Pamilya — Restaurant in Redwood City

I love Pamilya! I've been ordering the garlic white rice and pancit sotanghon as my base with the BBQ chicken or pork as my entrée. Those items alone are enough to have me dancing my happy dance, but add to that a side of siomai or empanadas and my belly couldn't be happier. After a full plate of food my stomach is stuffed. I wish I could order a smaller sized meal sometimes, especially for lunch. The menu is a bit limited in that way. Dining in is very enjoyable with the nicely done interior. Though, every time the table I've sat at has not been clean. To get the other negatives out of the way, I wish the drink selection was larger as I don't buy Coca Cola products and the other couple options don't appeal to my tongue. I also wish the bicycle/scooter parking situation was better. I don't feel my scooter is safe when its parked behind the restaurant, but that's a problem caused by the building's owner rather than Pamilya. That back lot is sketchy as hell sometimes and there are lots of people using it to permanently park their vehicles. Anyways, I've gotten sidetracked. Despite my few gripes, I am in love with Pamilya. It's the local restaurant I've been waiting for for years. The food is high quality, delicious, and different from other local spots. The staff is super friendly and helpful. I'd give Pamilya 6...

I was walking by at 2pm today (April 8, 2025) when I saw a new, soft, opening for Pamilya for modern Filipino comfort food. This is located in a small strip mall at 756 Woodside Rd, Redwood City, CA. I walked in to find a nice, clean, casual restaurant with very friendly and helpful staff. I asked what to get and they recommended the lunch entree combo. I chose the BBQ chicken with a base of half garlic rice and half pancit canton/bihon (noodles). Then I added mixed veggies, pickled papaya, pickled cucumbers and three pork/shrimp lumpias. (They have many other protein entrees, sides, toppings, and desserts!).

I ate the lumpias with the sweet and sour sauce first and liked that they weren’t greasy at all. The BBQ Manilla chicken was served on sticks (like a kabob) and was fantastic! They sauce we just perfect, they had a nice sear on the outside yet still moist on the inside. Both base choices of the garlic rice and the pancit could have been warmer but I did come at the end of lunchtime so that might have been the issue but they tasted nice and were perfectly cooked. The pickled papaya and the pickled cucumbers were sooooo good and served cold.

While my lunch cost me about $21.00, it was at least two meals worth and I brought the extra home. I look forward to...

Enjoyed my first visit & will be back! Tasty, fresh, generously-portioned, and a good balance of traditional flavors (from the perspective of being a Filipino-American myself) & contemporary sensibility. We tried 2 entree-side combos. It works kind of like Panda Express: you've got the bowl, 1-entree, or 2-entree plates - except you also get vegetables & pickles with everything, and additional sides come with the entree plates. Honestly, the 1-entree plate is sufficient for at least 2 meals for me - the portion was extremely generous. Particularly tasty & fresh lumpia (pork & shrimp) - hot & crispy! I recommend trying it with a side of fish sauce (really good)! The pancit canton was surprisingly tasty - I enjoyed Pamilya's more than traditional pancit canton I'm used to eating. I also appreciated that as compared to a lot of traditional counter-based Filipino eateries, the food here is not over cooked - it's cooked just right - and the food isn't greasy either, which I'm used to with traditional Filipino food. So it was a nice new take on the cuisine. Looking forward to trying their all-day breakfast next time as well as...