Tapsilog At Iba Pa (Touhy and California)

Yesterday, while I was driving down Touhy avenue, I noticed a new restaurant in the storefront where Sala Thai used to be. Of course, I stopped back later with a friend to check it out. It turned out to be a small but pleasant family-run Filipino restaurant specializing in a dish called Tapsilog.


Tapsilog is basically strips of marinated beef that are grilled, then served on a banana-leaf with a big ball of rice topped with an egg. The restaurant serves several variations of the dish (hence the name which means Tapsilog etcetera). The versions are Tapsilog, which is marinated beef, Tosilog which is cured pork, Longsilog is Filipino sausage, Bangusilog is milk fish, Bursilog is hamburger and hotsilog is hotdog. All these dishes are $5.99.

The restaurant also had a small toro toro table in back that offers a daily special and Milk Fish. Yesterday's special was Dinuguan, which is pork stomach and other organs stewed in pig's blood. Despite its unappealing description, it looked and smelled very good. Still, we passed on it.

The very charming female proprietor showed us a fairly extensive menu, but then explained that they were not really geared up to offer any entrees yet, other than the signature Tapsilog and its cousins. However, she said on weekends they offer a buffet, that often includes Kare Kare and Pinakbet. She said Kare Kare will be offered this Saturday made with ox-tails and tripe, banana blossoms and long beans.

Anyhow, we settled on a Tapsilog, a Tosilog, an order of pork Lumpia rolls and a couple of iced teas. The iced tea was very citrusy and not overly sweet, very refreshing.

The Lumpia Shanghai were fantastic. I am certainly not an expert on the things, but they were the best I have ever tasted. They were crispy and light, not oily at all, with a very tasty pork filling. We split an order of 12, but I could easily have eaten an order all by myself. The acompanying sauce was a fruity sweet and sour sauce with a touch of heat.


The Tapsilog was attractively presented with a fried egg atop a ball of perfectly prepared rice and a moderate sized serving of delicious and slightly charred marinated beef. The dish also comes with a bit of caramelized fried banana and fresh tomatoes. When the runny egg yolk is mixed up with the rice, it is not unlike Korean Bi Bim Bap.


The Tocino (cured pork) was also tender and tasty. The marinade was slightly sweet and garlicky and gave the pork belly a pinkish red color.


The traditional condiment for Tapsilog is a simple North Carolina style vinegar and chile sauce with bits of onion and garlic. There were also bottles of fish sauce on the tables.


Tapsilog At Iba Pa is a friendly family run establishment that serves what (so far) seems to be simple but very good food. Like the food, the decor is very simple but tasteful in an almost Zen fashion. I will certainly be going back (probably tomorrow for the buffet, and hopefully kare kare). I have a good feeling about this place.

BTW, the bill was under $18 inc tax.

Tapsilog At Iba Pa
2739 W. Touhy
Chicago IL
773-338-6961

I recently ate at Cid's Ma Mon Lukand it kick-started a new obsession with Filipino food. I particularly like how vinegar is used in the cuisine. When I made sausage a few months back, the longaniza--a Filipino breakfast sausage--was a huge hit, and I think the zing of vinegar was the ticket.

There's another restaurant in Niles, in the same strip mall as Cid's, called Filipiniana, that serves Tapsilog for breakfast on Saturdays only.

Filipiniana Restaurant
9060 Golf Road
Niles, IL
847.298.9332
Tues.-Fri. 11 a.m.-10 p.m.
Saturday breakfast: 9 a.m.-11:30 a.m.; Noon-10 p.m.
Sunday Buffet: 11 a.m.-8 p.m.

I have yet to try Tapsilog at Iba Pa... however my mother in law has already been and said it was decent. I'm a little reluctant only because of the prices (maybe I'm a filipino food snob?) but I do plan on check it out.

I'm finding that a handful of Filipino restaurants are more along the lines of catering rather than offering entrees at any given time. Its quite disappointing (and honestly, a little embarassing being Filipino myself) that I'll go in to a restaurant, expect to order an entree off a menu... only to be told that they have a very limited selection of entrees available they could serve up and prefer to have an order called in. (This was also the case when a few LTHers checked out a Pampangan restaurant on Lawrence, the name escapes me at the moment).

Filipiniana is good, probably on the better end of the area Filipino restaurants in the area. My husband really likes their version of Sinigang ng Baboy - a sweet & sour tamarind pork soup.

foodie1 wrote:I'm finding that a handful of Filipino restaurants are more along the lines of catering rather than offering entrees at any given time. Its quite disappointing (and honestly, a little embarassing being Filipino myself) that I'll go in to a restaurant, expect to order an entree off a menu... only to be told that they have a very limited selection of entrees available they could serve up and prefer to have an order called in.

Is that the deal? I have to admit, I was totally confused about the business model. IHOP aside, here you have a restaurant that bases its entire business around variations on a single dish, which is basically a breakfast meal. The owner brought us a menu, then told us they don't have a menu, but only offer a couple of entree items each day. So we had to either order their specialty, Tapsilog, which was actually very good, or have the daily specials (which were dinuguan or bangus). Everything I asked for, I was told to come back on the weekend for the buffet. I was confused as to why they had a menu at all. I can see eating the Tapsilog for breakfast or lunch on occassion, but I am not sure I would go out of my way to go to a restaurant, if I didn't know they will be serving something I want to eat. There is a popular nuevo-Mexican restaurant in Tucson that has no set menu, but at least they offer 5-6 specials to choose from at a given meal. Oh well, I am going to try to check out their buffet today.

I'm hoping that filipino restaurant owners recognize that having patrons come in only during weekend buffets or providing a limited menu will hurt their business.... which is why it doesn't surprise me that some filipino restaurants don't last very long (with Little Quiapo and Filipiniana as exceptions.)

I look forward to your review on the weekend buffet... and hopefully their offerings are more substantial than a handful of dishes.

Tapsilog at Iba Pa was featured in the "Save This Restaurant" column in this week's Time Out Chicago.

Thanks for the nice review. I think this looks really interestung. The lumpia look perfect. Hard to imagine my not liking grilled meat, rice and fried egg in any combination. I'm going to try to stop by soon.

I'm hoping that filipino restaurant owners recognize that having patrons come in only during weekend buffets or providing a limited menu will hurt their business.... which is why it doesn't surprise me that some filipino restaurants don't last very long (with Little Quiapo and Filipiniana as exceptions.)

I've look in the restaurant several times, then walked out; it's not interested me. Filipino friends of mine don't want to visit, either - but I'm not certain why. The localtion is jinxed, I think - and operations which were there in the recent past have failed. Touhy isn't a good street for food at the moment - as many of you know it's the center for the Orthodox Jewish community in the city - and the resident community will not be supporters. Success, if it does come, will be the result of visits from people from outside the area.

I am disappointed that you and your friends feel that way. I am Filipino, born and raised in Manila, and I think I have a pretty good idea of what real Filipino food is. I went to Tapsilog today for the lunch buffet and the tapsilog. Both did not disappoint. The buffet had the tastiest lumpiang shanghai that I have had in Chicago, perfectly cooked. I have been disappointed by the lumpiang shanghai at both Fishpond and Little Quiapo over the years. Tapsilog's was terrific. The lumpia was crisp and heartily filled. They also had a fantastic Bangus (milkfish) en tocho, a very traditional filipino dish that I have been looking for in chicago for years. The adobo was also great, as was the caldereta. The tapsilog was ok, I probably prefer Adobo Express's since the tapa and the garlic rice there are both superlative. I am so glad that Timeout Chicago featured this restaurant. As one of the original Timeout subscribers, I don't think I recall the magazine ever doing a write-up on a Filipino restaurant. Hopefully more people will be encouraged to come by and have home cooked Filipino food. There was a sizable crowd at lunch today, which is a beautiful thing.

I had dinner last night at an Indian restaurant on Devon Ave. with a group of core supporters of an unsuccessful candidate for Alderman in the 50th Ward in the last municipal election - many of whom are Asian-American and Filipino-American.

Three of my table-mates (Filipino's) had eaten lunch yesterday at this restaurant and liked it - they likened it to "real food" and "home cooking" as one might find in the Philippines. If they had a "criticism" it was that, they said, you need to know what to order and how to order it because there was a lack of a menu or lack of explanation of what the food was. "Non-Filipiinos could be lost there" was a recurring theme. "Staff wasn't very helpful" was another.

What has the experience of those of you who've visited thus far - those who aren't Filipino or familiar with the food - did you understand the menu (was there one) and/or did anyone explain things to you? Thanks.

d4v3 wrote:

foodie1 wrote:I'm finding that a handful of Filipino restaurants are more along the lines of catering rather than offering entrees at any given time. Its quite disappointing (and honestly, a little embarassing being Filipino myself) that I'll go in to a restaurant, expect to order an entree off a menu... only to be told that they have a very limited selection of entrees available they could serve up and prefer to have an order called in.

Is that the deal? I have to admit, I was totally confused about the business model. IHOP aside, here you have a restaurant that bases its entire business around variations on a single dish, which is basically a breakfast meal. The owner brought us a menu, then told us they don't have a menu, but only offer a couple of entree items each day. So we had to either order their specialty, Tapsilog, which was actually very good, or have the daily specials (which were dinuguan or bangus). Everything I asked for, I was told to come back on the weekend for the buffet. I was confused as to why they had a menu at all. I can see eating the Tapsilog for breakfast or lunch on occassion, but I am not sure I would go out of my way to go to a restaurant, if I didn't know they will be serving something I want to eat. There is a popular nuevo-Mexican restaurant in Tucson that has no set menu, but at least they offer 5-6 specials to choose from at a given meal. Oh well, I am going to try to check out their buffet today.

foodie1 and d4v3, you both raise some sensible concerns. On the other hand, I find myself wondering whether this is not a good strategy for a small restaurant owner who cannot count on a consistent flow of customers. It seems that the other alternative is to go the way of pre-prepared and shortcut ingredients used in so many small restaurants that serve mainstream "American" fare. I really appreciate being offered food that is freshly prepared and not dumbed down, no matter how limited the selection.

Thanks to all who contributed to this thread, I had spotted this place last week and wondered about it. Having had some good meals at Cid's and Little Quiapo recently as well as some of helen's home cooking, I can call myself a fan of Filipino food.

d4v3 wrote:The Lumpia Shanghai were fantastic.


The Tocino (cured pork) was also tender and tasty. The marinade was slightly sweet and garlicky and gave the pork belly a pinkish red color.

Went today for lunch, and I agree --lumpia were very good. Getting these right out of the fryer is the only way to go (as it is for most fried things).

I thought the tosinolog (sp?) was just a real nice dish, well composed, with salty pork and sweet banana complementing one another, as did the pork and egg with rice as a good base.

Service was not bad (it was friendly) but it was bizarre. At lunch, with three tables full (which I'm guessing is maybe a lot for this space), and people lining up at the counter, the server just left the building and didn't return for like 10 minutes. Two guys who had ordered maybe 40 minutes before were getting pissed, ready to leave, when the cook, sensing trouble, came out of the kitchen and delivered the order himself.

As I left, I saw them bringing out some good-looking buffet items: fish with banana peppers, mungo and what looked like a beef stew.

David "All Filipino, All the Time" Hammond

David Hammond wrote:Went today for lunch, and I agree --lumpia were very good. Getting these right out of the fryer is the only way to go (as it is for most fried things).

These things are really easy to make too, so you can eat them hot, and they freeze well. I happened into an intensive Filipino cooking class a couple years ago...two 3 hour sessions, the second one-on-one...with Jennifer Aranjas (?) formerly of Rambutan. Really enjoyable, and better food than I've typically gotten at Filipino restaurants. I believe I've got a bunch of recipes still, including the lumpia.

Recent TOC article about TAIP by MJN:

http://www.timeout.com/chicago/Details. ... aurant.xml

Driving by last night I saw brown paper over the windows. Not sure if that meant that the "Closed" sign in the window meant more than just "closed for the evening" but that was the feeling I got. I never visited, but I've always been entertained by the unusual name (at least, unusual if you don't speak the language).

On my way to Louie's yesterday for Sunday dinner I passed this storefront - and the brown 'butcher paper' is still in the window, and there are no indications that the restaurant will open any time soon (or, more likely, be replaced with another restaurant soon). I've lived in the neighborhood for 5 1/2 years now, and each restaurant occupying the spot during the period has had a short life.

Bill wrote:On my way to Louie's yesterday for Sunday dinner I passed this storefront - and the brown 'butcher paper' is still in the window, and there are no indications that the restaurant will open any time soon (or, more likely, be replaced with another restaurant soon). I've lived in the neighborhood for 5 1/2 years now, and each restaurant occupying the spot during the period has had a short life.

There was one Thai restaurant that was there for quite a few years (I forget the name - I want to say Sala Thai, but I think there might have been another before that.). Ever since that first one closed, that spot has been a Boot Hill. I'm not sure why; the location isn't fantastic, nor is it horrible.