This husband-and-wife-run business offers everything from affordable appetizers to $145 per slab cebu lechon. The restaurant is well-known for its pork sisig, akin to Kapampangan-style but opting for pork belly rather than ear, and its salo-salo platter.

If a cute cafe serving Filipino food is your style, this Encinitas eatery checks all the boxes. The food includes grilled, braised, and stewed dishes that you might find in a home kitchen such as grilled milkfish, beef stew (caldereta), and vegetable coconut stew (ginataan).

This turo-turo (point-point) spot covers all the bases with its selection of beloved Filipino dishes. Some standouts include dilis (fried anchovies), sinigang, and kare-kare but R & B excels in their lechon kawai (fried pork belly). It’s served with a potent vinegar dipping sauce to cut through the fat.

This longstanding spot is a popular choice for those looking to order large amounts of food for a party, but solo diners will benefit, too. Lumpia are less than a dollar here and combo meals include Filipino classics like fried rice and pancit.

Modern takes of Filipino food with global influences can be found at this spot in Sunset Cliffs. Classic entrees like adobo, pork belly sisig, and lumpia are on the menu but vegetarians don’t have to miss out. Must-orders on the vegan menu include an adobo rice bowl with mushrooms, cabbage, bok choy, and carrots and a gulay ginataan featuring a masala coconut milk curry.

This mini-chain with locations in Barrio Logan and Carmel Valley touts its fusion bowls but the menu is loaded with familiar Filipino dishes like adobo. The adobo bowl features braised pork belly with adobo sauce and a soft boiled egg atop of rice or opt for the chicken longanisa bowl featuring sweet-garlicky Filipino sausage with garlic fried rice.

This two-in-one spot features Kababayan Bakery for combination plates packed with chicken or pork adobo, pancit, and lumpia with dessert offered by Snoice (it also has a location in Kearny Mesa) that includes boba drinks and ice cream. Save room for the halo-halo; roughly translating to “mix-mix,” the dessert includes ube ice cream, sweet potatoes, purple yam, coconut jelly, jackfruit, palm fruit, red bean, flan, and evaporated milk over shaved ice.

Newcomers to the cuisine might want to start at National City stalwart Tita’s Kitchenette. Steam tables are filled with the usual suspects like lumpia and adobo, but those willing to expand their tastes should try dinuguan, affectionally called chocolate meat by many Filipinos. There’s no chocolate in the dish — instead, pork pieces are stewed in pigs' blood, garlic and spices.

The menu includes delicacies from three main regions of the Philippines. There’s kare-kare (peanut stew with bok choy, eggplant, oxtail, tripe, and beef shank) from Luzon, ubod (crepe-style lumpia stuffed with coconut heart, carrots, celery, crab, and pork) from Visayas, and kinilaw (seafood marinated in vinegar) from Mindanao. Villa Manila’s real claim to fame is its kamayan-style dining, a Filipino tradition where food is laid out on banana leaves and guests eat with their hands.

The name means “beer” in Tagalog and you’ll find popular Filipino accompaniments at this spots inside National City’s new food hall Market on 8th. Owned and operated by Khris Astudillo, the food stall serves chicken adobo, rib eye bistek, and fried chicken based on his family’s restaurant. There are also specials throughout the week that could include longanisa sliders, garlic butter shrimp, and pancit palabok.

Bobby Alfonso’s food stall at Market on 8th is a mix of Indonesian and Filipino cuisine that pays tribute to his heritage and his family’s restaurant. One look at the menu and the Filipino influences immediately appear in dishes like the red adobo chicken supreme sandwich and the adobo fried chicken. Try it with nasi goreng (Indonesian fried rice), kropek (shrimp chips), and a refreshing kalamansi limeade.

With more than 100 locations worldwide, the branch of this Philippines-based restaurant at Westfield Plaza Bonita is one of a small handful in the U.S. Known for its large, shareable platters of food, the menu offers an array of grilled items like inihaw na pusit as well as as classic dishes including sisig and crispy pata.

When the Philippines and Mexico were both part of Spain’s empire, the cuisines and cultures intermingled. You can taste modern-day fusion at this Chula Vista spot. One highlight is the breakfast sandwich with a choice of meat, avocado, and eggs on conchita bread. The menu also includes traditional Filipino breakfast plates along with huevos rancheros and chilaquiles.