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If there’s any justice in this world, one day Los Angeles will have a Taco Truck Walk of Fame. It will probably be on a stretch of Olympic Blvd., and hopefully the plaques will be shaped like tacos instead of stars. One thing is for certain - Guerrilla Tacos’ plaque will have prime real estate.
Before it moved into a brick and mortar, Guerrilla was the truck where people would line up for 45 minutes to order fancy $4 sweet potato tacos. Many whined that the price was too high, but once they were standing in the street trying not to spill salsa down their fronts, they’d realize these tacos stood out from the thousands they’d had before. So when Guerrilla opened up in the Arts District, we feared that the food would lose its magic. Instead, they’ve built a restaurant that is unmistakably Guerrilla, with the added bonus of incredible non-taco dishes that they probably couldn’t have pulled off in a truck.
Somehow the restaurant feels just like the truck did - casual, with very friendly staff and fast service - except you’re sitting at a table instead of a gutter in Culver City. This is a big space with booths, a full bar, and an open kitchen that puts out food faster than streaming services release TV shows.
photo credit: Jakob Layman
If you’re looking for familiar faces (i.e., tacos) on the menu, you’ll certainly find them. They change up semi-regularly, but you’ll reliably find old favorites from the truck, like the sweet potato, mushroom, and fried cod tacos, plus a tostada with raw fish on top. None of those will disappoint you, but it’s worth branching out into some of the newer tacos too. The albondigas one absolutely falls apart (turns out chicken meatballs don’t often come in tortillas for a reason) but tastes amazing. The potato taquitos are cheesy, crispy tubes of carb on carb, and the pocho taco (with ground wild boar and cheddar) makes a very good argument for crispy taco shells not being the worst.
You could easily come to Guerrilla, order a bunch of tacos, and have a great time. But you’d be missing out on dishes that you couldn’t really eat on the side of the road - like the open-faced seasonal quesadilla that might have lobster and a fried egg on top, the fantastic veggie queso fundido, or the chopped up, garlicky, buttery, calamari steak that comes with little plastic sword toothpicks for delivery to your mouth. And if you do need a reminder of simpler times, come on a weekday morning for the breakfast burritos served out of a window that you’ll have to eat old-Guerrilla style: standing on the street or sitting in your car.
Guerrilla Tacos has come a long way. They have merch now. But they haven’t gone brick and mortar just to sell booze and make more money. They might have already earned their spot on our imaginary Taco Walk of Fame, but the permanent Guerrilla is also trying something new. And it’s absolutely paying off.
Food Rundown
Breakfast Burritos
photo credit: Jakob Layman
Sweet Potato Taco
photo credit: Jakob Layman
Baja Fried Cod Taco
photo credit: Jakob Layman
Pocho Taco
photo credit: Jakob Layman
Albondigas Taco
photo credit: Jakob Layman
Potato Taquitos
Hamachi Tostada
photo credit: Jakob Layman
Seasonal Quesadilla
Calamari Steak
photo credit: Jakob Layman
Oxtail and Fries
photo credit: Jakob Layman