There have been taquerias on Cherokee Street for a few decades now, but none like this. Kalbi Taco Shack is one of the latest incarnations of inexpensive Mexican/Asian fusion, a trend that was first driven into the national food consciousness by the Korean/Mexican Kogi BBQ Taco Truck in Los Angeles, then got a permanent foothold in the St. Louis area when David Choi rolled out his Seoul Taco food truck. The quirky storefront fits in perfectly with the growing collection of progressive food purveyors on Cherokee, among them Yaquis, Earthbound Beer, VISTA Ramen, I Scream Cakes, and Whisk.
The vivid interior—with orange 1960s-style diner chairs, “EAT” in giant block letters on a wall, and the restaurant’s name in bright-blue graffiti over an orange-and-yellow sun—is a perfect scene-setter for the menu’s bold flavors. Be sure to look up, too: The silver pressed-tin ceiling is a subtle reminder of the building’s 19th-century heritage.
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Ordering is done at a window to the kitchen that’s surrounded by a chalkboard delineating the choices: both the delivery service and a protein. The former include burritos, rice bowls, quesadillas, banh mi, or tacos. Into these can go sweet-and-spicy chicken, spicy pork, tofu, or Korean grilled boneless beef short rib (a.k.a. kalbi), with teriyaki chicken recently written in as another alternative.
Each of the full-flavored Asian sauces creates a melding of sweet, tart, and spicy. “Kalbi aioli” adds a sneak-up-on-you kick to the tacos, burritos, quesadillas, and banh mi, and sweet pickles are added to the burritos and banh mi. The rice bowls are similar to a traditional Korean bibimbap; rice is topped with one of the proteins, the pickled carrots, radish, romaine lettuce, a fried egg, and a drizzle of fiery chili sauce.
Meals are a bargain, ranging from $5.95 for a quesadilla to $7.95 for a burrito. Cabbage kimchi, cucumber kimchi, and Asian slaw are all available as $2.50 add-ons, but only a large appetite requires them. And the beverage list includes nine exotically flavored bubble teas, none of whose vivid colors occurs in nature.
In addition to seating for about 20 people inside, there’s a brick patio out back. On our visits, it took between five and 10 minutes from the time we walked in the door to when our food was ready.
Sure, Kalbi Taco Shack is a new thing for Cherokee Street. But it’s also a perfect evolution from the old and the recent—and the kind of counter-service place that just about any neighborhood would welcome with open arms.
