Kubo Chicago — Restaurant in Lake View Township

I'll start with the only positive thing about this place. The food was absolutely superb. Like out of this world good. Unfortunately, the food is where the positivity ends, so let's dive in to our uncomfortable and upsetting experience...

We are not from the area, so this was our first trip to this restaurant. My wife, who is a Filipina, really wanted to eat at a Filipino restaurant while we were on vacation in Chicago so we thought we'd try this place. We completely regretted it. From the moment we walked in, our server, who I can only assume was Cemal, was extremely unpleasant and short with us for no reason. We saw him interact with other customers and he was really nice and friendly with them, but with us he was very, very suplado, even though we were nothing but polite and respectful to him. He got my wife's order wrong, and instead of apologizing, he sat there and argued with her. When she tried to explain to him that his mistake was the result of a misunderstanding, he talked over her and continued to argue with her before eventually saying very snidely that he could make what she had actually ordered. He never once apologized for his mistake, nor for his rudeness. In what world is it acceptable to argue with your customers and treat them like they are beneath you? We were both deeply offended. I can only say that the younger man who was working with him was very nice. We had no issues with him and we wish we could've traded the older gentleman for him during our visit and not dealt with the older man at all, aside from him showing us to our seats.

The atmosphere itself was cozy, but the reason we gave it 2 stars is because aside from the food, you could hardly tell it was a Filipino restaurant. There isn't even a flag anywhere within the establishment! The only real indication were the 2 big utensils in the entryway that say Philippines. The picture of the Kubo on the wall is of course Filipino, but anyone who didn't read the website or isn't familiar with the Philippines won't have a clue as to what that is, especially since there's no explanation of it anywhere within the restaurant. We have a Philippine restaurant in our city, and they have a flag, a map of the big Islands, explanations of simple Tagalog words, a Philippine story on the menu, and all sorts of Philippine culture covering the walls. My wife was rather insulted by the seemingly lack of pride for her home in a restaurant that was founded by her people and serves food that is exclusive to their native land.

On a final note, this was our first and last outing to Kubo. It was an insulting and disappointing experience. Absolutely the worst customer service either of us have ever experienced, which was made that much worse by the fact that that kind of service came from a place that is owned by people who have a reputation for being some of the kindest people in the world....

My friend and I wanted to try an ethnic food we don’t often have. When scrolling through options nothing seemed right. We finally go to Kubo which was about a 12 minute walk from where we were so we gave them a call. The host was so nice and inviting we just had to give it a try.

We walk over there and the set up just looks awesome. They have a huge outdoor, covered, patio, which had the tables spaced out for Covid. We walk inside and are greet with the same enthusiasm that we were on the phone. They take us to a table, but make sure it’s where we feel comfortable sitting. They have high tops and low tops, so there’s a place for everyone.

I’m not sure who was our server or who was the manager, because they were both so attentive and welcoming throughout our stay.

After going over their menu and drink selection they mentioned their featured beer. A local beer from twisted hippo called PLUMPass. They described it as a light plumb ale, and we were sold right away. It did not disappoint. We each had two and would have had more if it wasn’t 6.8%. Refreshing and delicious, a great was to start our meal!

For food, we started with small plates where we had fried calamari, tuna ceviche, and pork ribs. They were all excellent, my favorite of the 3 was the ceviche, but that’s a hard decision.

For our entrees I got the Crab Crusted Salmon, which was incredible. A super thick fillet of salmon crusted with real crab. Served with this amazing rice and cabbage vegetable mix. Seriously awesome. My friend got the pancit, and it tasted truly homemade. Every flavor was perfect. The salmon took a while to cook, not that we noticed from the great time we were having, but the staff clearly noticed and came over with 2 delicious shots to thank us for our patience.

After all that food, we saw this interesting purple ice cream walk passed us, so we had to try it. When we asked about ice cream we were immediately recommended the Ube ice cream, with the description being delicious and purple, we said yes and ordered it. They did not disappoint. I wish I could describe it better, it’s not too sweet as you would expect, not too floral. It was just perfect.

After all this we got our bill and it was EXTREMELY reasonable. I could not recommend this...

My favorite part of leaving reviews is taking photos. I ate my food so fast, because the delicious smells emanating from everywhere around me had me ravenous, and I didn't get one photograph.... I'll save it for next time, and they can go ahead and get 5 stars all around! We started off with the lumpia, which came out in 4 pieces, but each piece was easily the size of 2-3 regularly sized lumpias. They were perfectly crisp and full of flavor. My husband had the chicken pancit and I had the adobo ribs. First, the pancit was really good and had that garlicky flavor I love.

The ribs though..... These have to be some of the best ribs I've ever had. They had a great crunch when I bit into them, but they were also SO tender.... The sauce was soy & vinegar based, and I mixed it in with the garlic rice & veggies. I could not have been happier with my dish, I almost wanted to throw manners to the wind and lick my plate! Just kidding, but again, that sauce is addicting. I'll definitely be back, but I don't know if I can bring myself to order something else but these ribs. They also have them in an appetizer size, but I don't think that would be big enough for me. We finished off the meal with a crème brulee that was made with a citrus fruit that I had never tried, and I forgot the name of, but it was really delicious. My husband had a mezcal drink with raspberry that I ended up stealing and drinking 90% of.

The staff was super nice, checked in on us multiple times, and when I was curious about the citrus they used in the dessert the bartender brought me a small glass to try. The parking that we found was street parking. We had to park about a block away on a Saturday night, but that was ok with me. This was a great date night, and I can't wait to come back for...