La’au’s Taco Shop has a simple, catchy concept: Take the tried-and-true soft taco and dress it in a Pan-Pacific pile of goodies such as peanut- and miso-marinated grilled chicken with cool green papaya, or mahi-mahi seared with cumin and pepper and tucked under springy napa cabbage with a golden crown of mango.The unlikely pairings are the brainchild of Joseph Coleman, owner of the Blue Star, and Denver professor Matt Shea. And this seems to be part of Coleman’s plan for world culinary domination. Even with its pesky apostrophes, La’au’s (pronounce la-OWs) seems designed for replication — a Meso-American-Asian fusion Borg ready to spread from its hard-to-find address in the back of Colorado College’s Spencer Center to bourgeoise neighborhoods everywhere. It would be a creepy proposition if the place weren’t so darn phenomenal.Lunch is served in an ultramod space that’s more Ikea than taqueria. The seats are space-age cubes. The walls are complementary panels of wood and lights. What makes the whole thing really sing, though, is the skill and calculation that goes into the ingredients. The setup is Chipotle-esque:a pared-down menu arranged in trays behind an open counter. Order individual tacos ($1.50-$2.15) or sets of four ($5.50-$7.75), then orchestrate the adding of toppings however you choose.Start with a corn tortilla or light, crusty flour version made in-house and puffed for a few seconds on the grill. Add your choice of skillfully seasoned meats, such as carne asada in a garlic and citrus marinade, red pepper shrimp or a dynamite shredded pork slow-cooked in ancho chili. Then top it with either napa cabbage or thin ribbons of crunchy green papaya.Next comes the house-made salsa. Mango-jalapeño salsa has little more than the name implies, and is fantastic on the pork. The roasted corn with red onion, lime, chiles and spices is just as sweet and tangy, but in an entirely different way. The Aji de Peru is a hot mix of garlic, peppers, celery and lime. Dress it all with a flurry of sharp, crumbly cotija cheese and fresh cilantro.Results can be mixed. For lunch a few days ago I ordered a combo plate that tasted good enough. Then I came back for dinner and another guy working the counter offered different combos that rose to a whole new level.It was a slow night, so instead of meats languishing in the hot trays, he said “I hope you don’t mind if I cook this up fresh.”As he threw a thin sheet of steak on the grill he asked how I’d like it done.“Raw,” I said, and with a few quick flips of the meat over the heat, he set it on the counter and chopped it up.He combined pork with mango; chicken with papaya and aji; and fish with papaya, mango and corn salsa.Then he came to the steak, which I’d had before topped with a pico de gallo that was puckeringly sour.“Honestly, I’m not digging the pico,” he said. So, instead, he packed a tortilla with a simple mix of steak, cilantro and cotija cheese like you might find at a taco truck in Zacatecas. It was awesome.And the plastic cup margarita ($3.50) he recommended on the side was to perfect match: no extra sugar, just tequila, triple sec and limeade. Other, more fancy margs could learn from this one.La’au’s has its problems. One of the main ones is that the menu suffers from lack of mobility. There’s no grab-andgo grub such as a burrito that a CC student riding a longboard could munch while skating to class.Until that and other minor inconsistencies are fixed, Coleman’s culinary Borg may have trouble assimilating the rest of America. Thankfully, if you live in Colorado Springs, you don’t have to wait.LA’AU’S TACO SHOP**** (four out of five) (Fantastic)Address: 830 N. Tejon St., Suite 110 (through the alley)

Phone: 578-5228

Entrees: $1.50-$7.75

Hours: Everyday 11am – 9pm

Vegetarian: Inspired veggie tacos

Liquor: Beer and margs

Plastic: Yes

The tacos at La’au’s Taco Shop area made to order. Located in the rear of 830 N. Tejon Street where there is patio dining Photo by CAROL LAWRENCE/THE GAZETTE