My friend and I jumped at the chance to visit Cebu at their new Lakeview location once they added dinner hours. The space is large, bright, and beautiful. It wasn't too busy and we were seated right away. There's a lot to choose from on the menu and the prices are fair. We got the tuna kinilaw (Filipino style ceviche), lumpia shanghai, mushroom humba, and - the real showstopper - the cebu lechon. Ok I am Filipino so trust me when I say that this was best lechon I've had in a long time. The balat (skin) was so crunchy and tasty, it took me back to fond memories from my childhood. Don't pass on dessert! We were so full but we still ate every crumb of the churron. We also got an order of ube cream cheese pan de sal to go, which made for a great breakfast the next day. Very excited for this restaurant and hope to be back soon! read more

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The highlight of our breakfast was the pandan pancakes with the pandan whipped cream. Longganisa was delicious and I enjoyed the garlic rice whereas my partner thought the garlic rice was okay. I enjoyed the iced ube tiramisu latte but the pandan latte flavor was really light and tasted mostly like milk. Honestly a great find! We were very happy with our meal and it was affordable. It's awesome to have Filipino restaurants to try! read more

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Truly a new gem recently added to the Lincoln Corridor! We came here for breakfast / brunch and were delighted by Cebu. The restaurant is a Philipino menu with a lovely and well decorated dining area with a coffee / alcohol bar on the side. It looks like they offer both sit down and to go ordering (from the cafe bar). The service was friendly and the restaurant was spotlessly clean. I tried an ube latte and a sausage and egg dish. Both were very good with a sweet and savory balance. A great option for a fun and different brunch! read more

Cebu Chicago - Ube latte - Filipino Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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This place was fire!!!! A seriously amazing brunch spot while we visited Chicago. Food was amazing, everyone working there was great, and we will definitely be back for more. If you're looking for a brunch spot in Chicago, this is it! - Anthony read more

Cebu Chicago - Filipino Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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if I could rate it negative I will definitely give a -10. We traveled from suburbs to try this restaurant. Before we left home we check goigle and clearly April 14 Tuesday open 9 am - 2 pm. We got there around 12:05, paid our street parking for 2 hours. Headed to the door and surprisingly door was lock. There are people inside and there are some employees as well, but no one cares to open the door. Well, just rating this for there wrong website or google info and consider customer service as well. I will definitely not coming back to try and I will not recommend it to my family and friends. read more

Before I start on the food, I wanted to add that the staff was amazing and attentive! Super friendly and the created a great atmosphere. Unfortunately the food was a big miss. My partner and I order the longanisa breakfast and the lechon breakfast, plus the ube toast. Everything we ate was extremely bland and lacked flavor and salt. The garlic rice had no garlic flavor, and both the pork belly and the longanisa were extremely dry and hard to chew. I'm very familiar with Filipino food and this sadly just wasn't it for me. Hopefully we came on an off day because the space seemed really nice, but the food was just not good. read more

- Good food, good ambiance, good service - Reservation made, not needed for brunch as it was quite open at noon, but probably make one for dinner - We would come back This Filipino restaurant is nice and spacious, and we went around Christmas time, so it was decorated with hanging parols (Filipino lantern) and Christmas-decorated pastries and treats in their display case. Their brunch menu was served and there were so many tasty looking options alongside their sweets! For brunch, I got the Breakfast Lechon Kawali and it was pretty good, very crunchy. The lechon was crispy and flavorful, and served with the rice and runny egg, this silog breakfast was very satisfying. The side Pinakurat Salad was a nice addition to help cut through the fattiness of the pork and sort of cleanse the palate. I like my rice garlicky, so it would've been nice to see more garlic mixed in. I also felt like the salad was a little watered down and could've used more flavor, as it tasted more like cucumbers than pinakurat. Call me traditional, but it would have been nice to also see this served with Mang Tomas sauce, or some variation of it - I am sure I could've asked for some to see if they did. I was still happy with my meal, but it really is your own people! To go with my meal, I also ordered the Cebu Sunset, a calamansi and butterfly pea tea drink. The drink was fun to look at and mix, combining the yellow calamansi and purple butterfly pea. I wish there was more of a calamansi flavor and some more sweetness, as it tasted more like an unsweetened iced tea than a juice like I was expecting. For pookie, she had chosen the Breakfast Chicken Inasal. Her meal was pretty good and very flavorful. The chicken was cooked nicely and very juicy, and the glaze over the chicken provided lots of flavor. The juice of the chicken and the glaze had mixed in with the rice, providing the perfect bite with the egg on top. Again the salad could have been more vinegary, and the rice more garlicky. Sadly, my girlfriend's egg yolk was not runny and quite solid, so that could've been better, but her food was still tasty. She had gotten an Orange Juice to go with her breakfast. With all their tasty sounding items, we had a bard time figuring out what we wanted this time, but afterwards we were satisfied with our meal! Even though I would have liked to see more flavor in some items, the more traditional foods were good and I am looking forward to trying some other items the next time we come back. Their sandwiches, sweet breakfasts, and pastries particularly are piquing my interest, maybe the fusion/modern items will exceed my expectations next time! read more

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So Chicago's brunch scene is lacking. Its pancakes as a whole are uninspired and sometimes it's better off to eat at chains. Now where Chicago is starting to pop off is Filipino food... specifically brunch and Cebu is an excellent addition to some really incredible competition. I ordered the pandan pancakes. I tried pandan ice cream when I was in New York and was pleasantly surprised with its unique taste. The pancakes took this fruit (?) to a whole new level. They were grinch green but were sweet without being too sweet. They were EXCELLENT. I will be craving these again very soon. I look forward to coming back here and trying the rest of their incredible menu. read more

Been here three times and would've welcomed a new addition to the neighborhood. Don't like leaving a negative review on a local spot but it no longer feels like an off day. Never been greeted at the door. Went for dinner this week and it was so bad I had to say something. Bad service. Waiter spilled water while refilling water at several tables, made a joke about it, then did not offer to wipe it up or even bring napkins. Tip options start at 22%. Food is okay. Breakfast is decent. Dinner went mostly uneaten by our table. Even with the large amount of food leftover, there was no offer of to-go boxes by our server. read more

The ambience and service was great. A lot of room & no wait. Food was a 4/5 overall. - Ube Chicken & waffles 4.5/5 waffles can be crispier - Lagonisa breakfast 5/5 - Breakfast Lechon 3.5/5. The fat sticks to your teeth - French toast 3/5 read more

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Cebu is a super cute space and also very spacious! I kept seeing all the brunch options all over social media but we weren't able to come by for brunch so we ended up going for dinner with a group of friends. Their menu has a wide variety of food from mussels, to crispy pork, chicken skewers, salmon, etc. For my main dish, I had the mussels with longanisa and a side of sourdough bread. I'm not quite sure what I was expecting but I wasn't really a big fan of the flavors and the overall dish. The mussels were overcooked and too chewy and the longanisa was way too sweet. I did enjoy the sourdough bread though.. it just felt like a weird combination overall. I also had a few bites of their famous crispy pork. I'm used to the Vietnamese thit heo quay which has equal parts meat equal parts fat and crispy skin. I felt like the pork belly lechon here was all crispy skin and barely any meat. I was taken back by the hype over the dish if I'm being honest. I was really underwhelmed with our experience here (food wise) which is truly unfortunate because it is such a cute place with friendly and attentive service. Maybe the brunch menu could be a better option for us. read more

Cebu Chicago - mussels w longanisa - Filipino Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Tried their chicken skewers and garlic rice as well as their popcorn chicken at Lollapalooza. So good! read more

Cebu Chicago - Filipino Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Disappointing. Our order of Longanissa breakfast and Chicken Adobo breakfast... WAS COLD and at that price, there are better options in the city. read more

Cebu Chicago - Filipino Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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A bit underwhelming overall. I ordered the longanisa, but the portion size and presentation were disappointing. The flavor was just ok. I left the place hungry and went to another spot for a decent meal. For what it was - overpriced and forgettable. I wouldn't come back read more

Cebu Chicago - Over priced menu - Filipino Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Love this spot!! Fun take on lumpia and the pork belly sisig is amazing. I had their signature slow roasted Cebu Lechon on a prior visit, it was tender and flavorful. They make wonderful cocktails! Chill ambience and service is always fast and friendly, they do delicious baked goods in the morning. read more

I had a good brunch experience today at Cebu. The menu has so many options. Mom had Mango French Toast and I had the Kawaii Crispy Pork Belly. I had a cold brew with Ube foam for beverage. The service was lovely and the room is nice and big. The noise level was a bit high if that is an issue for you. I will definitely be back to try other items. They are only open for dinner on weekends. read more

Cebu Chicago - Crispy Pork Belly and Garlic Rice - Filipino Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Big beautiful restaurant on Lincoln Ave in Lakeview. Always great for takeout or sit down. Friendly and smiling staff on every visit. Had breakfast with a friend this week. He had the breakfast lechon dish and I had the chicken adobo chilaquiles. Amazing flavors and textures and we both needed to go boxes. Great reasonably priced modern Filipino food. read more

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Service is wonderful but the portion sizes are tiny. My entree was $27 and had the tiniest egg and pieces of meat possible. The garlic rice needed a lot more garlic. It's a cute little neighborhood spot if you're looking for quick Filipino food, but for the price, I'd probably go elsewhere if I had the option. read more

Cebu Chicago - Tocino - Filipino Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

We came here for brunch and I can honestly say everything was life changingly good. Please go here and eat as much as you can

Checked out this cute place with my friends! We loved the artwork on the walls and vibe. Very nice ambience. Food was delicious. We shared the ube waffles and chicken. This is my favorite and will go back just for this! Waffle was cooked perfectly and tasted sweet and the chicken had a nice crunch and flavor that paired well with the ube waffle. Perfect sweet and salty snack. The drinks we ordered were ube latte, cebu sunset, and pandan drink. They were so colorful and tasty. It took me back to when I visited the Philippines and they served you a fresh glass of calamansi juice. For my meal I ordered the lechon kawali. This came with your choice of eggs, deep fried pork belly, garlic fried rice, and small tomato salad. The pork belly was cooked perfect and the serving was generous. Can't wait to go back and try the burrito and short ribs! read more

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Dinner was SO delicious. The pork lechon was a highlight. The skin was so crispy and the meat itself was cooked extremely well. The filipino-style chicken BBQ skewers were also incredibly flavorful and expertly cooked. There was some sort of slightly sour flavor I personally didn't care for in the tuna kinilaw, but others at the table seemed to really enjoy. We ordered all of the desserts and I still can't decide my favorite. We had the halo-halo, buko pie, and the churron. Our table loved all of them. Leave room for dessert! The interior space echoes quite a lot, so it can get very loud even without many people. Service is quite friendly and helpful. read more

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Liked: nice happy hour specials! Popcorn chicken, calamari, lumpia, ube pan de sal. Wish these had different sauces though, first 3 had the same. Disliked: pork belly sisig (so much onion, little meat) and crab pancit noodles (had not good fishy taste). Overall service was fine but nothing special to call out. Interior nicely decorated and spacious. I think this place has potential to be really good. I would like to come back for breakfast as I really like the ube pan and think they do baked items well. read more

Place is amazing and the food is out of this world. Definitely get the Sisig. Yummmmmm read more

Cebu Chicago - Calamari - Filipino Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Cebu never fails to impress. The food is consistently amazing, and while we were sad when they moved out of their Wicker Park location (making it harder for us to visit as often), they've proven that distance is no obstacle for excellence. For Christmas this year (2024), we decided to order lechon from Cebu--and it was unreal! We've never had lechon this soft and flavorful, not even in the Philippines or anywhere else. It was a true standout dish and a highlight of our holiday celebrations. Cebu is simply the best at what they do. Visiting their new location was also a pleasant surprise. The space is many times larger than the old one, and while it's a bit of a drive for us now, the quality of their food makes it more than worth the trip. We're already looking forward to coming back in the new year! read more

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Cute brunch place! The Milo French toast was not overly sweet but did get a little soggy. The tamarind fries were crispy. The orange and lychee mimosas were good. read more

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The food was so good. We tried one savory and one sweet dish and finished everything. The service was great and the restaurant itself is so cute. Definitely recommend getting breakfast here! read more

Cebu Chicago - Breakfast lechon kawali, ube brulee French toast - Filipino Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Great spot to try Filipino food for brunch. Ambiance: Minimalist type of design with Asian accents. Attire: casual Crowd: families, groups of friends Age: all Food 8/10 Service: 10/10 Three of us tried Cebu for the first time for brunch on a Sunday. Well, we were able to get a reservation. Space was filled the entire time we were there. The interior has a little bit of a stark cafeteria feel with a few lovely accents here and there. The staff was exceptionally welcoming, and our server provided a lot of great advice for the menu since we had not been here before. We started with the lumpia, fried pork, egg rolls. This was probably the best thing that I ate so crunchy with a soft filling and burst of flavor. Our favorite was the beef short ribs. They were especially tasty and came with a nice light, cucumber and tomato salad and coconut rice with a sunny side egg on the top. The waffle on the Ube waffle and chicken was delicious. Really soft and dense with that bright Ube flavor and fun purple color. The chicken on top is a very crunchy popcorn like chicken. We tried the chef special (Cebu Lechon) pork dish. You have to love pork belly with all its traditional fat, which just wasn't our jam. I will say that it was very flavorful. Plus lots of crunchy bits, yum. The vinaigrette that comes with this is likely supposed to go over the tomatoes and cucumbers, but I dipped the pork into it and thought it was fantastic. If you're looking to spice up your boring breakfast/brunch this is a wonderful spot to try. read more

Part of the regular rotation. Please stay BYOB. Dinner and brunch menus both good One of the better Filipino spots in the area read more

Nothing special about it - food is all fried and little taste mote like a simple diner

food still pretty tasty, but sadly updating my review given the odd hours and schedule and nit having some of the best dishes on non-weekend nights. makes it overall a little difficult to plan meals here if it's not fri-sun. also, some of these dishes are a little overpriced for what we're getting. however, the general sentiment of food quality of my previous reviews hold for sure. read more

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I love their new location and the space is bright and airy. Exceptional service and delicious all around. I started off with the cold brew with pandan foam, which was smooth and rich, with no bitterness. For eats had the lumpia, breakfast chicken inasal (perfect sweet and acidic balance), and the Milo french toast (decadent, sweet, creamy). Already looking forward to my next visit. read more

Our server was so sweet! She was the best and the only reason I'm leaving more than 2 stars. Food was mediocre at best, portions too small and quality not good enough to justify the prices. Also, why are the servers also having to work as hosts? Waited an hour for our food to come out, and waited 30 minutes for our order to get taken because our server kept having to go back and forth. Maybe someone called out, otherwise the owner/manager should really reconsider how much labor they have on a busy Saturday during brunch hours. Drinks were great, but the only good thing my husband and I had here. Would recommend getting coffee or matcha here and then going elsewhere for food.... read more

Love everything about this place. The food, staff, and ambiance. I went for brunch, and I 100% recommend the panpancakes. They were fluffy and a type of sweetness I was craving for. The staff is very nice; they recommended a lot of good. read more

Food is good, staff is friendly! Would definitely come back when in Chicago! Thanks Papi! read more

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This place is slept on! Great Filipino food, super nice service, comfortable and inviting vibe. We've been for brunch and dinner, and both were very good. At brunch, get an iced fruity matcha latte (strawberry) - you'll thank me after. For dinner, the lumpia (pork & shrimp egg rolls) were delicious as was the lechon (pork) which is big enough for 2 hungry people, otherwise can easily feed 3-4 if getting other dishes. Recommend a side of garlic rice also. I could eat that by itself. We came with a stroller and were happy to see that there was plenty of room for it in between tables - an underrated quality. PSA: they are BYOB ($15 corkage) until they get their license. Overall a great experience and we will definitely be back soon. read more

Cebu Chicago - Lechon - Filipino Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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The food, service and ambiance is terrific! Staff is so nice, great light dinner music, very spacious and clean. See you next time Cebu!

Pretty good. 4 ladies came for lunch. We tried the calamari and lumpia. Great to share. We shared the tres leches French toast which I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't overly sweet as I had expected. The short rib ways favorite- the marinade was smelled delicious and meat was tender. The breakfast chicken fine too. Some of us liked the chicken more since the short rib was a tad salty. So definitely like there non alcoholic drinks...the dark purple drink with ube and coconut was very yummy. read more

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I always make it a point to check out new Filipino spots, so I stopped by this place over the weekend for lunch with friends. It was pretty packed, which is always a good sign, but unfortunately, the service left a lot to be desired. Service was noticeably slow. We had to ask multiple times for simple things like creamer for our coffee, and eventually one of us had to go up to the counter to get it ourselves. We also requested additional sides that never arrived, and drink refills took quite a while. That said, the food absolutely delivered. The rib tapa was phenomenal--definitely the standout dish. I just wish the rice portion was a bit more generous to match the richness of the main. Overall, I'm giving this place three stars. The food is solid and worth trying, but hopefully the service improves with time. read more

Food was as amazing as the ambiance. Couldn't help but feel nostalgic with the flavors from the Chef. Service was excellent too. read more

Food was delicious; service was fast and really nice. Not too loud. Big airy space with lots of floral decor read more

Cebu Chicago - Shredded chicken chilaquiles, ube mochi french toast, lechon kawali breakfast - Filipino Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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