Fresh, Bright Farmers Market-Driven Street Food - Guerrilla Tacos (the Brick & Mortar) - Grand Opening! [Thoughts + Pics]

Yup, he was just at the pass facilitating and inspecting as any EC would.

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Great point @ipsedixit. We still remember our Lobster Quesadilla vividly from the truck last year. It was so massive and overflowing; from the sounds of these follow-up reports, itā€™s as if Chef Wes and the staff have to be really cognizant of cost of materials per plate (i.e., penny pinching / measuring exactly whatā€™s needed) and it sounds like they are on the frugal side unfortunately.

Hi @Ns1,

Iā€™d agree with that. During these past ~2 years prior to him opening up the brick and mortar, GT has felt more inconsistent for us as well. There were more times that Wes wasnā€™t at the truck (traveling or probably preparing for the opening); and many of our favorite rotating dishes never returned to the rotation (maybe just locking in a starting menu with whatever assistants he had?).

I normally donā€™t kvetch about restaurant taco prices vs. truck taco prices. It is almost an impossible situation for restaurant owners. Street taco lovers do not cut brick & mortar taco places any slack. They donā€™t care about organic, local, sustainable - they want a cheap taco that is delicious and to use a JGold word ā€˜traditionalā€™. Iā€™m of the former and tend to fret over such things. But with that said, when I saw the size of the tacos I could hear the roar of the crowd in my head and at $80 (tip incl) even my head snapped back. So I have to agree with the roar on this one.

That would have been fantastic.

This

I saw that.

I do think this is a great opportunity and location, and he can pull this off to be not just successful, but very good.

Everything I had was bettter than the truck. Not even close. Fucking perfection.

Cauliflower (left) - Pork Char Siu (right)

Shrimp Tostada

Baja Fried Cod

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I think the cauliflower with burnt tomato Chile , dates, olives, pine nuts and parsley was my fav. Each ingredient added its lovely presence - with out crowding out the others - to each bite. Kind of awestruck by it.
But it all was wonderful.

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Are they still busy as hell over there?

Not very today - I was there from 1:30 - 2
No line when I arrived. Small line of 3-4 peeps built for a moment. Plenty of seating.

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Itā€™s funny - as I drove N on Mateo I saw a huge mass of people in line and filling up a parking lot (which I assume would be GT) - I started mentally ditching my plans and heading for the SGV. Turned out it was a drop of some new sneaker from clot.

Must be a big deal with the young hip crowd.
I didnā€™t even know that ā€œa dropā€ was a thing until I stopped to ask what the deal was with the crowd.

Give me some crappy shoes from Rossā€¦All.Day.

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Yep, there are frequently lines like that outside sneaker & skate shops on La Brea and Fairfax, one next to Animal, to put it in a food perspective. :slight_smile: It was interesting. When Animal first opened there would be people waiting outside even with a reservation. We were curious about what the kids were waiting in line for and they curious about the restaurant the grown folks were waiting in line for.

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Iā€™m too old for that. Still love my Jordans.

There is a sneaker store on La Brea about a half block up from Sycamore Kitchen. On some weekend mornings when my wife and I stop by Sycamore kitchen for breakfast about 8:30 am there is a line for the sneaker store for a special ā€œdrop.ā€ A couple of months ago we walk by the line and a youngster looks at my shoes, and says ā€œHey, Old School, nice shoes,ā€ and points to my Adidas Stan Smiths.

I respond: ā€œYeah, been wearing Stan Smiths for 35 years.ā€ Stunned silence.

  1. I am old.
  2. Just wait long enough, and you are back in style.
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Indeed

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Let me know if anyone is interested in an unworn pair, still in its original packaging image

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My son and his friends pre-order online. Like games. Thereā€™s no line-standing.