Lechon Loco — Restaurant in Tacoma

We came here on the 2nd opening day. I would like to note the 2 stars is for the 3 young ladies that were serving that day and some parts of the food that did come out to us correctly. The only thing that highly impressed me that day were these 3 servers and how poised, emotionally disciplined, and relevant they were to the meal service at the time.

Now for the timeline of the experience. The wait in the lobby was about 30 minutes minimum. Once we got seated we got our drinks and maybe 15 minutes later, our order was taken. We ordered ube french toast (my son loved it), loco moco with GARLIC FRIED RICE, tapa with GARLIC FRIED RICE, and tocino with GARLIC FRIED RICE. Please take note on why GARLIC FRIED RICE is capitalized. It took about 45 minutes to an hour to finally receive our food without any major update. Specially from the, I'm assuming manager that kept reminding everyone in the restaurant that it was the second day and to be patient.

Food all came out on separate occasions even though other restaurant goers had most of their food come out simultaneously. Once the food arrived. NO GARLIC FRIED RICE. They substituted it with this disgusting red Spanish rice that tasted like taco seasoning mixed into it (appearance of meal in my picture). For one, no one came out and notified us that there was a substitute that was going to be made. Secondly, if you want Filipino/Hawaiian breakfast food, you do not pair it with Spanish rice OUT OF SURPRISE. At this point in time, I requested they just give me plain white rice and somehow garlic fried rice appeared on my table, but just enough for one meal. I later cancelled my tapa because well frankly I think that dish was forgotten and it would have came with that Spanish rice again.

We later then checked out. It did take awhile to get my card so I pushed forward to the front, where another restaurant goer went to the kitchen area angrily and stated, "I WOULD APPRECIATE IT IF I CAN BE SERVED PLEASE" to the non existent manager cowering behind the bar. I received my card from one of the waitresses, where I advised her, "you know if you want happy people here in this restaurant, you would either update people on the problem of the inaccuracy of meal or just give them the rice that is on the menu." As I left, I told her that her and her waitress team was doing a good job, despite the appalling meal service taking place in the kitchen.

The parts of the meal that were actually correct was decent. So I know that the restaurant will not have a problem putting out delicious dishes as long as it's correct.

I wish you the best of luck in your future meal services however to have such a lackluster performance from your older adult staff is actually very disappointing. The frustrations and anger of your restaurant goers should never go to your younger staff and you need to be there in time of adversity. I would come back for the food but would not want to experience the treatment that me and other restaurant goers...

Been following everything I could about this restaurant on their social media as well as what news I could find as a Filipino restaurant in Tacoma is super exciting! I came here with my mother (but will come here with my Filipino boyfriend) to try them out! We were able to find parking luckily and we also were lucky to grab the last seat as they had a full house inside. Our waiter welcomed us very warmly and professionally before grabbing some menus and then taking us over to the table. The table had little mats with utensils and at the wall end of the table had condiments, sauces, and little sauce dishes. The walls had some art on them with yellow and green paint on the walls. I felt the decor was cute and gives vibes of street eateries, which also feels amplified with street food videos at the Philippines playing on the TVs. The bathroom is all gender too as they had a urinal and toilet as well as a baby changing area.

Our waiter did a great job checking in on tables and providing the same hospitality he showed us to everyone else. The check ins were less frequent once the restaurant was getting empty, but I am impressed with how fast they cleaned up tables once they get cleared. When I told him that I was a Yelp Elite and here for the event, he immediately told me that he would get me the Calamansi iced tea and got the lumpia getting made for me. We ended up ordering the lechon belly and a little later we got the ube iced coffee. The drinks were very refreshing and not overly sweet, which made us very happy as more often you get overly sweet drinks. Also, I noticed not one review mentioned their complimentary chips and salsa but I learned from the waiter that you can ask for it and they will provide it. Additionally, they will refill it for you too! The salsa didn't really have anything memorable but it's a complimentary so I'm not really going to say it was a negative. The lechon is by far one of the best that I have had in Washington. The stuffing they put in the lechon, especially the lemongrass, is such a burst of umami! Definitely coming back and trying more of their menu as well as return back for some favorites...

This ain’t it.

Have to agree with others who left bad reviews. Not quite sure who their targeted demographic is and even question their segmenting, but do have a small clue based on the lack of service that was provided to my family and I. First, the wait time was very upsetting. We were seated immediately but had to wait 15 mins for menus. Once we received the menus, we were given water, but it was super warm, no ice. It took about another 15 minutes to place our order. Mind you, another family were seated next to us after the 30 mins had lapsed. They were given menus as we did, but they received chips and salsa and prompt service. The waitress finally brought us some chips and salsa after noticing our table being empty (40 mins lapsed). We finally received our food after waiting another 40 mins and the food did NOT look appealing. We ordered the sisig, pancit, beef caldereta, and longanisa eggs and garlic rice. Mind you, the family next to us who arrived later ordered similar dishes but got theirs before us. They also were given some smiles, greetings and apologies from the female “manager” for taking too long. Crazy thing is, we never received an apology as we got there earlier. Back to the food, we were given two small (3 inch) longanisa and super undercooked egg Yolk with burnt edges and cold ass garlic rice. Sisig was portioned minimally and was extremely bland. It was so bad I even opted for salt pepper to give it some taste. Pancit was cold and bland as well. Not to mention the strong vinegar taste that seeped into the cold garlic rice. In summary, this isn’t the “Filipino” food I anticipated. The warm glass of water tasted better than what we received. High prices for below standard food and service. My final opinion: the setting, and even the music they played looks like they’re trying too hard! My advice is to not believe the hype. If you want Filipino food, I recommend Maresol’s in Lakewood,...