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 with grilled milkfish, beef stew (caldereta), and vegetable coconut stew (ginataan) some of the top entrees to explore.

Filipino bakeries like Valerio’s abound in San Diego but at Andell’s, they take pandesal, a sweet roll, and transform it into a sandwich. Fillings include spam, eggs, cheese, fried bananas, peanut butter, chicken adobo, sardines with olives and corned beef. Also try the cheese ensaymada, a Filipino-style brioche bun topped with cheese, butter and sugar.

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 popular choice for those looking to order large amounts of food for a party but solo diners will benefit too. Lumpia by the piece is under a dollar 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.

If you’re familiar with Chinese mooncakes, then hopia isn’t a big stretch. This National City bakery bakes them fresh and offers varieties filled with ube, buko pandan, mongo (mung bean), pineapple, baboy (winter melon), and langka (jackfruit). If they have it, don’t bypass the ube crinkle cookies or garlic peanuts.

One step inside this cozy bakery and you’ll be welcomed with colorful sweets that include coconut milk and glutinous rice. Buy small variety packs with a selection of kalamay, kutsina, pitsi-pitsi, puto, and maja blanca. And don’t miss out on bibingka, an addictive sticky rice cake topped with brown sugar and coconut milk, or turon, banana lumpia with a caramel coating.

A mix of Filipino, Mexican, and Hawaiian dishes are served here but the Filipino food shines with their all-day breakfast or silog. Served with garlic rice and fried eggs, it includes your choice of menudo, Spam, longinasa (sweet pork sausage), and marinated milkfish.

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 their kamayan-style dining, a Filipino tradition where food is laid out on banana leaves and guests eat with their hands.

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.

This National City spot caters to Filipino street food meaning almost everything is skewered. A few dollars can fetch hot dogs, pork, chicken, beef, quail eggs, sesame balls and more. The food extends into Filipino comfort food like lugaw or arroz caldo, a chicken rice porridge seasoned with garlic, ginger and fish sauce, available only on Fridays and Saturdays.

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