a lovely place for brunch in lincoln square! staff was extremely friendly and consistently checked…read morein on us. the food was absolutely delicious and came out piping hot. the pork belly of the sisig shishito hash practically melts in your mouth. the flavor of the ube pancakes was strong and overall wasn't too sweet. the standout for us was the crab rangoon dip! so glad we came in during our weekend trip to chicago :)

Bayan Ko originated in 2018 on Montrose in a location basically beneath the Brown Line. Eventually…read morethis venue morphed into the new Bayan Ko (now a fine dining restaurant), and the original casual mashup of Filipino and Cuban cuisines transferred a few doors down to the former Glenn's Diner space as Bayan Ko Diner (got all of that?). My lovely wife and I finally made it to Bayan Ko Diner recently for a Sunday funday dinner. We were a tad early for our reservation time, but we were seated with no wait. It was cool to see images of Cuba displayed on the west wall, and Filipino scenes on the east wall. We received kind and thoughtful service throughout our meal. Since we went to two nearby breweries prior to dinner, we stuck with drinking water for our meal. We loved that the menu offered whole and half portions of most of their food items, and amazingly the price point of the half-portions were always half that of the whole portions. We decided to order only half-orders so that we could try a variety of dishes. We started off with Lumpia Shanghai and Croquetas as appetizers (two pieces of each are in the half-orders), and both were pretty tasty if not stellar. The Crab Rangoon dip was perhaps the most unique dish, as it is sort of a deconstructed version of the Crab Rangoons everyone knows and loves at Asian restaurants. The dip itself has a bold flavor, and it was served beside a bed of fried saltines. I know little about cooking processes, but the saltines were very salty and perhaps the frying aspect accentuates the saltiness of the crackers. Oxtail Kare Kare seems like an exotic Filipino dish, and the half-order consisted of a very reasonable number of oxtail segments. The oxtail tasted great with the bold peanut garlic sauce, and the plate is accompanied by eggplant (also excellent), bok choy, green beans, and a bowl of white rice.

Hole in the wall spot, that satisfied my craving for Filipino food. Everything just really hit the…read morespot. The pico de gallo and vinegar really helps balance out the heaviness of the meal. Affordable and generous serving. Good customer service as well.

After seeing the long wait at Kasama, we went here instead. We joined the waitlist, which said…read more20-30 minutes, but we ended up getting seated within 10 minutes as we came closer to 1pm (they closed at 2pm). I love that they give you free soup upon being seated and tea if you ask for it. They ran out of their signature lugaw soup, but they gave us a spicy bacon and bean soup instead that was so good! We ordered the longanisa and skirt steak combo, which came with eggs and garlic rice. Overall, it was a solid meal!

Moody, fine dining Filipino restaurant in ravenswood/north center Chicago…read more The experience of this place really starts when you enter the restaurant. I was a big fan of the interior. Dark moody lighting with warm colored lamps really sets the tone for the meal you are about to eat. Service was incredibly kind and attentive. Everyone's so lovely. The food is exactly what you'd expect - elevated Filipino and overall INCREDIBLE. Here's what we got/my thoughts. Coco ginger daiquiri - 5/5 - really refreshing. You could taste each component of the drink which was fun to experience. Sisig - 4/5 - I'll start by saying I'm really particular about my sisig. For sisig to be a 5 for me, it *has* to be crunchy. And that's the only thing this sisig was missing. For coming out on a sizzling plate, it was a little too wet, even after the sizzling. Despite this though, the flavors were there and they were delicious. Garlic rice - 5/5 - best garlic rice I've ever had in my life. Just get it. That's all I have to say. Pancit canton - 4/5 - if I'm being honest, it's hard to really elevate pancit canton. But this was a good attempt, it just seemed to be missing something to put it over the top. Really appreciated the fresh vegetables with the noodles. Lumpia - 5/5 - like pancit canton, it seems hard to elevate lumpia but they freaking did it. This was so good. The filling was nice and juicy and had great flavor. Kare Kare - 5/5 - Kare Kare was my favorite dish growing up but I've never experienced it elevated to such a high level until boonies. The meat was so tender, cooked to perfection and melted in your mouth. The vegetables being carmelized was also quite the treat. Didn't realize until after the fact that the sauce isn't made with peanuts, so huge plus that gives our peanut allergic friends the opportunity to experience such an amazing dish. So well done.

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.

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!

Home cooking that everyone loves! I have been going to this…read moreplace for decades! Highly recommended.

My boyfriend and I moved to Lakeview in September 2025, and ever since then we've passed Kubo…read morecountless times, each time smelling the incredible aroma filling the neighborhood. We've said to ourselves over and over, we have to try Kubo! We finally decided to go in for lunch on a cold Sunday (3/22) and we had the most wonderful meal. The space was clean, welcoming, and lively with other diners. There's plenty of seating and although I usually highly dislike high top seating, their bar seating was incredibly comfortable. We ordered the chicken eggrolls and two orders of the chicken adobo. All of our food came out very fast, and we had very attentive service. March Madness is currently going on and was playing in the restaurant. We are basketball fans so this was a plus, and we were asked if the game that was currently on was our preferred game to watch, which was very thoughtful. The food was incredible. The eggrolls were incredibly flavorful and the chicken in the chicken adobo fell off the bone easily. The sauce on the chicken was delicious and it mixed so well with the garlic rice. We cannot wait to bring friends and family to this restaurant in the future. The hot food made us feel so whole on a cold and extremely windy day. In the summer, I cannot wait to sit on their spacious, covered patio. Thank you Kubo for a wonderful experience!

Three of us without reservation were seated quickly. The wait person was friendly. I wish I would…read morehave gotten his name a great guy. We ordered drinks from a well stocked bar. We had the chicken lumpia, first which were long not like the normal finger length I'm used to. Lots of tender meat inside. Wow. Then had the lechon kawaii, deep fried sea bass and the pancit with rice noodles. We were knocked out by the presentation of the sea bass. OMG it was perfectly crispy, The flavors were clean and fresh. Definitely a must order. The pork belly was also perfectly cooked. The pancit loaded with chicken and veggies. This is a must return place. THe inside was cozy and not noisy. We could talk without shouting.

Excellent brunch at Cebu! A great place to have our first Filipino food experience, recommended by…read moreour daughter's Filipino friends. We had coffees and daughter had a coconut brown sugar latte. Our food orders came out fairly quickly and our server was very pleasant. I had the Lechon breakfast - fried pork belly, egg, rice and a cucumber/tomato salad. Very tasty! I would be interested to try the chicken version next time. Hubs had the mango banana ube French toast, and he cleared the plate ("not too sweet; very good!"). Daughter had the longganisa breakfast - also very good, sausage with a spicy zing. The restaurant is large, bright and airy with lots of tables. We had reservations on a Saturday morning. We were early enough that we probably didn't need one, but by the time we left around 11:00 am, the place was filling up. We easily found street parking.

Got Cebu for take out and was overall satisfied with the choice. Its a good way to quickly get a…read moreFilipino fix in around the Lincoln park area The lechon breakfast was delicious with its crispy skin and tender juicy meat. The cook on the pork really carried this dish. The rice itself was seasoned well but I wouldve liked more of the garlic to pull through The short ribs were tasty, grilled well for a nice char, but didnt really have that unique element to it that would set it apart from any other place offering short ribs. It was a bit salty and on the pricier side for what I wouldve wanted to have a Cebu spin to

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 ordered lumpia and garlic fried rice for a work event, and almost everyone kept returning for…read moreseconds and thirds. The rice was garlic flavor-filled with the crispy bits on top and not greasy, like some other Asian restaurants' fried rice can be. (Throw a fried egg on top and it would remind me of my mom's Sunday Filipino breakfast rice). The lumpia was lihht, crispy, and tasty and filled with well seasoned pork. I cannot wait to return and try other dishes, like pancit, for our next party or event.

Went here for lunch and tried their lumpia, pork belly with garlic rice, sinigang fish sandwhich,…read moreand ube cold brew! Service was great; you go to the counter and order while they bring your food as it's ready. Ratings per item: - Ube cold brew 4/5 (Ube flavored and strong) - Lumpia 4/5 - Pork Belly 4/5 (good crisp but needed more seasoning) - Fish sandwhich 4/5 (good flavor but wish there was a bit more fish) - Ube cookie 5/5 Will def come back to try more items especially their icecream sandwiches!

Perhaps we came on an off day because we love A Taste of the Phillipines at various markets and…read morewanted to support the brick and mortar. But the moment we walked in, we felt like we were bothering the staff. We walked up to the register and she asked us what we wanted. When we asked a question about the menu she restated the menu name saying that what it is. We started ordering and she kept aggressively asking is that all you want? And we just rushed and ordered and sat down. We ordered the lumpia, the breakfast sandwich, and the pork belly with garlic rice. We also ordered a pandan cold brew and a ube cold brew. For dessert I got an ube cookie. The lumpia came out almost immediately, but was super super salty. I took one bite and couldn't finish it even with the sweet chili sauce but my husband kept eating at it. Our entrees came out shortly after the sandwich was good, and the pork belly was crispy. It was a great size portion. We waited to eat our food until we got our drinks, which came out quite a bit later after we got our food. The drinks were great and full of flavor. After we finished our meal, we went to the counter to find someone to ask for our cookie because we hadn't received and we were the only ones In the restaurant. It took a while until someone came out, so we rang the bell. She gave us our cookie after checking we never got it. So we took it to go. Overall the food was exactly what it was listed as, but I don't know I'll come back to the brick and mortar maybe just support them at various pop up markets.