Filbilly's Authentic Filipino BBQ Diner — Restaurant in Tazewell

So for my birthday, I wanted to take my family to an authentic Filipino restaurant and Filbilly's was the nearest one to us. The exterior part of the restaurant looked nicely southern--like what you'd see when you walk into a Cracker Barrel but unfortunately, it felt strange once we were inside the building. No background music and the lady behind the counter looked annoyed to see us; not even a 'hi' but it's whatever. We were already there and I drove out of town for 🇵🇭 food.

We ordered bbq on stick with pancit & lumpia, Burnt ends with steamed rice & lumpia & beef stir-fry with curly fries & rangoons + bottled drinks. The lumpia rolls were piping hot with a nice crisp. It came with yum yum sauce but even with that, it didn't help very much; they were flavorless. It would've been better paired with banana ketchup or sweet chili sauce like how Filipinos eat their lumpia. It was weird dipping them in yum yum sauce as you'd normally see them paired with hibachi dishes at a Japanese restaurant. The beef stir-fry's flavor was ok but not great. For $16.99, the plate looked more like an appetizer sampler than an actual entree with 2 sides. I thought the steamed rice would be better with burnt ends but I was disappointed. It was too sweet like original bbq sauce sweet but with more added sugar. I wasn't familiar with the taste. I wanted to like it but honestly I would've settled for fried pork with soy sauce and lemon on the side rather than the pork swimming in extra sweet bbq sauce. The pancit was al denté. It's got some umami flavor to it and it would've worked better had they put a slice of lemon on the side. It came with bellpeppers. I've never had pancit cooked that way before. Back home in the Philippines, you'd find pancit sauteed with onions, julienned carrots, cabbage, snap peas, protein and lastly, the citrus called 'calamansi' on the side. Hence why it was an odd combination for me. The bbq pork on a stick saved the day. It was fresh, glistening and had a sweet smokey flavor to it. That at least we enjoyed. The closest thing to bbq stands in Manila or other major cities in the Philippines.

I do need to say that the menu does need work. Right under the Burnt ends item clearly says 3 sides but there was no option for 2 or 3 sides with its individual price so I thought I was getting pancit too but as you can tell by the photos that's not what happened. So we opted in for 2 sides of pancit for $5 each (says so at the bottom of the menu) as additional for to-go order since we're nearly done and ready to head back home. As it turned out, each order of pancit we ordered, we got charged for $10 each. Clearly, there was a misunderstanding there but the food was already made and packed up to-go so I just let it be.

Overall, it was disappointing for me and I'm not just talking out of my a$$. It was supposed to be a special trip for me. I drove over 200 miles round trip and spent over $100 for this authentic cuisine but the experience and quality I had, failed to take me back to memory lane. It's just far from the memories I had growing up to Filipino home cooked meals made by Grandma or even local restaurants serving Filipino food in the country. I don't know if we would come back anytime soon.

To the Owner, I hope you would consider these feedbacks to make changes for the better. Yes, you can't please everybody but not everybody goes out of town, spend their whole afternoon and evening just to dine in at your restaurant. We could've easily gone to a fancy restaurant 5 miles away but we chose your business that's over 200 miles out. Your business has a lot of potential but you gotta consider the people's feedback and it won't hurt to listen to your paying customers before going into defense mode...

Upon entering the restaurant, we were met with an unusually silent and awkward atmosphere. With no music or background noise, the room felt sterile and uncomfortable — quiet enough to hear a pin drop. It was not the welcoming environment we had hoped for.

We were genuinely excited to finally try some cultural cuisine in the area, but unfortunately, the food did not live up to expectations. My wife ordered the pepper steak stir-fry special, and I ordered the teriyaki chicken. The pepper steak turned out to be mostly bell peppers with a small amount of chewy, gristly meat. Oddly, there also seemed to be ground beef mixed in, leading us to wonder if the kitchen had simply run out of steak. The dish was flavorless and lacked any seasoning or sauce.

The teriyaki chicken was equally disappointing. While it appeared to be glazed, there was no actual teriyaki flavor. The chicken was unusually tough — likely previously frozen — and I had to request a side of teriyaki and soy sauce just to give the dish any taste. It was surprising and frustrating that basic condiments weren’t offered at the table.

The lumpia, which was delivered after our entrées, was the one highlight. It was served hot and had a good crisp to it, though it's likely it, too, was frozen prior to being prepared.

Other red flags included clearly hearing a microwave being used in the kitchen, its door slamming repeatedly, and seeing a man and a small child exit from a door labeled “Private" from the kitchen area. These details contributed to an overall impression of disorganization and a lack of professionalism.

Most concerning, my wife didn’t feel well for the remainder of the evening after the meal — another reason we won’t be returning.

We genuinely wanted to enjoy the experience and support a new local option, but between the poor food quality, uncomfortable setting, and post-meal discomfort, we cannot recommend this restaurant and will not be...

Im so pleased!! My mom and I got the chicken curry plate to share and it was LOADED! it could barely close!! the chicken was so tender and falling off the bone, the flavor was out of this world!! amazing! lumpia was crisp and perfect, you can never go wrong with lumpia but this was extra special! no complaints! super friendly ladies too! we talked for around 30 minutes, lovely conversation! i cant recommend coming in here enough! great prices for the service...