Salsas, Swag, and Cookbooks: Your L.A. Taco Guide to Supporting Restaurants While Cooking at Home

[dropcap size=big]L[/dropcap]os Angeles restaurants, and the nameless thousands of workers that help them run, are facing deep trouble. After citywide shutdowns of dining venues, bars, and street chefs, a large number of these businesses are confronting their very extinction.

By now you likely know that the best way to support restaurants is to order meals for delivery or pick-up, and by buying gift certificates and or restaurant-issued bonds for yourself and your loved ones.

But if you’re on a budget or not living in precise delivery zones, there are still a large handful of restaurants you can support as a home-cook. Several well-known restaurants and cafes have their own products for sale online for shipping or delivery. We’re talking about edible merchandise you can cook with or consume, like sauces, spices, and sweets.

And of course, there are plenty of local chefs the city adores who also offer their own cookbooks so you can recreate some of their favorite dishes from the social distancing comfort of your own home.

Here is our L.A. Taco guide to products and cookbooks you can buy online from our local restaurants. Buy a few for yourself or someone else if you can, it might make a small difference to their survival, as well as to the people who depend on them for their livelihoods. We hope to keep this list updated if there are any products we’ve missed that you happen to love.

L.A. Restaurant Pantry Staples

Amor y Tacos: 5-pound container of braised short rib, chicken tinga, or carnitas with green or red sauce, and a pack of tortillas.

Ayara Thai: Thai BBQ Sauce

Baltaire: Signature Steak Sauce

Belcampo: Bone Broth

Bludso’s BBQ: Dry Rubs and Bludso’s Original BBQ Sauces

Cake Monkey: Dessert Gift Boxes

Chichen Itza: Habanero Hot Sauce

Eataly: Pastas and Italian Pantry Items

El Barrio Neighborhood Tacos: El I-Hooo-Le michelada mix, made by El Barrio chef Ulises Pineda-Alfaro

Ester's Wine Shop: Wine and Caramel Gift Boxes

Front Page Jamaican Grille: Jerk Sauce

Gabi James: Wine, cocktails and gin n' juice Jell-O shots.

Go Get ‘Em Tiger: Subscription Coffee

GoodBoyBob: Coffee and Coffee Subscriptions and Tues. and Fri. delivery of market provisions (such as eggs, cold brew, oat milk, house granola, chicken congee, wine, avocados, Bub & Grandma's bread) when you email ben@goodboybob.com

Greenleaf Gourmet Chopshop: Wellness Kits and Food Boxes

Gjusta: Pantry, Spice and Coffee Gift Boxes

Guelaguetza: Pre-Prepared Oaxacan Moles and both I Love Micheladas mixes

Guerrilla Tacos: Emergency Coffee Kits and Cold-Brew Coffee Kits

Joan's On Third: Assorted Snack and Wine Crates

Jon & Vinny's/Helen’s Wine Bar: Chocolate bars

Manuela: Grocery delivery within 10 miles, including egg from its on-property chickens, steaks, chicken breasts, milk, peanut butter, flour and coffee.

Mulberry Street Pizza: Pasta Sauce and Chile Oil

Pablito's Peruvian Tacos: Peruvian Crack Sauce

Philippe the Original: Hot mustard and Pickled Chile Peppers

Rao's: Pasta Sauces, Soups, and Dried Pasta

Salt's Cure: Oatmeal Griddle Cake Mix

Sqirl: Assorted Jams

Trejo's Tacos: L.A. Picante Hot Sauce

Vinovore: Wine Subscriptions

L.A. COOKBOOKS

AOC: The AOC Cookbook, from Chef Suzanne Goin and Caroline Styne

Bar Amá: Amá, A Modern Tex-Mex Kitchen, from Chef Josef Centeno

Bestia: The Bestia Cookbook, from chef Ori Menashe and Genevieve Gergis

Birdie G's: On Vegetables: Modern Recipes for the Home Kitchen, by Chef Jeremy Fox

Button Mash: Adventures in Starry Kitchen: 88 Asian-Inspired Recipes From America's Most Famous Underground Restaurant

Crossroads Kitchen: Crossroads: Extraordinary Recipes From the Restaurant That Is Reinventing Vegan Cuisine, from Chef Tal Ronnen

Death & Co.: Death & Co Modern Classic Cocktails

Grand Central Market: The Grand Central Market Cookbook

Guelaguetza: Oaxaca: Homecooking From the Heart of Mexico, from Bricia Lopez and Javier Cabral

Guerrilla Tacos: Guerrilla Tacos: Recipes from the Streets of L.A., from Chef Wes Avila

Felix: American Sfoglino: A Master Class in Handmade Pasta, from Chef Evan Funke

Kogi/Chego: L.A. Son: My Life, My City, My Food, from Chef Roy Choi

La Casita Mexicana: A Simple Guide To Great Salsas! (Bilingual), by Jaime Martin Del Campo and Ramiro Arvizu

Lucques/Tavern: Sunday Suppers at Lucques, from Chef Suzanne Goin and Bar Chef: Handcrafted Cocktails, from Head Barman Christiaan Rollich

Matthew Biancaniello: Eat Your Drink

Petit Trois/Trois Mec: LudoBites: Recipes and Stories From the Pop-Up Restaurants of Ludo Lefebvre

République: Baking at République Cookbook, from Chefs Walter Manzke and Margarita Manzke

Sqirl: Everything I Want to Eat: The New California Comfort Food From L.A.'s Sqirl, from Chef Jessica Koslow

Valerie Confections: Sweet, from Valerie Gordon

L.A. Restaurant Merch

Dia de Los Puercos: T-shirts, hoodies, socks, and cups

Cofax: T-shirts 

Guerrilla Tacos: Schwag

Evil Cooks: This 'Make Tacos Great Again' T-shirt available via DM on Instagram

Mariscos Jalisco: This Lakers-inspired snapback available via DM on Instagram

Rose City Pizza: T-shirts!

Prime Pizza: Some highly fashionable pizza gear

Tacos 1986: Wear your love for their tacos via T-shirts and more

Editor's note: Please feel free to link and shout out other spots that we missed in the comment section.