Guerrilla Tacos: Recipes from the Streets of L.A. [A Cookbook] Hardcover – October 10, 2017

I was not sure about this since I'd never heard of this chef (I dont live in L.A.) But after getting the book i'd say this is a must buy! It is not a simple taco book. Rather is it an amazingly interesting cookbook with so so many variations of tacos, vege tacos meat tacos , seafood tacos, tostadas... just tons and tons and all simply amazing. This chef understands flavor! You wont regret this purchase

What an exciting book about tacos! I love this book. Sweet potato taco is Devine. I’m about to burn some pumpkin right now so I can try the burnt pumpkin tacos. His French l/fine dining training turns up in all of the advanced preparations that are the components of the final taco. And a great story

Wesley, Wesley, Wesley - WHY didn't I find you/attend the Griffith Park Food Truck Expo a few years ago?! Ugh! I'm in Ohio now. Thank Gawd for The Marketplace in Cleveland. It's the ONLY place I'll be able to find about 75% of ingredients. The rest, online. Oddly enough, I ran across your book while working/ fulfilling orders at Amazon. After shift, sat in parking lot, ordering it before heading home. Oh man. There's a couple of chains of "Mexican" joints/restaurants here in OH. Have tried them all. Just, so bland. Taco Bell for the, "east-side", & mild hot sauce, they can't handle. Might as well go grab a Swanson TV Dinner & ketchup. Peeps in OH get a nosebleed from mild plastic packets. Hell, I'm half Italian & cook WAY MORE MX/Baja, style. You've saved me! Mucho Gracious! (ONLY on page 81, drooling). And, my Mom has kidnapped the damn book. I guess I'll let her have it - Happy Cinco de' Mayo & Mother's Day! Cheers to You & Familia - be SAFE! WANT MORE! 🍈🌶🧅🌮🌯🦀🦞🦐🦑🍻

As always Wes has blown it out if the part. My partner and I love cooking, I was raised by chefs and cooks and my partner is a Chef. So sometimes when we get a cookbook and its a bit dumbed its kind disappointing. Now I am not saying you should have to go around the world and back and chop and blend a thousand things for every recipe but many times I think. No don't dumb it down I want to cook what you're cooking, your favorites, and thats exactly what he has done. There are seafood, vegetarian, beef, ox, pork and more recipes there is even a duck heart recipe. This book is beyond incredible and it reads well, it also comes with incredible art and graphic novel looking designs to help tell his story. I will never regret this purchase.

Okay, first off, the author swears too much. I get that you want to put YOU into your book, but for the benefit and unscarring of any kids out there that want to benefit from what you're offering, maybe tone it done a bit on the second edition or next book.All right, enough pontificating. The first recipe I made from the book was the Sweet Potato Taco and man was it awesome. The almond salsa--which doesn't taste like almonds, really, but is still incredible--was probably the most involved thing on the menu. (I made the mistake of buying red bell peppers instead of roasted red peppers, so I had to learn how to roast red bell peppers to produce roasted red peppers.) But I got through all that and the salsa was spicy and like nothing I've ever tasted. Glad I used half a habanero pepper in that.The recipe calls for Japanese sweet potatoes--never heard of!--so I used the regular kind and picked out the slimmest ones. Author says boil and simmer for 12 minutes. I say boil and simmer for 24 minutes. And then you're supposed to brown the coin-slices of sweet potato for 15 minutes per side in butter on medium-high heat, but I'd say low-medium for 8-10 does the trick. YMMV. Not sure what sort of stovetop arrangement the author had, but the second time around the browned sweet potatoes came out better for me.Eyeballing the "albondigas" recipe for the next prep. . . . Looks like meatball and pork stew with a lot of tomato. (In other words, looks tasty.)

I love Mexican/Tex-Mex and will take any excuse to try a new book. This one did not disappoint. As with most cookbooks like this, there are multiple recipes in each recipe so it does take a while. That being said, it is so worthwhile. Everything I've made has been fabulous. The fish tacos are the best ones I've ever made. Sometimes you may need to use your head to figure out if you really need to make a whole recipe of a salsa or topping because the proportions seem to be more for someone who is making these frequently (like a food truck owner) and not just for dinner one day. That's the only drawback I see and I wouldn't let it stop me from buying this book and using it often. Wesley Avila is an interesting character and makes a mean taco.

Heartfelt and comical, this book hit a home run for me. Wes is doing incredible things with Mexican food in Los Angeles and he shows us his secrets in this book. After playing with several recipes, I’ve found that they provide sophisticated balance of salt, fat, sweet, acid - all told from a humble perspective. The salsas and their flavor are symbiotic with their respective dishes, analogous to a sauce in any classic French recipe; likely an homage to his fine dining experience. Although many recipes are not super traditional, his cooking does not lack authenticity. It’s nice to have a Mexican cookbook written by an actual Mexican chef, and we’re lucky to have Wes in LA.

If you like cooking and eating tacos, I can not recommend this cookbook enough. It’s possibly the most-used cookbook I’ve ever owned! Each recipe is unique, not something you could just find on the internet. Wes does a fantastic job at pairing unexpected ingredients and flavors in a really cohesive and well-thought out way.