Famous Filipino-American restaurant Guerrilla Street Food is for sale, owners Joel Crespo and Brian Hardesty announced on Wednesday. Crespo and Hardesty aim to sell all of Guerrilla Street Food’s assets, including the physical operation of Webster Groves (the equipment and lease takeover) and the food truck, to someone who will continue the business.
“We just want someone to carry on the legacy and keep it going,” Crespo told Off the Menu. “It would be a dream come true if someone else just said, ‘Yeah, I understand what you’re doing, and I think it’s important that this continues.
The decision to sell was “difficult,” he says. “because it’s our baby. It’s something we built from scratch.
Hardesty echoes Crespo’s sentiments, noting that the duo have dedicated nearly 12 years to Guerrilla Street Food.
“It’s definitely mixed emotions,” Hardesty says. “I mean, I’m happy for the possibilities of the future. I’m also a little sad to leave, but I know that’s what has to happen.
People also read…
The last day of operation for Guerrilla Street Food by Crespo and Hardesty will be April 30. The restaurant will close if it has not found a buyer by that date.
The restaurant will still be for sale after April 30, although Hardesty says it would be “much more advantageous” for a new owner to take over while the restaurant is still in operation.
Crespo and Hardesty launched Guerrilla Street Food as a food truck in 2011. As of January 2020, the duo had opened four brick-and-mortar locations – Tower Grove East, the Delmar East Loop, Maryland Heights and then the new Webster Groves – as well as a booth inside 2nd Shift Brewing on the Hill.
In February 2020, they closed the Tower Grove East and Maryland Heights storefronts. Later that year they closed the Delmar Loop and 2nd Shift locations. (They had closed two other satellite sites in 2019.)
Crespo and Hardesty have dedicated themselves to smaller scale and local ingredients at Guerrilla Street Food in Webster Groves, and Hardesty says community support has helped them turn Guerrilla Street Food into a profitable and manageable business.
As for their plans beyond Guerrilla Street Food, Hardesty is the managing partner of Affton’s 9 Mile Garden food truck fleet and its soon-to-open spin-off Frankie Martin’s Garden in Cottleville. Crespo, meanwhile, says he’s keeping his options open.
Guerrilla Street Food is located at 43 South Old Orchard Avenue.
Comments are closed.