Manila Fast Food & Desserts

I love this place. I’m only here is San Diego for a couple of weeks but I’ve tried a couple of Filipino restaurants. This one by far is the best. You can tell that everything they serve was made with the type of effort and care that your family members would when they know you’re coming over for a meal. The lechon kawali was crispy and not overly fatty at all. The kare-​kare was rich, hearty, and compliments the bagoong perfectly. The caldereta just has enough kick to excite your taste buds. And the halo-​halo, oh man, the flavors just took me back to my childhood. I haven’t tried everything, but everything I have tried took me back to those simpler times. The flavors are authentic and I just can’t get enough.

Great miki bihon and lumpiang shanghai. We picked up the dishes and they were ready at the promised time. Definitely need to try other dishes when I drive down to San Diego to visit Mom next time. Thank you Al for taking and filling the orders!

Hands down the best diniguan without having to go down south they are really friendly and hilarious!

What a wonderful business with a flavorful menu. Manila fast food has catered every single one of my daughters birthdays (all 7 of them). They have the. Eat value and the taste brings us back to the Philippines with every single bite. I can not say enough good things about the owners. I feel as though I’m a family member being treated with extras and special benefits every time I come in. Time to open a satellite in Rancho Bernardo!

I like this place for lunch. The 2-​item combo with (good) soup is only $ 7 – 8 depending if you add pancit. The individual items are well seasoned and there are plenty of options. The seating area is cafeteria style so there are plenty of seats. This is def my go-​to philipino spot in northern SD.

First time ever coming to this restaurant. Hands down the best lumpia that I’ve eaten in awhile. I placed a rush order for 150 and they were hot and fresh when I picked them up.
If you’re looking for a party tray of lumpia, live in the North County area, and can’t make it down to National City, give this place a chance. I’ll definitely be ordering with them again in the near future.

The food all looks good and quality is good too. They have a lot of choices as far A’s Filipino food and they give a lot of portion. I only tried the breakfast but im sure all of them are good as a lot of people are ordering!

The food here is amazing! AMAZING! I am a huge fan of Filipino food and the food served here hits the spot. It’s a cafeteria style serving station where all hot food is presented behind a small window, ready to be served by a smiling employees I always go for Diniguan because why not?! Paired it with Kare Kare, pork adobo and rice with a hearty order of lumpias! Let’s not forget a soda to wash all that steamy goodness down the hatch. They have a lot of family style tables and the place is decently big. Lots of fried my people coming and out, they are pretty popular. The food is great, I’ll be sure to at least try something new with every visit. The place is great, along with the food and service!

This Filipino restaurant is located on Mira Mesa Blvd near chase and Boiling Crab and Liquor Land.
I went here recently just to order lumpia. I called to place the order the day before. It was the cheapest place to get lumpia around the area. It was $ 17.50 for 50 pieces. I called other Filipino restaurants close by and it was $ 25 for 50 pieces. This place is a steal! The lumpia is good and I’d definitely order it again.
They open relatively early which is convenient. They have tables and chairs to eat inside if you would like.

Oh god, I’m so happy I found this place but wish I didn’t because I’m going to gain so much weight eating here! It’s so much closer to San Marcos and even closer from work than going all the way to national city. My old go to Filipino restaurant In national city closed. I had been going to Cochings since I was a kid! The only other place that I get Filipino food is at my moms house but she lives far too (Jamul) !
This place is theeee place! For lunch get there no later 11:15 or you will be waiting in a looong (but well worth the wait) line. It’s cafeteria style so you grab a tray and push it down the line and point at all the yummy food you want. The variety is amazing and they are SOOO generous with the servings.
It looks like it’s family own and run and everyone is super nice. I love the family atmosphere. Tons of seating and the place is kept clean. Pricing is great given the amount of food you get and its alway fresh and hot!

I absolutely love this place, I come here often!
BOMB FILIPINO FOOD for cheap, and they also give you ALOT on your plate! I barely ever finish my plates, and leftovers are still good to eat!
They have the best kare kare in the city, And i’m usually very picky about eating that. Their breakfast plates are good too! They even give you extra cup of sinigang for free!
I’m always in the mood to eat here!

This place is a point point joint for Filipino food, they have new hours from 8:30 am to 6 pm, kinda sad they close early, because people normally eat around 6 pm… I went there at 8:30 am this morning and of course everything was fresh. There breakfast is 5.45 very yummy, they had Tocino, beefstek, longanaisa, and cornbeef and onions… You can choose any of these and comes with garlic fried rice and 2 eggs, this is pretty cheap place but great food. They have Filipino desserts, halo halo, and many classics such as pancit, adobo, lumpia, lechon. Come for fast service as well… This place is masarap…

Ok… so I am a diehard fan of FredCel Lumpia but Manila Fast Food offers a pretty delicious batch themselves. If I had to compare the two, I’d say Manila Fast Food’s lumpia is a bit meatier and seasoned up a bit more. Translation: saltier, which I like. Kind of like me!
A little tip for the lechon fans: I get my lechon here with their lunch special and it comes out to less money than getting it a Manila Sunset. Granted, you can’t order it extra crispy but that’s what your toaster oven is for son! Burn it up and crunch away! Plus you get quite a bit more lechon meat along with pancit/​menudo/​adobo or whatever is your pleasure along side your porkfest. Who doesn’t love that? My other go-​to is their bilo bilo, especially on cold nights.
I had to refrain from giggling though when I picked up my order for a work birthday when I saw the lady pick up a shiny gold karaōke mic and sang out «Hap tray steamed rice, one ordare lumpiaaaaa por peek up!!!» A mic! How awesome was that? No need for an intercom system when you’ve got a mic. And 50 pieces for only $ 17.50 to feed you and your hungry friends. Give them a try, you won’t be disappointed.

I rarely come here because there really isn’t healthier options, but sometimes you just want good olé Filipino food. I came here with a few co-​workers for lunch. Some have been before, while others have not had Filipino food aside from lumpia and pancit before.
There was a line when we arrived, but we immediately placed an order for crispy pata to share. This dish does have a 15 minute wait time once ordered. We each ordered 2 items. I ordered a BBQ pork and sinigang. You can order ½ rice ½ pancit, but since I had the soup, I opted for only rice. Others ordered kare kare, squash, pancit malabon, and lechon. The sinigang was luke warm though, but had a good sourness to it. The two item combo was enough for me to take some home and have leftovers. Crispy pata was a good dish to share, and amongst 7 people we still had leftovers.
The Filipino food is good here and you can tell as there was a constant line throughout the time we were eating there. There are plenty of tables inside. Everyone overall enjoyed the food. Those that had not really had Filipino food would return and try more.

Hangover breakfast with my two friends. I like their breakfast plates, yay for garlic fried rice. Mix of tocino and longanisa, also ordered some sisig. Good place to try Filipino food.

We love Manila Fast Food!
The only downside is that they close early, the actually close at 6/6:30 as most people are preparing to head out or order take out for dinner, so you have to plan around their early closing.
They have the best pancet, lumpia and dipping sauce around!

This past weekend I wanted to indulge my Filipino heritage by getting some food I hadn’t had in a while, and seeing how it had been a long time since I’d been to Manila Fast Food & Desserts, I figured it was about time to visit and review them.
I went with a two-​item combo plate of kare-​kare (beef oxtail, tripe, and vegetables in a peanut sauce) and fried squid served with a lot of rice… and since I was in the mood for lumpia shanghai, I got a small order of that as well. Then, once I saw that there was lechon kawali (Filipino style roast pork) on the steam tray, I decided to get a small order of that as well. Total cost — $ 15, but mostly worth it! I say mostly, because while the squid, lumpia, and lechon were on point (especially the lechon; not that fatty at all and the skin was crispy), the oxtail on the kare-​kare was on the bone… and there weren’t too many pieces with my order. Also, they really pile on the rice here; I brought home half of my meal to share with my folks. I should also add that you get a free small soup with your order; on this visit I got chicken tinola (chicken broth with green papaya and spinach).
There’s no soda fountain on premises; like most of the Filipino restaurants I’ve been to, their drinks are in cans or bottles (though I don’t think they mind if customers brought their own beverages in, as I noticed more than a few people doing). I had gotten a bottle of Sarsi (a sarsaparilla from the Philippines — delicious!), and the guy that rang me up let me use a bottle opener to open my drink up. As you can see, the folks at Manila Fast Food and Desserts are nice and friendly, and the TV sets airing TFC helped contribute to the ambiance.
Although their hours are a bit screwy — they usually close around 6:30−7 pm and aren’t open on Mondays — there’s plenty to like about the place. Future visits are definitely an option.

I love coming here on the weekends for lunch to-​go when I’m having my filipino food cravings! All the choices are good and I like that it served from a buffet line so you are able to see what you are being served before making your choice.

Came here one lunch hour and the line was long. The service was friendly in this busy place. They have a lot of selections of food. They serve your combo meal with a soup. I only tried a few variety and I like it. they also do catering orders and lechon.

I have yet to have a sit down meal here, but I come here to grab my Filipino food fix and usually take it to go. Nothing fancy about it. Seating is cafeteria style. I typically go for their combination plates. 1 or 2 item combos with your choice of rice or pancit. I usually stick to the staples like dinuguan, kare kare or lechon. But sometimes if they have it, I will grab some pusit or la-​ing. So yummy.
For a few parties I have ordered a lumpia tray here. 100 pieces for $ 35. Definitely an easy platter to take to a party and always a hit.
Plenty of parking out front in the lot.

Delicious! Masarap!