Kusinera Filipino Cuisine — Restaurant in Hope Mills

This is an Honest review! What I experienced from this establishment, so we were brought to this establishment, Kusinera Filipino Cuisine at 3047 Legion Rd in Fayetteville, NC, by some very good friends. We were maybe expecting too much from this place and were definitely let down. It was an early Friday evening around 5pm, and somewhat busy. So we placed an order for three platters, four orders of lumpias, four orders of lechon kawali, and five Halo-Halos (which we asked to be given to us when the entire order is ready, because they’re a frozen dessert.) About fifteen minutes later a server brought out our Halo-Halos without the rest of the order. We told him that we specified that the Halo-Halos be served when the entire order is ready, so they put them in the freezer. First sign of bad communication. After about half an hour of waiting I asked, “How long would our order take?” The owner Nanette, specifically pointed at the receipts for the kitchen and said “those receipts are all the orders.” I replied, “That’s not what I’m asking about.” I asked again, “How long will my order take to be ready?” She replied, “I don’t know, it’s Friday, we get busy.” Then I asked, “Will it take two hours?” Nanette replied, “No.” So I asked, “ Will it take 1 hour?” She said “Oh no, not 1 hour.” Another lady asked, How long will my order take? I’ve been waiting for 40 minutes and ordered a $4 pancit.” Nanette explained, “We go by the order number. So your order will be ready soon”. I spoke to the lady, and mentioned that she placed her order after us and 6-7 people that ordered after us already got their food and left, so I don’t understand why she told you they go by the order number and you have a small order”. So I sat back down and continued to wait patiently. After about an hour she started calling out 134, 134. So I thought our order was ready and went to get it, it wasn’t. So I sat back down again.

After a few more minutes she started yelling at her employees in the kitchen, “What’s going on with order 134? They’ve been waiting for over an hour.”(Speaking in Tagalog the Filipino language.) This seemed kind of unpleasant and unprofessional to me. They finally called our order after an hour and a half. They opened up the Lechon (pork belly). I asked is that four orders? They replied, “Yes, that’s four orders.” Then I asked, “Are you sure?” Another server said, “I will add some more and then weigh it.” I asked, “So it wasn’t weighed?” She said, “I’m not sure, ma’am.” Not a good sign to me. Another said, “I’m sorry for the wait ma’am, we had to clean the grill.” I replied, “That’s not my problem, I’ve been waiting for an hour and a half.” Then the owner said, “What’s going on, what’s the problem?” I said, “She’s making an excuse, that they had to clean the grill, which is why I had to wait an hour and a half.” The owner again said, “It’s Friday, we get very busy.” I replied, “I have been trying to communicate with you in the beginning, you should have been honest with me. I asked, will it take two hours, you said no. I asked, will it take one hour, and you said, no not one hour.” Then she said, “Your order is now ready.” With no apologies whatsoever.

Customer service from the owner specifically needs much improvement. This “restaurant” is mediocre at best for now, at this rate I’m not sure if they can continue to increase their customer base. The food was nothing special. As the owner explained, she started her restaurant because her husband got tired of her cooking, so she thought maybe others would enjoy it. Nothing extraordinary for Filipino food. I will not return to this establishment again! I’d rather drive the extra miles to the spot on Yadkin Rd (Philippines Store & Cuisine) or even the one in Raleigh (Oriental Store of Raleigh). At least the customer service, wait times, and food at those locations are so much better. By the way their sanitation score is 95.5. That tells you how clean their kitchen is!! 🤢 Below picture is 1 hour of waiting for our order and...

Nanette and her team take great care in all aspects of preparing delicious, authentic Filipino food. Take the pancit (noodle dish) for example. The carrots and green beans are thinly cut on the diagonal, there is a substantial amount of meat and the noodles are flavorful. This is a dish that can be flavorless when cooked in large amounts. But they do it excellently here! I'm so impressed to see the variety of Filipino dishes offered here: pinapaitan, dinoguan and kare kare are dishes that are rotated as daily specials. The halo halo ("mix mix" dessert) is excellent and one of the best I've ever had. The regular serving size is generous, the ube cream is made in the restaurant and the coconut cream is decadent. I am Filipino, so I know what the menu items are. On my second visit, I brought a friend with me and she didn't know what the dishes were because the menu does not explain what the dishes are. I think a revamp of the menu that includes a description of menu items would be very beneficial for people who are trying Filipino food for the first time. I think it would also cut down on the time people spend ordering at the counter, especially since there is no wait staff welcoming and seating guests and explaining the menu. Currently, guests order their food at the counter, seat themselves, and food is brought out. Nanette and her staff are helpful and friendly. We enjoyed a short conversation with her at my last visit, and her love and dedication to serve delicious Filipino food was so apparent. It is obvious she takes no shortcuts when it comes to how she prepares her dishes.

I'm so thrilled to see Filipino food being deliciously offered in Fayetteville! And the reception that this restaurant has received in the community is amazing. I love to see Filipino food being celebrated...

While living overseas I was fortunate enough to gain and maintain friends from all over the world as well as enjoy a wide variety of authentic dishes. Although I was also taught to make some dishes, I was sadly never able to master pansit or lumpia 🥲

If you love authentic filipino food, I highly recommend Kusinera Filipino Cuisine! My daughter and I stopped in for lunch. This establishment is nicely decorated and clean. You order at the counter and the food is brought to you. The wait time was less than 10 minutes but we also arrived a little late for lunch so it was not busy.

Everything was made to perfection. Not only was the food absolutely amazing the atmosphere was friendly and have that family feeling I always got when sharing a meal with my friends! I took notice that everyone seemed happy to be there. Each staff member went above and beyond to make us feel welcome and I thoroughly enjoyed my conversation with the sweet owner/Top Chef as well who really takes pride in her business and the food she serves. She went as far as making my daughter and I an “off the menu” item that we were looking which was totally unexpected.

We ordered safe for our first time; Barbeque chicken sticks, lumpia, and pansit. The chicken was marinated and tasted so tender and was bursting with flavor. All ingredients in the pansit was fresh and there were plenty of vegetables which I loved. The portions were HUGE! The off the menu item tasted just as I remembered and I hope makes it on the menu soon. I cannot wait to try to beef Kare kare and chicken curry next time! I’ll definitely be a...