Nanay Gloria's Filipino Restaurant — Restaurant in Spring Valley

Without food, there is no culture, as food is the great binding agent to us all and for most people their cooking will never be as good as their parents (usually moms). In Tagalog, Nanay means mom, so it’s really no surprise the food here is so good, not gonna lie it puts a lot of peoples cooking to shame.

Filipino’s love buffet’s, I mean Vegas. And Filipino’s go hand in hand with buffets, just come to any party and see the food spread. Most people are surprised that this is a regular occurrence and not something special like Thanksgiving.

Located in a strip mall in Chinatown (massage parlor central). It’s pretty non descript. The self serve buffet style and AYCE at a price that’s half what most ACYE or buffet places charge, AND it’s Filipino food. I’ve had mediocre Filipino food a lot in my life and can tell you this is the best buffet I’ve seen. The offerings are in the dozens of items (sinigang, nilaga, kare-kare, adobo, lechon, sisig, afritata, paksiw, dinuguon, pancit, luglug, palabok, laing, pinakbet, balut). Some of these items may vary on availability, but having all those offerings is kinda crazy. Banana-su, turon, flan for desserts (surprisingly light on the bibinka selection). Water, fruits and lighter fare are in the other room.

Grab a tray, grab a plate, grab a soup bowl and pace yourself. They have some snacks for purchase in a little market in the back.

The booths are pretty well worn and plates can stack up. Décor is basic, but when you sneak a peak into the kitchen and it’s cranking (catering as well) you know things are warming, but haven’t been sitting.

Without getting into all the dishes that I had (diving into each will give away how much I ate) a few things that stood out from me are the house made Bagoong for the kare kare had good flavor, wasn’t too pungent. The dinuguon wasn’t too rich and had a mix of meat and intestines and not either or, no peppers for heat. The GFR went super quick, the white rice wasn’t dry. The pancit, also not dry. The sinigang was not pork or fish, weird. I enjoyed the ginger in the soups and was expecting some other dishes over a few I saw.

There are not designations, it’s a Filipino buffet and they kind of expect you to know what things are, if not then you certainly aren’t Filipino enough. To be honest, just spoon it out and try it, not knowing is actually one of the best ways to indoctrinate non Filipinos to the food.

It’s a place off the strip that doesn’t get the love of Aloha grill or others, but the quality of food and price and variety is something I’ve never seen before. This is truly where the...

We were the pioneer customers of : " Nanay Gloria ". from the very 1st branch in Eaglerock, CA. We ate there almost daily, eventhough most members of our family are good cooks.. One of their location at the Maryland Parkway, is close. They had more varieties and tastier foods, and a very friendlier staff, I can brag about. The Spring Mountain branch, is the only one open now, so we have no choice. I had been bringing friends from different cultures to eat here. Most of the time, they seem not to fail, in giving me high blood. It's not only by too much sodium on some of their ulam, but mostly how rude the food servers to us. First of all, if you can cook or use to cater filipino foods, you would know the difference. If not, you wouldn't know or can't telll how the food was cooked or how it suppose to taste like. Twice we found hair in our ulam, recently, yesterday May 15, 2021 after 12pm. I didn't want to add more tensions to my heart or brain, to have an attack. After all, I was already having a high blood, after being served my food rudely. The food servers here are always in a hurry to get rid of customers who wants their food served. I think they are trained not to serve anyone at all. They have " No love and Care for their work, or us customers, visitors from everywhere all over the world and US. They think and serve like robots. Programs only to serve food one way like serving prisoners or miners. They didn't only slammed the ulam in a tiny bowl ( that fits a couple of meat in it.), they place the bowl on my friends plate on top of her rice. I almost had a fit and threw it. So embarrassing to my friends. If you care about COVID19, be more cautious and know the procedures specially in handling foods for others. Thumbs up to the table cleaners and the dishwasher. Good job, keep it...

If you want a fancy dining experience, this is not your joint... But if you want GREAT food and don't care about ambiance so much, this is your spot for Phillipino food! There are no labels on anything.. "Mom what is that?" and my reply "idk let's try a little"... Still not sure what we ate but we were not disappointed! A large variety of items to choose from... Very well developed flavors in all of the dishes. If it was seafood based you know they made a seafood stock in house... Two little ladies working the kitchen and the counter... Barely spoke English, I think we were the only non Phillipino customers that day (these things excite me!) They were very friendly to me and the kids and even gave me some recipe advice on my at home lumpia I make! If you know Phillipino food you'll love it..... And if you don't know Phillipino food but like trying new things......