Brittney Valles starts her day at Tiago Coffee Bar & Kitchen in Hollywood. After a few hours of directing operations, setting up meetings, and making fundraiser phone calls, she heads to Silver Lake to oversee the construction on her next restaurant, Gogo’s Tacos. She finishes the day in yet another location, checking in with the team at Guerrilla Tacos, the Arts District restaurant she opened with chef Wes Avila in 2018.
Almost a decade ago, Valles fell in love with hospitality while working behind the counter at Handsome Coffee Roasters. There, she met regular coffee drinker and seasoned restaurant owner Bill Chait. She never missed an opportunity to ask him questions about restaurant operations, and when Chait opened Petty Cash Taqueria in 2013, Valles joined the team as a host and later a floor manager. While still working at Petty Cash, Valles started her own bookkeeping business, where she met Avila, a client who in 2016 would ask her to partner with him at Guerrilla Tacos. Valles accepted and worked there full-time as managing partner, raising funds, managing construction, and selecting vendors for the restaurant. Three years later, she became its sole operator.