Sneak Peek: Guerrilla Street Food on South Grand

  Guerrilla Street Food junkies who’ve followed the Filipino food truck since 2011 no longer need to wander the city in search of their favorite roving eatery. Guerrilla Street will open a brick-and-mortar location tomorrow, July 21, at 3559 Arsenal St., near South Grand Boulevard. Co-owners Joel Crespo and Brian Hardesty have developed a menu that includes traditional and contemporary Filipino mains, sides and snacks. Regulars will notice a number of specials from the food truck – crab ceviche, duck adobo poutine and the fried-chicken delight that is Iron Manok – have been turned into staples at the dine-in establishment. While these dishes fall within the “new school” selection, Guerrilla Street’s half dozen “old school” rice bowl offerings like chicken adobo, beef mechado, and its wildly popular Flying Pig, will appease purists (although the dishes are available wrapped in a burrito). Specials will also include dishes like steamed buns with a rotating filling. Entrees can be rounded out with a handful of side dishes such as fries made with purple sweet potatoes (ube) or ginataang greens, a Filipino-rendition of creamed spinach prepared with coconut milk. Smaller bites from the merienda, or snacks, board include garlicky roasted peanuts, barbecued pork skewers, a sweet pork sausage (longanista) corn dog and lumpia, Filipino-style egg rolls, available fresh or fried. The indecisive can opt for the dine-in only Kamayan platter: a smorgasbord of 15 items traditionally eaten with fingers. Diners can wash down the feast with a selection of local Excel sodas or Guerrilla Street’s house-made tropical drinks like the lemonade-esque Calamansi Cooler or the 1-inch Punch, which combines black currant and pineapple juices with coconut milk. Like the food truck, the 26-seat restaurant is a counter-service eatery. The walls are decked with Filipino artifacts like license plates, a replica battalion flag from its war of independence against Spain and the requisite oversize wooden fork and spoon found in every Filipino kitchen. “We try to take every opportunity to expose people to Filipino culture,” Crespo said. Diners can get a taste of the Philippines Monday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., and Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. Here’s what to expect when doors open tomorrow:   [gallery type="slideshow" ids="41588,41587,41583,41582,41586,41585"]  

-photos by Michelle Volansky