Guerrero Food Center

On Location - Sunset Park, Bklyn

Guerrero Food Center beckoned me as a potential chowhounder’s find on Brooklyn’s 5th Avenue. It’s a small Latino grocery store with a tiny kitchen tucked into the corner, a few plain tables set out next to the grocery shelves, hand written menus under the festive garlands which may or may not be leftover from Christmas, all under the watch of the Virgin Mary in a shrine perched on high.

I like to judge a place by its tacos and I’m just looking for a cheap snack. My lengua taco has long fried strips of tongue, not the hacked thicker bits I’m used to from TECC, and there’s not much taste to the meat. The cilantro and salty salsa verde are the dominant tastes. When I find myself walking by a few days later I enjoy my lamb taco a bit more. The meat is heaped on the two tortilla shells on my plate—more than enough for me to separate the serving into two tacos. The lamb is greasy and gristly, but tasty and well cooked, all I’m looking for from a $2 snack.

While the tacos are okay and cheap, there’s added value to my trips to Guerrero. There’s a jar of free NYC issued condoms on the kitchen counter to help myself to. The ones with Subway line lettering I’ve only heard about but not seen myself. There’s enough to go around, so I help myself to several handfuls under Mary’s watchful eye. Mother of Christ, avert your modest eyes! Warning, condoms are not 100% effective. They cannot protect against immaculate concepciones.

Guerrero Food Center

722 5th Avenue

Brooklyn, NY