A new Filipino restaurant has set up shop near Elk Grove's Old Town district, bringing lumpia, papaitan and ube sago drinks to a corner of the city that hasn't had a dedicated Filipino menu like this before. The Filipino Table soft-opened in October at 9625 Elk Grove Florin Road, and its owner is already working to turn limited hours into a full-time operation.
According to the Sacramento Bee, the restaurant is owned by Lee Ann Torrecarion, who also oversees Kuya's Inasal Express, a pop-up restaurant that previously operated at 9120 Elk Grove Blvd. That pop-up background shows up in the new restaurant's menu, which leans into Filipino street food staples alongside heartier rice bowls and soups.
Street Food Staples Meet Hearty Rice Bowls
The menu includes Filipino street foods such as rice bowls, chicken wings and Panalo plates, the Bee reports, with the Panalo built around grilled meat, java rice and lumpia. There's also Silog, a Filipino breakfast dish combining meat, fried egg and garlic fried rice, plus a bistek bowl made with Filipino beef, onions and garlic served over white rice.
The kitchen also turns out arroz a la cubana, a plate of fried rice, fried egg, plantains and tomato sauce, along with papaitan, a Filipino soup made with meat, ginger, garlic, onions, Thai chili peppers and animal organs. On the dumpling side, the restaurant makes lumpia, siomai dumplings, lumpiang sariwa and siopao, according to the same report.
Sago Drinks and a Schedule Still Taking Shape
To wash it all down, The Filipino Table offers ube sago and coffee sago drinks topped with jelly, per the Bee's reporting. The restaurant is in the process of ramping up into a full-time operation, and its hours are expected to expand later, though published accounts of its current schedule differ.
The Bee reports the restaurant is open on a limited schedule of 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Wednesdays and Sundays. A separate report from Whatnow describes the restaurant as open Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays from 1 to 4 p.m. under a temporary permit, serving takeout only.
Whatnow also reported that Torrecarion was hoping to begin full operation in mid-November, and that a public hearing expected in the first or second week of November would decide whether the restaurant could move to six days a week from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. The outlet described the space itself as about 1,116 square feet with seating for around 40 people.
For now, diners curious about The Filipino Table's growing menu of street food, rice bowls and sago drinks will want to check current hours before heading to the Old Town-adjacent address, as the restaurant continues working toward the fuller schedule its owner has planned.
