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!!!

We've lived here for years and have only now recently tried this restaurant. The staff members were…read morenot only incredibly friendly, but also helpful in explaining the menu items and cooking process. They gave us sample of the different menu items to try before ordering; the aristocrat chicken was cooked so fresh that the meat falls off the bones. The glazed bbq flavor was delicious and paired well with the garlic fried rice and lumpia. We received extra samples of the lechon that they roast for four hours on Saturdays to take home, better believe we'll be ordering this next time as well. Thanks again and see you soon! Best, Charlie

We came here specifically to try the Filipino food because the Chinese food you can get anywhere…read more When looking for this place, look for New Chinese Kitchen otherwise you'll miss it. It's across the street from Arby's in a small strip mall. You'll definitely have to make a U-Turn because getting into the lot is weird. Plenty of parking since it is a shared lot. We decided to do two combo meals plus the aristocrat chicken. When dining in, there are about 4 tables so it can be limited if there is a rush hour. The owner was very pleasant and he explained about the items before we looked at the menu. Lumpia was crispy and tasty. Garlic rice was a little oily but still good. Overall, it's about a 4. I would have given them a 5 but that rock hard crispy kare kare is hard to forget. However, I'll return to try other items. -crispy kare kare with garlic rice and lumpia 3 - I wanted to like this but the crispy kare kare was a huge let down. It was very tough to eat. I've had Filipino food many times and it was never this hard. It's a shame because the peanut sauce with the veggies and eggplant were delicious. -bbq pork belly (liempo) with garlic rice and lumpia 5 - I really liked the BBQ pork belly. Very easy to cut with a spoon. Meat was well seasoned. It is fatty, so it's best to eat it with rice. -aristocrat chicken 5 - highly recommended. Chicken is extremely flavorful even for leftovers. Meat is very moist and juicy. Nice balance of sweet and salty. I should have gotten the 10 pieces.

2/24/26 update: 6…read moremonths ago I tried going there during their posted opening hours on Tuesday and they randomly just left (9:05 am). On their social media, they apologized and said that everything is better now. I called today to see if they are open. I purposely called an hour after their opening time to see what is available (10 am). A woman told me they opened up an hour late so they only have milkfish and nothing else. They should change their hours so that they have food available when they open. I like to support small, local businesses but this is unacceptable. Not sure I'll try again, given their current track record.

Their store hours on a Saturday says open at 9:00AM. I went around 10:00ish. Guess what? No food on…read morethe hot table. And I was told, it will take another hour for food to be ready. Oh well! I am expecting when a restaurant says they open at a certain time, there should be food ready. I think, people who want to come need to call first to not waste their time driving.

While in the area, my party of four decided to drop by Hong Ning to have Filipino food for lunch…read more The restaurant is in a small strip plaza and the Filipino bakery next door is owned by the same family. We arrived on a Saturday just after noon and plenty of parking spaces were available in the parking lot. The restaurant was very spacious with Filipino decor throughout. Approximately half of the tables were occupied with diners and my party was seated right away. We were pretty hungry and ordered several items to share family style. Pork sinigang arrived first and had the distinct tamarind flavor I expected without overpowering the rest of the dish. Lechon kawali came next and the pork belly pieces were cut into perfect bite sized pieces full of flavor and crunch; the lechon tasted good with and without the liver gravy sauce. Crispy sisig arrived on a sizzling plate and was seasoned very well in the mixture of sauce and onions; I liked that the pieces of pork were mostly meat unlike other places which like to sneak in cubes of fat. Crispy pata kare kare was the next dish to arrive and at first glance the portion was huge; the portion was very generous with pork and vegetables and was very delicious. Lastly, we had BBQ pork and chicken skewers, each of which were marinated and grilled very well. To drink, I had the sago gulaman which was very refreshing and had the right amount of sweetness. Overall, I was very impressed with my lunch at Hong Ning. Aside from the generous portions, the dishes were not too oily or salty and it is rare to dine at a Filipino restaurant that prepares its food in way that doesn't feel like it is clogging up arteries. Along the wall in the back by the restroom is a collage of Filipino and Filipino American celebrities that dined at the restaurant, which surprised me for a restaurant in the suburbs. I highly recommend Hong Ning for anyone craving a great Filipino meal while in the Carol Stream area.

Food was amazing and highly recommended staff was so friendly including the owner Kuya Ernie and…read moretita Malou , bring the whole Family we dont feel rush as they were closing Great Customer service top notch. Ambiance is Good for everyone

This place is becoming our favorite Filipino spot and our favorite takeout food in the northern…read moresuburbs! Tips: SO many new options to try every day. They post their menu daily on FB and it's always rotating. You can taste something before ordering a medium or large amount of it. Lumpia are fire and usually available, they cook them there so can take a little while. Everything else is cantina style and feels so homey.

Great location for Filipino rats and friendly service. There are limited choices towards the…read moreafternoon. The sisig we had was not crispy and would be the only thing we would not order again.

After golf my buddy and I decided to grab some lunch - I was undecided so I left it up to him. He…read morewas in the mood for Filipino Food and I was down. I've never been to Pinoy Grill but he has and said it was good. It took me 1 second to pick as I wanted Chicken BBQ. It comes with two chicken bbq on stick marinated in citrus juice, soy sauce, garlic and onions. The combo comes with 2 lumpia egg-rolls, pancit and rice. The bbq was made to order which is great as it won't be dry. The marinade was good and had that nice char/caramelized sauce. The size was not bad and the amount of rice and pancit was perfect. The lumpia was your typical size and very crunchy. As mentioned, it was made to order but the food came pretty quickly. We ate in and the other customers were enjoying their food. The place is cozy. Overall, very good. I wanted to get dessert but decided to pass this time but I'm sure I'll be back and when I do, I'll get some dessert.

First off, service was great! I told the dude at the register that it was my first time and he was…read moresuper quick to explain what the family of three should be trying out. After explaining that my family doesn't have a huge appetite, he recommended the party tray for two. It came with a siobao, eggrolls, pork and chicken skewers plus two varieties of noodles. I was also recommended balbacua, which is a kind of soup with beef cartilage I ended up really liking. Full disclosure, if you're not a fan of cartilage, you're better off staying away from this soup. Our tray took a good amount of time to be assembled. Since I don't have any experience with real Filipino restaurants, I don't have a frame of reference to how long it should take, so I won't comment too much more other than that it took a GOOD amount of time for food to come out. But once it did, it was good! Both my daughter and I were big fans of most of what was on the tray. Noodles, eggrolls and chicken skewers were universally liked by all three of us. I liked the char smokiness that was added to the pork skewer. The only thing I didn't quite like was the deep fried siobao, which is a giant, deep fried meat bun. We're all very familiar with same types buns offered by different cultures like China, Korea and Japan. But all these are steamed buns, not deep fried. It's always dangerous when you deep fry food due to the possibility of it coming out super oily and greasy, especially if you use old oil. Maybe this was the case, maybe not. Either way, it was too greasy for our taste. It was a beautiful day, so we decided to sit in the porch area. I think the ambiance would the a lot better after sun sets. The issue I had during my visit was bees. Lots of bees. By the time we were done with the meal, I must have had around 10 bees around us. Next time, I'll be opting to sit inside. I'm pretty sure there will be a next time, though I'll likely be alone to try other menu items.

Villa Park Fruit Market has a good location. This store looked like it typically had excellent…read moreproduce, especially fruit. It looked like they typically had an excellent selection of hot food and legumes as well. The store was spacious. They had what looked like good variety. The store looked well organized. They have a large parking lot.

Good grocery store and carneceria. They grill spatchcocked chickens with rice and beans & tortillas…read more$20 The cheese chicken is good and the people are helpful. Go get some yard bird.

"Tropical Island Cuisine is the Best Culinary Hub of Merriville,IN. 64610.The Owner/Couple were so…read morehospitable & pretty kind to all their Customers that were really enjoyed dining & shopped"! "MABUHAY"!!!-The TUBIANOSA from New York City,NY 11419

The Lumpia Shanghai was very good, & also the garlic fried rice. The couple that owns it are very…read morenice. .... the wife cooks & husband runs the front of the house along with the connected store.

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.

I've been coming to this local Filipino store food place for a few years now. I watched it grown to…read morea point that they started opening a chain of their business in other suburban areas. The staff is friendly, and this is located in a strip mall, and there is plenty of parking They have all sorts of Asian produce and dry, canned goods and frozen items as well that you don't typically find in major grocery stores. In the back of the store, they have a hot food area, where they display Filipino dishes for the day, which is supplies last, so I tried to come here as early as I can so that I would have all the options to pick for lunch. They also continue serving their dishes while supplies last and they have combo meals which is affordable and they also have seating area where you can enjoy your food. If you want to sample something don't be shy ask if you can have a taste so you can decide if you would like to order that dish or not. You could also order Filipino catering food here as well, which you would order at the cashier register and depending on how far you are located from the store you can also have delivery as well. Overall, it's a nice local Asian store. I would highly recommend to come here and take a look and enjoy their dishes as well. I will definitely come back here.

The place is nice with a spacious area. Good food, clean place and nice people working there.read more