good thing.
The crowd here is not pretentious at all, everyone just wants to have a good time. Even if you can’t do anything more than a two-​step or a fist pump, you won’t look like a complete fool. I even found a few grannies (age 60+) gettin down!
I really enjoy the layout of this place. There’s a small lounge area to your left when you walk in, two bars at each end of the large dance area, and more seating along the dance floor. Any place with ample seating where you don’t have to pay an arm and a leg for bottle service just to rest your feet is a big plus for me (and my ladies who like to where 5″ heels).
All in all, Kokopelli is a chill spot to get wasted and DANCE the night away.

A Rue La La coupon brought us back here after having a fantastic time at the elite event held here a few weeks ago. We were really looking forward to some top notch «small plates.»
Our server was excellent, and our dishes came out with great timing. As soon as we had finished one or two plates, the next choice was soon to follow. Our party of four tried a large portion of the menu: southwestern corn chowder (delicious), crab dip (awesome bubbly, cheesy, served with *stale* crostini), short ribs, barbecue ribs, scallops (only two on the plate, slightly undercooked… seemed a bit spendy…), green chili stewed chicken (definitely my fav dish of the night), and the shrimp-​filled piquillo pepper (a close second fav).
My margarita wasn’t too sweet, which I was very happy for, but my second drink was… well…curdled! I ordered the Onyx — Patron XO mixed with coconut milk… clearly these two things should NOT be mixed together… there were little white clumps floating around, and it really did look like curdled milk, the coconut also muted the flavor too much. Ah well, guess that was a poor choice of drink.
Pretty spendy, we didn’t even stay for dessert and it was well over $ 200 for four people. (2 – 3 drinks per person)
I think next time I’ll go for HH or lunch… but probably not again for dinner.

Overall the food was great, but very expensive. The ambiance was rather grey, but I suppose the simplicity helped steer focus to the main event — the food.
We ordered several dishes to share:
Chorizo mac and cheese (very light sauce, a loose interpretation of «Cheese» and a very nice smoky flavoring), Pulled Chicken (moist and creamy, one of the table favorites), a Chicken Tamale (I did not enjoy the flavor as much as other dishes), Shrimp filled Pepper, Short Ribs (great flavor, rather dry), scallops (well-​prepared but nothing new and 2 for $ 14), bison sliders (great flavor, slightly dry, as bison tends to be), the babyback ribs were great (and I generally don’t eat things with bones!). I also tried a house margarita (awesome) and a flight of tequila (seemed to be the thing to do, though I am not hardcore enough into tequila to do it again.
And this could just be circumstantial, but the guests were 95% female when we were there. Just thought it was curious. Our server was very pleasant and the food came out very quickly, and it was nice not to wait a long time for an entrée.
I would definitely go back.

The service was ok, the choices of tequilla were pretty cool, but man oh man the food here is freak’n awesome (assuming money is no object for you)…
The ahi tuna on chips was perfect, almost like ahi tuna nachos, except you only get 3 of them, but they were stacked so well, and the tuna was so fresh and just right that I didn’t care. The chorizo mac and cheese was outta this world, but i’m a bit biased cause im a chorizo whore, however, sometimes people screw-​up chorizo (i.e. Jose Garces at Amada, sorry, and yes i just went there, it just wasn’t good chorizo), chorizo as i understand it is supposed to be greasy and extremely flavorful, and this was both, paired with mac and cheese you can’t go wrong. The mussels are also a great choice, steamed to perfection and the sauce was fantastic.
If this place had a few solid craft brews on tap, an easy 5 stars…

I would have given this place 4 stars if the prices weren’t so high and if the drinks weren’t so inconsistent. I had their classic margarita and their blood orange martini and the blood orange martini is, by far, the better choice. I found the margaritas either too strong or way too sour (and expensive for $ 13!). Furthermore, every drink was always different from the one before!
I LOVED their bison sliders. They were very moist and the buns were perfectly toasted. Their plantain chips were a bit too salty, but the guacamole dip that came along with them was very good (and a bit spicy!). I wouldn’t recommend the spoons filled with fish and beans. The two ingredients didn’t complement one another.
The music was very fun and the dance floor upstairs was nice and spacious. The DJ spun old-​school tunes from the 80’s that were light and great for dancing with friends. I am not sure whether I’d come back, but it’s worth a try.

Only a dum-​dum would get a Smirnoff on the rocks, believing that it was simply a shorthand for Smirnoff Ice.
That would be me.
But at least I quickly got into a good mood! My friends and I had previously left the suffocating crowd of the bar across the street, and ventured into this very empty looking but inviting space of Kokopelli. It turned out to be a two floor deal with the more hopping scene to be found up a narrow staircase.
We walk up a flight and BAM. I was struck by the amount of elbow room I was getting! No fighting at the bar! It was a Saturday night, and there were people but not so many. (Yay for A/​C!)
The music had a good — not awesome — dance beat (But DJs come and go, so I can’t really dock off a star for that). The general ambience waslounge-​like, as there were stretches of little white sofas against dimmed purple lights lining the walls. It was classy.
I’m a little boggled by why there wasn’t a larger crowd; drinks were normally priced ($ 5/​well; $ 3 special for some types of beer) and there was plenty of dance space. That being said, this is a place that could fill up quickly, so I guess I should be careful of what I ask for!

We went here with 6 people, and after reading that they offered over 50 tequilas, one of us wondered how many we would be able to polish off. This kind of set the tone for the evening, but alas, not all of us were up to the task and we only finished 16! But some of them were amazing. As you might expect, the Partida and Asombroso flights blew us away (they are the most expensive).
We started with a complimentary margarita (they were offering it to Unilocalers! Thank you Kokopelli and thank you Unilocal!YAY!) which was very good. It was their signature margarita, not some dumbed-​down version because it was being offered gratis. This of course put us all in a VERY good mood.
The yucca and plaintain chips were perfectly fried and came with 3 salsas, all were good. One small complaint is that there weren’t that many chips so of course we had to order more.
We tried almost every dish on the menu. All were absolutely perfectly done, most were very flavorful. Some of the highlights were: tuna crudo on a tortilla chip, very attractive, different, and tasty. Garlic chile prawns, crab cakes with lots of crab meat, bison sliders (phenomenal, do not miss these!), and stewed chicken. Yes, the stewed chicken was a surprise.
Some of the items that made me scratch my head a little were the short ribs, the baby back ribs and the scallops. None had enough of that southwestern feel to them, and the baby backs needed another 3 hours of slow-​cook. Not complaining but these three didn’t fit the rest of the menu as well. They were also a bit heavier than the rest of the menu, which is tapas style. Also, the oysters were overwhelmed by the salsa.
The service was impeccable. Our waiter knew everything, and was extremely helpful. Even the owner came by to say hello and make sure we were satisfied. Overall, this restaurant is a winner, we were all very happy with our experience, and we will be back. If they tinker with the menu a little and firm up that southwestern theme, I would raise my rating too!

I enjoyed my meal at Kokopelli as much as I love the standup comedy of jokester Ann Coulter.
In fact, in honor of Ann Coulter, I will describe my dishes in her style.
Southwestern corn bisque — It tasted delicious. The prawn was tender and the bisque was thick and flavorful. The only thing that makes me happier than good soup is racial profiling.
Garlic chili glazed prawns — These taste like something that southern women would have made before they could vote. Back then, they spent lots of time in the kitchen so they could master their God-​given responsibility to feed a man. This dish is well-​disciplined.
Bison sliders — These were fine. They did not stir any conservative fury within my loins, though.
Shrimp/​garlic cream tamale — This made me happier than a Jew who abandons his religion in order to be perfected.
Seasoned sweet potato fries — If I had to choose between this dish and watching John Edwards die in an assassination plot, it would be a really tough decision. These are good fries.
–
Seriously though, this is a really great place and it deserves your business. It is an approachable Tapas restaurant with reasonable prices and amazing food.

We sat at the bar for dinner last Friday night. I believe they had just opened a few days before.
The design/​ambience: slick, modern, contemporary.
The drinks:
We ordered the house Margaritas — not that great. They make it with orange juice and a little lime… it tasted like fruit punch. It should just be lime, no orange juice in a margarita — just tequila, Cointreau (or orange liquor of your choice) and lots of fresh squeezed lime. I could see if they had a list of different margarita’s, but I believe this was the only margarita on the menu. For the second round I asked bartender if she could make it with just lime… and it was very good.
The thing that impressed me about all the Margaritas was that they make sure to only salt the outside of the glass rim! I’ve been to some great mexican restaurants that have no clue when it comes to salting the glass rim — way too many places put the salt on the inside as well as the outside. That’s a major faux pas — any good bartender should know better. When the salt is on the inside, it winds up in your drink and makes it — salty! So they get major points for doing the salt thing right!
The food:
The chef is clearly well skilled! We had a feeling just by looking at the menu and we were not disappointed. We had already noshed earlier so we tried to order on the light side.
The southwestern corn bisque w/​grilled prawn and smoked paprika oil was exceptional!
The blue corn fried calamari and rock shrimp with a cranberry chipotle dipping sauce was very good, but they were missing a little seasoning.
The grilled caesar salad was great.
Also had the yucca & plantain chips with trio of salsas — exceptional! The only issue was they didn’t give you enough chips in the cute paper bag. The chips were gone but we still had a lot of the 3 salsas left. They need to be a little more generous with the chips.
The service:
Since we sat at the bar, I can’t comment on table service. The staff seemed a little scattered, but that’s to be expected in a place that just opened. The 2 bartenders were nice, pleasant and accommodating. All of our dishes were brought out by a gentleman from the kitchen with a brief rundown of what he was serving. It was a nice touch.
We’re looking forward to going back and trying more items.