Manila Express Gourmet Fast Foods

This place has been in business for more than 20 years.
The BBQ pork on a stick rates 5 stars, recommendable.
They Qs are sweet and tangy, consistent and delicious; the reason why I return periodically.
Have them to go, the place is a bit outdated.
Service is friendly so as the prices.

ZOMG!!! Why haven’t I found this place before?!
This place is very home-​eee like. Definitely somewhere where you can bring your friends and family and feel very comfortable. The prices for the food can vary from either affordable to expensive. I don’t blame them. ingredients for good food can get expensive. NONTHELESSSSS the food taste delicious!!! :)

Best Filipino BBQ I’ve had in a while. The staff is so friendly and excited about their food. This is a place where it’s best to pick up and take it somewhere with a beautiful view. I had the bbq plate #12 and let me tell you that the adobo is not something to pass up on. It was flavorful and it melts away in your mouth. So good!

Best tasting, best food, best size serving for the price. Love this hidden gem. Friendly people.

So many of my relatives live in the Bay Area. Recently, some of us got together. We all met for lunch at Manila Express Gourmet Fast Foods. This restaurant cannot be spotted from Gellert Boulevard so it is easy to miss. They are located in the back of a small plaza with a tiny parking lot. There is a 7-​Eleven store located in front.
There was plenty of room for our group of 20 people. We had two long tables all to ourselves. We all ordered at the counter. Food came out in a reasonable time. Each of us were satisfied with our choices. No unhappy faces in our party.
Regarding the food, I can only comment on my order and wifey’s order as well. The Tocilog was yummy. Bbq on a skewer was also tasty too. Bangus was good. Chicharron Bulaklak was good too. Would order all these again, but will probably try something else in the future. The green mango smoothie was disappointing. Strawberry banana smoothie was decent.
Manila Express is a nice option if you are craving Filipino food. Affordable tasty food in a clean friendly environment. 4 stars overall.

Dropped by to give this place a try. We ordered to-​go. I ordered the #1 and bf got #6. Would give it 3 ½ stars. Good food but not exactly a fan yet.
#1 came with a pork skewer, a couple of baby lumpias, two scoops of rice, and pancit. The bbq pork skewers, in my opinion were delicious! I believe they grill it to order, or at least regrill it. I wish there were more lumpia. The serving size it big. I was full and still had a scoop of rice and half of the pancit left.
#6 came with bbq chicken, a couple of baby lumpias, two scoops of rice, and sisig. It was a lot of food. He didn’t finish either. I think we could have just shared this and both finish it together and be full. Bf thought it was okay, said he had better sisig elsewhere.
Overall service was prompt and nice. There are plenty of tables and chairs to dine in if you want to. It looks clean, but I think the table top needs to be wiped though. we sat waiting about 5 – 10 minutes to come out and I had placed my arm on the table. slightly tacky/​sticky. :/

I’ve been going to this restaurant since 1983. I try to go at least once a year, the most fantastic barbecue you’ll ever have I love it

Hands down the best Filipino food I know!
The drive I make is worth it and I will continue to make it!
MY FAVORITE PLACE!

Such great food! So quick and delicious. Had the pancit, chicken adobo and BBQ chicken. Great service as well.

Always delicious! Just how I remembered when I was here years ago. Affordable and large portions. Frienly customer service. I will be back!

Awesome Filipino food. Ordered 4 BBQ chicken meal and 4 BBQ beef ribs meal. Came with 4 lumpias, rice pancit and adobe. So delicious. Reviewers were right, portion were huge.
Restaurant wasn’t easy to find. It’s hidden behind 7 eleven and the Chinese restaurant, next to the hair salon.
Will definitely come back.

Keep your eyes open or you might miss this place!
Came here last week to get some lunch and it was good.
I am pretty sure that this is a family business. You are greeted upon entrance and the menu is very nice. Decent selection to choose from. I ordered the #12.
The place is rather spacious. Plenty of seating for large parties and groups. I am not sure if they do catering but I would not be surprised if they did.
If you come in around noon time there is no line or long waiting, keep that is mind!
There is a TV and TFC is the station to see, at least here!
My food was good. The adobo was tender and very savory. Well done. I would consider coming back here for sure. I would be interested in trying some of the other items on their menu.
#justaroundthecorner

Pros: big portions, nice char bits on the meats from the grill, lumpia were crispy
Cons: salty adobo that isn’t balanced in terms of sweetness and tanginess, pancit has a ‘dishwasher’ taste, meat sticks were fatty and grisly (except the chicken), lumpia were filled with a funky tasting pork filling
Will not be returning here, despite the local appreciation.

I’m going to rave about their boba drink. I’m sure you’ve heard of Quickly or Bambu or boba drinks in general right? Well I happen to love taro smoothies with tapioca balls so I got one. Here, they have flavored boba! I decided to try the taro smoothie with mango boba. I loved it. It’s nothing like the ones I’ve had at Vietnamese restaurants or at Bambu. It was original and they used Fresh taro! I’ve seen some places use powder and I was ecstatic manila express doesn’t use a powdered drink! And the boba… wow… it was different! It sort of popped in your mouth releasing a zing of flavor onto your tongue… It was amazing!

Large portions.
Irresistible smoky char taste on all their bbq meats
Great service

I know Manila Express has been open for a long time, but I haven’t really visited until last Sunday. The location is somewhat hidden through the passage way between the chinese restaurant and the ⁷⁄₁₁. We were warmly welcomed with a smile as we entered the restaurant. They have menus at the register and everything is pretty affordable for what you get. You order at the front and when your order is ready, they call you up to pick up your food. There weren’t very many people there only about 4 people eating. They had two large screen TV’s which had basketball games on.
We decided to order the lumpia, chicken bbq, and chicken adobo. Their bbq chicken didn’t come skewered like I expected it to come, but that just means that easier to eat. The chicken adobo was perfectly flavored. The garlic wasn’t too overpowering and it came with very large pieces of chicken and a mountain of rice. The lumpia was delicious and crispy. I am very particular about how it’s made and the flavor along with the crunch and the sweet and sour sauce that accompanied it was delicious.
Overall, I would definitely return. I wasn’t able to try their palabok since the food we ordered was plenty. The only thing I can really say is that the tables were pretty sticky, but other than that it was a good experience. They also offer party trays of food.

OMG so much food. Seriously. It’s a total bargain for cost to food ratio. Only had the beef short ribs (kalbi) and the pork. I actually preferred the pork over the ribs. I was surprised too. With an entrée, it comes with a couple of other sides. We ended up getting the big combo which included a total of four skewers. Between the skewers and the sides, it was more than we could eat. There was even enough for left overs for one of us to eat for lunch.
There was something just right about this place. From the décor to the kind of questionable strip mall that this restaurant resides, Manila Express was a perfect hole in the wall for a late lunch on a Sunday. It’s simple food cooked well.

Palabok and bbq is their specialty. Still same area since I left but the food is still great. Authentic Filipino food. The service was good although the staff was minimal. I took my wife And my mother in law after visiting their friend from Hawaii in San Bruno, we went here to eat dinner. Still delicious and the price is still affordable. I recommend you to come here for a simple but delicious authentic Filipino food.

Good food!
Craving satisfied when I finally had a chance to order a Filipino dish I have not had in a while and been craving for lately… pansit palabok. We were in the area from visiting friends in the nearby city of San Bruno so we took advantage of having to dine in a Filipino restaurant. The portion was a good size because as hungry as I was, and it didn’t seem like a lot when we received the order, I couldn’t finish the plateful of this one dish meal. The presentation was nice and the taste was delicious.
The restaurant was a bit hard to find. My hubby, who frequented this place in the 80’s, was going by memory in trying to locate it. After a few U-​turns and back tracks we were able to find it. You really have to look because we were not sure where the main parking area was nor the entrance to this complex because it was hidden from a 7 – 11 and a Chinese restaurant. We had to park on the side street and walk in. It is in the midst of other small businesses.
The place looks old but is clean and nice inside, decorated in many floral themes. No individual tables, all long tables in the restaurant. They have two flat screens on the wall, both showing TFC Channel shows (of course, right?). You place your order in the counter and you pick up from there too. They will not serve to you. The woman that took our order was super nice and friendly. Food prices were affordable but one stick of their famous BBQ is $ 5.85 (whoa!), you might as well buy 3 sticks for $ 8.95. They offer ‘Express Meal Specials” in BBQ pork, BBQ beef, or BBQ chicken. Each meal special is served with rice and a combination of pansit, lumpia and adobo. Wish we were closer to this place…

This is totally old school. Solid food. Great prices. Four sticks, rice, pancit and lumpia. for $ 17.60 really. Feed three adults and one kid. and still have left overs, all I have to do is cook more rice. Hidden away behind ⁷⁄₁₁ is the jewel of BBQ. New floors and better TV.
Pansit is tasty and was devoured in a instant. Lumpia was gone in a blink of an eye. Bbq and adobo where left overs. But will not go to waste. There was so much food. But come and eat.