Renee's Kitchenette & Grill — Restaurant in New York

My family and I came here on 10/18/2025, arriving around 5:30 p.m. for dinner. The restaurant is quite small inside. They have high chairs available for babies, which is nice. The staff were friendly for the most part and seated us quickly.

My husband ordered the popular Mixed Grill, while my mom and I both ordered Goto. We also got Sizzling Sisig and Lumpiang Shanghai to share.

Two generous portions of garlic rice came out first, but they were a bit stale and not as warm as I would've liked. The flavor was bland and could've used more seasoning. The Goto was hot and tasted good overall although a bit more yellow than I'm used to. My mom commented that they probably used too much saffron, which explains the very yellow color.

The Mixed Grill looked mouthwatering when it arrived and it smelled great and looked even better. When my husband bit into the pork BBQ skewer, he said it was a bit tough and didn't touch it again for the rest of our visit. We took the pork bbq stick and longanisa to go.

Fast forward to Sunday night: my husband wanted to have the leftover pork BBQ stick. As he sliced the meat off the skewer to reheat it in the oven, he suddenly called me over in shock. The inside of the pork BBQ was completely raw--not just under cooked, but raw throughout the entire skewer. My jaw dropped. I've never encountered anything like that before. I've posted pictures so everyone can see how obvious it is that it's raw inside.

My husband wasn't feeling good the night we came home from Renee's and now we know why. He had taken a bite of the contaminated pork bbq skewer. Thankfully, his symptoms didn't worsen and he didn't get more severely ill.

We decided to contact the restaurant because this is completely unacceptable. Serving raw pork is a serious food safety issue, and the staff needs to be made aware so they can address whoever is responsible for grilling. Someone could become severely ill if this happens again.

When I called a few days later, I was told there was no manager available, apparently they're only in on Mondays. The staff I spoke with didn't seem to care or show any real concern. They offered to replace the food, but since we don't live locally, that wasn't a realistic solution. There was no apology, no offer to refund the platter, and no gesture of goodwill for new customers who had such a disappointing first experience.

My husband's family owns a restaurant, and I've worked in the food industry myself. It's a normalized practice to comp or refund items when a mistake like this happens. While I understand it's ultimately up to management, in this case, even a partial refund would have been more than appropriate. We were served raw meat, the entire skewer was unsafe to eat. It's frightening to think what could have happened if we'd fed that to our baby instead of the pork belly.

What bothers me most is the complete lack of concern. The fact that their kitchen served this, and they didn't even apologize or try to make it right, or even say they would address this with their team, says a lot about their priorities. If we wanted to spend over $100 for raw meat, we could have gone to the grocery store instead.

It's hard to find Kapampangan cuisine, and I really wanted to like Renee's. But after this experience, I can't recommend it. If you do decide to go, avoid the grilled items or make sure to cut into your meat before eating. Don't take a blind bite because you will risk getting food poisoning. I've gone ahead and also reported this incident to 311. I take food safety seriously and just because we were lucky not to get severely ill, the next customer might not be so lucky.

We won't be returning. I can't support or give money to establishments that don't care for the safety of their own customers. I'm not trying to intentionally hurt this business but they need to do better. We make mistakes, but it's how we fix them...

My family and I have been coming to Renee’s for years. At one point they occupied two stories but alas, they now only have the ground floor open for the restaurant. The décor is homey with the various kitschy, handmade Pinoy decorations on the wall, some of which they sell. The restaurant is small and has about ten tables squeezed inside. On the weekends, they get quite crowded especially during lunch.

Renee’s consistently offers good food. Dishes are authentic and taste homemade. No frills type of food that stands on taste alone. The menu is surprisingly extensive given that it’s listed on two pages. They offer the usual classic items like adobo, lumpia and kare kare. But when I go with my family, we usually order one of the samplers to get as many varieties of dishes on the table as possible. Or sometimes we order one of the bilao platters. The bilao platters are the filipino version of a po pu platter. There are 4 options to choose from and this will feed about 4-10 people, depending on the option you choose.

There are some great dishes worth trying here. One of my favorites is the sisig. Delicious! The meat has just the right amount of fattiness and crispiness. The dish comes sizzling to your table and is so freaking good. Another great dish is the lumpiang frito or fried spring rolls filled with shrimp, pork and veggies. It comes with a garlic vinegar dipping sauce that is perfectly matched.

They offer weekday and weekend specials for around $9 which includes your choice of two dishes (from a list entrees), along with rice, soup and soda, coffee or tea.

Save some room as they also offer a lot of options for hot and cold drinks, smoothies and desserts. There are some unusual options being offered here like the frozen yema shake or the leche con hielo drink.

Overall, this restaurant delivers on food and I plan to continue to grace this...

During our trip to New York City, my girlfriend and I found ourselves craving Filipino food after indulging in American cuisine for days. So, we decided to venture out to Little Manila in Queens, about a 45-minute commute from the city. Among the many Filipino restaurants there, we chose Renee's Kitchenette and Grill, a Kapampangan spot that promised a taste of home.

The moment we stepped in, we were greeted with warm smiles and a chorus of Tagalog, which instantly made us feel at home. It was refreshing to speak in our native language after days of non-stop English. The staff, who seemed to be the owners as well, were incredibly accommodating and friendly, adding to the cozy and welcoming vibe of the place.

Faced with a menu brimming with Filipino favorites, we were overwhelmed with choices. I opted for the longsilog, while my girlfriend went for the menudo. In hindsight, considering it’s a Kapampangan restaurant, we should have tried their sisig and tokwa't baboy.

When our meals arrived, we found them to be decent but not outstanding. My longsilog was good, with the longganisa being particularly tasty, but it didn't stand out as exceptional. My girlfriend's menudo, however, fell short of our expectations. It wasn’t the menudo we were accustomed to from Southern Tagalog and didn’t quite hit the spot that day.

The prices were understandably higher compared to what we would pay back home, but that's the cost of enjoying a piece of nostalgia in a foreign land. Despite the food not being spectacular, the overall experience of dining at Renee's, speaking in Tagalog, and feeling at home in a bustling city made it worthwhile.

If you're in NYC and longing for a Filipino meal in a warm and friendly setting, Renee's Kitchenette and Grill is worth a visit. Just maybe opt for their specialty dishes to get the...