We had an amazing experience during our recent trip to Chicago at Kasama. Our dinner consisted of…read more13 courses. Each dish was thoughtfully prepared, beautifully presented, and delicious. It was such a fun experience getting to try the chef's own take on Filipino cuisine. The quality of the food really stood out. My personal favorites were the nilaga and halo halo. The service was also excellent -- everyone was attentive, welcoming, and made the entire dinner feel special. I also couldn't help but notice how different the ambiance was. The kitchen area was open to where you could directly see the chefs. I usually feel chaos at times watching their every move along with them shouting over each other, but I felt a sort of calmness here. No one looked stressed or angry - just a bunch of chefs doing what they do best in a calm and quiet manner.. which I appreciated! Overall, a wonderful dining experience from start to finish. Definitely worth trying if you're in Chicago!

Waited in line about 15 minutes before opening and keep in mind, it was a Wednesday morning,…read moremidweek, and I probably waited about 45 minutes outside in order to get in the front to order my food. The service overall was pretty good people when you got there was helpful and allowed you to orient yourself a little bit to the restaurant. You order at front and they give you a number and they escort you to a seat and wait for your food. I had gotten the breakfast sandwich and it was pretty fantastic! The hash brown was crisp and perfectly cooked and the sausage was flavorful, and everything was great! 4.5/5 Their latte was pretty great as well. Good flavor and good coffee taste! 4/5 Overall, I would say that this is a cute little restaurant with decent amount of seating but still very limited space it is designed to be more of a casual coffee shop however they do have a fine dining aspect in the evening that you can make reservations for. Overall, I enjoyed my experience here, however while the food was pretty good, I'm not sure if it was completely worth a 45 minute wait or not. It was good, but I don't know if it was that mind blowing to wait an hour for, if I'm just being completely honest. But I would go again to try more things

I was so happy to discover Bayan Ko Diner, a vibrant fusion of two rich culinary cultures -…read moreFilipino and Cuban - within walking distance of our ceramics class. My daughter and I came here for the first time last month on the last day of our summer session, and we returned a few days ago on the first day of our fall session. I love the beautiful, trendy décor, with Filipino and Cuban wall art displayed on opposite walls. The restaurant is clean, comfortable, and inviting. Our first visit was a solid four stars. The service was good, although not particularly memorable. The food was good overall, but not everything was a hit. We ordered: - Lumpia Shanghai ($7 for 1/2 order, 2 pieces) - Filipino spring rolls with pork, scallion, and Mom's garlic sauce. The skin was crunchy and the filling was flavorful, although the rolls were quite small. - Adobo Wings ($16 for 1/2 order) - crispy fried chicken wings with adobo glaze, served with rice. The wings were delicious, but we received 5 drumettes and only 1 flat. We would have preferred more flats, or at least an equal number of flats and drumettes. - Bistek ($20 for 1/2 order) - Korean beef short rib with Spanish onions, served with rice. The meat was full of flavor, but unfortunately quite tough. My daughter wasn't a fan, so I ended up finishing the whole thing. I was actually glad this was a small portion. I had a Virgin Pandan Mojito ($10) and my daughter had a beer ($8). My mocktail was okay, but nothing particularly memorable. Then they completely redeemed themselves on our second visit! We had the entire restaurant to ourselves at first, before two other tables arrived, so I had more time to appreciate the space and really enjoyed the atmosphere. A special shout-out to our server, Christopher, who was warm, welcoming, extremely friendly, and professional. My daughter ordered their signature cocktail, Lola's Drunk Again ($15), but then realized she might be allergic to one of the ingredients. Fortunately, she hadn't taken a sip. Christopher and another lady, who isn't always there, graciously took the cocktail away without charging us. My daughter then ordered a different cocktail, El Toro ($14), which she enjoyed. I just had an orange juice ($4). We ordered the following, and enjoyed everything: - Croquetas ($6 for 1/2 order, 2 pieces) - smoked jamón with Jufran aioli. The exterior was crunchy, while the filling was delicious, creamy, and not too salty. I would definitely order these again. - Ropa Empanada ($8 for 1/2 order, 2 pieces) - beef brisket, sofrito, and mojo crema. The crust was a little thick, but crunchy and easy to eat. The beef inside was tender and flavorful. - Ropa Vieja ($17 for 1/2 order) - beef brisket in sofrito, served with rice, black beans, and sweet plantains, which we requested to be served on the side. Even the half portion was quite generous. This was perfect comfort food - flavorful, filling, and satisfying. There was an abundance of shredded beef, and it was tender, tasty, and easy to cut apart. - Ube Ice Cream ($5 per scoop) - Since we were already full, we shared a scoop. We didn't order the banana split, but Christopher gave us a really generous scoop, which was much appreciated. The ube flavor was excellent, and the ice cream was creamy with a nice texture. I would definitely order this again. Overall, all the dishes we tried on our visits had bold, distinct flavors, and the ingredients tasted fresh. We already can't wait to come back and try a whole bunch of other dishes! Bayan Ko Diner will definitely become our go-to spot after ceramics class!

I really wanted to love this place. We went she s cubs game hoping for a delish meal. However, we…read moreboth thought the waitress was a bit cold and when we first arrived, there were only two tables with customers We ordered two teas. The hibiscus tea I had was pretty delicious. Then we ordered the lechon whole portion but we had such a good day that we did not want to sour the day and send it back it was supposed to be crispy pork but instead it was a plate of pork fat pieces - maybe 10% meat. We took the leftovers to our dog as he will eat anything. The wings were really good I'll say. The croqueras were okay Id say; not the freshest or maybe the oil was dirty. Cute place however.

Delicious spot for a Filipino breakfast. When you get there you have to hope there's a seat…read moreavailable because it is always full (for a good reason!). The restaurant had a nice homey feel to it with a nice welcoming warmth. My cousin and I waited for 15 minutes and were very excited when we were seated. We both ordered the tocino / longanisa plate with the champorado. The meat was fresh, tasty, and very flavorful. The champorado was chocolatey and rich. The lugaw was a rice porridge and was nice and fresh. Will be back asap when I'm in town! Salamat po!

Lugaw was so yummy! It is complimentary to whatever you order and it felt like a hug for my soul…read more  We opted to get two combos. I got the combo with spam and longanesia. The meats were done simple but had some great flavors and it all came with white rice and eggs. My husband got the combo with big bangus and tocino and he really liked both options too! The bangus was more like a crispy fish. Both combinations also come with a little chocolate pudding. There are options for an American breakfast and lunch but I am happy we got the Filipino style breakfast.  Overall the space is huge with a ton of seating and very much gives you a diner feel. The service is very quick.

The second I walked into Boonie's, I knew I had discovered something special. I was greeted by an…read moreexcellent wait staff, and my server was extremely friendly and welcoming. I ordered the daily special, which consisted of chicken and rice, along with their fried pork spring rolls and sizzling sisig. Everything was absolutely delicious, with bold, robust flavors in every dish. For this being my introduction to Filipino food, I definitely was not disappointed. My only complaint is that it's an hour away from my house! This is definitely a must-try if you're looking for some great Filipino food.

This was a great, cozy spot to try a different take on Filipino food. Being a Filipina myself, I'm…read moretorn between labeling it because I feel like some of the dishes are more Filipino-inspired while others are definitely elevated-Filipino. Either way, it's a good place to try a twist on your favorites or dip into something new. I especially appreciated that there were a lot of vegetarian options which is hard to find in Filipino food, like our "veggie" lumpia usually has small bits of meat in it, lol. We were warmly welcomed, seated relatively quickly, and the service was attentive and timely. The place is cozy and on the dark side so my pics aren't the greatest. We had the Inihaw ng Talong which is basically grilled eggplant that came brushed with sunflower butter, loaded with tomatoes and garnished with cilantro. This was a nice start but a small one. The eggplant was smoky and creamy and complimented by the bright tomatoes. The Satti Manok, skewered grilled chicken, with cornbread sticky rice was good, but I've definitely had better for a lot less. This is usually a staple you'll find at any Filipino family's BBQ but the cornbread sticky rice was a surprisingly nice treat. If you've had this before, somewhere else, I'd skip it to try something else. The Sinigang Caesar was such a nice twist that totally made sense! My only complaint is that it was served with Bibb lettuce instead of a crunchy romaine. I enjoyed this so much I've been making my Caesar dressings with a sprinkling of Sinigang powder now and my family loves it. The Kare Kare gulay was nice and I enjoyed it. The charred cabbage gave it some extra depth that I think is needed to pull this off because this sauce is made with sunflower butter instead of peanut butter. This was great for me because I'm allergic to peanuts but it definitely changes the flavor, making it a little sweeter and lighter. I wish they would've made this with cashew or almond butter to keep it closer to the rich, deep flavors of a Kare Kare. The Maitake mushrooms -- I absolutely loved. I've never had this before and it reminded me of a good Laing which is also made with a spiced coconut sauce. I definitely could've eaten this all to myself with the garlic rice. Yes, the garlic rice is good but I was surprised to see it go for $6 a bowl. Rice is usually so cheap, if not complementary in Filipino restaurants and garlic rice is quite common, especially for breakfast (yes, I sabreakfast). It was cooked perfectly though. The mango float was delicious. Not sure why it's called a float but it was mango and mascarpone ice cream nestled in a mango sauce and topped with a delicate, crumbly butter cookie. I will definitely come back for more if I'm ever in the area again. I'd be excited to try other things on their menu.

I ordered Crispy Pata came with Garlic Rice and Pansit Palabok for delivery. Packaging was secure…read moreand thoughtful. Delicious and portions are generous. Highly recommend

So good! There are a lot of hyped up Filipino places on social media but Ruby's is legit and also…read moreone of the OGs. Lumpia, BBQ pork, and pancit were made fresh to order. Nice fatty cuts in both lumpia and skewers and some nice char bits. Pancit had all the right flavors with a good ratio of ingredients and good portion size. Ready-to-eat kare kare and bistek were also solid. Rich sauce, accurate flavor and tender beef chunks. I don't usually crave or recommended Filipino food because you can't beat mama's cooking but Ruby's is an exception - 10/10!

I always had walked by this place and was super excited to try this place! The patio was very…read morespacious and covered as well! The drinks were delicious, my favorite was the Ubetini-- it really tasted like ube!! For the apps we got the tuna ceviche and the lumpia! The ceviche was very fresh and light -- I loved it! Then for the main we got pork sisig, chicken adobo, escabeche which came with an entire fish!! , and then kansi soup / stew! All of was very authentic and tasted very homey. The sauces on each of them were also very flavorful! Another highlight was the halo halo dessert! This was so cool! It came out on a big plate and then she mixed it up and told us more about the dish itself! Overall very friendly staff, authentic food, gorgeous atmosphere! Need to try their bottomless brunch next!!

If you gather more than four people and reserve two days ahead, you can have this amazing spread of…read morea Kamayan feast! They lay banana leaves on a table, and everything is eaten with your hands. You start with the oysters that will act as a spoon, then you have your choice of where to start between the chicken, shrimp, pork, fried fish, garlic rice, pancit noodles, ceviche, sisig, & fruit salad. We were so stuffed, but I cannot have Filipino food without ending with Halo Halo! It's $59 / person + tax & tip. What a steal! There's an outdoor patio, or an indoor space by the bar. Great service and a memorable experience.

this flank steak was fawking good. like it was tender asf good. the vinegar pairs well and it's def…read moregot that filipino flavors paired with the garlic rice. their turon matcha is also rlly good! up there with their ube tiramisu. 5/5 for their brunch menu. so much more options than their dinner menu tbh.

We really went for the halo halo and it didn't disappoint. It was so good. We also had the tamarind…read morefries, ube cream cheese pan de sal, and lumpia. The staff were friendly and it was a great ambiance. Soft yet bright lighting. Will be back to try more menu options.

I stepped into this small storefront location with no idea what to expect. It's conveniently…read morelocated across from a large shopping center and surrounded by chain restaurants, but I was in the mood for something different. I'm glad I took a chance. It's small, but clean. They offer carry-out dishes along with some grab-and-go items. I ordered the lechon (pork) combo. It was almost twenty bucks with water and a tip for the good service. Not cheap, but considering what you get, it's worth it. Pork perfectly cooked. I tasted one of the sauces, and my lips puckered. Maybe the most tart thing I ever tasted. But then I dipped the pork into both sauces. OMG! That's orgasmic. My mouth still waters just thinking about how good that is. Bonus: the pork skin is almost like candied bacon. I've been back several times, and I'll keep going, too. As much as I want to try other items on the menu, the lechon is just too freaking good, and I keep ordering it.

Been seeing this place for a while so finally decided to go in and try it…read more They do have a bit of food options, they also have ready-made food that you can just grab and go there is no dining area so this is an order to go place parking is okay it's in a small Plaza and service was good. I had the oxtail combo plate. Plate comes with tice, 2 pcs eggrolls, and noodles. Im a bit disappointed the taste was good but rhe oxtail wasnt tender at all. Felt like i wasted this order. I also ordered their lechon belly and that wqs really good although some parts of the skin wqsnt as crunchy. I would still go back and try more stuff. Happy eating!!!