To the mostly Mexican members of the well-read TLO audience, “calacas”—or, in an alternate spelling kind-of-way, “kalakas”—needs no introduction. They are the distinctive skulls and skeletons, grinning among the festive decorations that color the city in early November to celebrate Día de Muertos, or, in English, Day of the Dead.
“Kalakas” is also the name of a great Mexican restaurant at 4101 N. MacArthur Blvd in Warr Acres—one that fully leans into the dark, celebratory vibe of the semi-morbid iconography I grew up with... something most non-Mexicans will probably never quite get.