Simple Delights

Incompetent staff. I was double charged on my 2 credit cards. The male cashier asked for another card when my first didn’t produce a receipt after it was swiped. His companion told him the machine is acting up again. Wary, when I got home, I checked online and indeed, both cards were approved. I took pictures of both credit card transactions and went back. When I showed the pictures, both said that both transactions are still being processed and that I should come back after it becomes final. WHAT? When I refused to go, they called another employee who told me to print out copies as evidence. WHAT? Isn’t it evidence that I showed the photos to the two at the counter? Then she said, ok, forward the photos at this number. WHAT??? These are photos of my credit card accounts and that all my numbers are there!
Finally, when they got hold of the owner, I heard the guy said the first card got approved but no receipt came out so he asked for my other credit card. I was reimbursed, but not after an hour of being given the runaround! Oh MY!

I wish I can put zero star as my review. The cashier not only she blames for not telling her I had a coconut juice as my drink because she forgot to charge me but also has a nasty attitude. I can stand eating an any restaurant with not so good food but I can’t when the people who works there do not know how to respect their customers. Today I decided to eat there for lunch I had a combo and a drink since I only have credit card n their min amt is $ 10 I decided to get something else to make my transaction over $ 10 so I went up to the counter n paid and as I about to go she said I didn’t tell her I had drink n she didn’t charge me so I said I only have a credit card and go ahead and charge my card the drink is about $ 2 or less and she started mumbling and I heard her say I didn’t tell her that I had a drink. And she made it seemed it was my fault. Hello lady if you are not too busy watching tv you would have noticed I took drink from the fridge and it’s not like I took off and didn’t pay… This after this incident I’m not going back there again sayang Filipino business na gusto kong suportahan but how can you support some business if they don’t know how to respect their customers… The food by the way isn’t all that…

Not coming back and will never recommend it. I had emapanada and had to beg to warm it up. My whole family was disappointed from their customer service.

First off, their customer service is horrible. They’re plain rude. As soon as I walked in, no one greeted me. I walked up to the counter and two of the people worked there were chatting with another customer. They never even acknowledged me when I got in front of the counter. They stared at me, and asked me what I wanted. I told them what I needed, and they went to get the pandesal. As they were getting it they were chit chatting with each other. Gossiping. I don’t think they knew I could understand Tagalog… I was pissed cause they were more worried about talking among themselves instead of trying to get to know their customer. Then she also rung me up for an extra hopya. I never went back in there for money back cause I was so pissed with their service it was embarrasing.
Anyway, I’m only giving them 2 stars, cause the pandesal and the yema were decent.
I’m most likely not coming back there though. I rather drive far than to go back here again.

If you all like burnt food and gnawing on tree bark… this is your place to be! Tocino was leftovers that they try to mask by re-​frying it. Tapsilog… same! I felt like I was a dinosaur chewing on tree bark. They don’t even bring food to you. They just whisper the order and your food can sit on counter until you figure it out! Horrible place. Not all Filipino establishments are like this so I’m very disappointed in this horrible horrible place.

I always feel like a horrible person writing less than stellar reviews for nice little local shops. Unfortunately, Simple Delights simply did not delight me or my dining companion.
We decided to stop in one night to pick up some Filipino treats. I love tocilog… I could eat tocino morning, noon & night. It’s so friggin delicious so when I saw that was on the menu I ordered it right up. We were the only people in the little café on a Friday night and it took about 20 minutes to cook up our meals. We took them to go and upon arriving home we found everything was insanely overcooked. The meat in both our meals was so dry from being cooked way too long, we couldn’t cut it at all and could barely bite into it. It was a huge put off and sadly the flavor didn’t make up for the messed up meat. Neither of us enjoyed our meals at all from Simple Delights.
On a positive note, they carry ice cream from the Village Creamery in small tubs. Love their ube ice cream!

Extremely POOR customer service and over charges you for items even when prices are posted directly on the menu! So Be Aware!
Their food is so so. The garlic rice is always hard and old and was told they ran out of a menu item but when the woman behind me ordered the item that they supposedly «ran out» of they were happy to ring her up for it… REALLY?!
I will definitely NOT return to this place and also do not recommend this place to anyone. There are better Filipino restaurants in the area! As a Filipina, I am extremely disappointed in this place. Thumbs down!
GO TO «RUBY’S»! BEST FILIPINO FOOD IN THE AREA! Less than 10 minutes away from Simple Delights — Located on 3740 W. Montrose Ave

How glad I was that I looked at Unilocal before I made my food choices– I was hungry enough that I almost gave into the hot dog stand across the street at Home Depot (which actually makes a decent dog) but I held out because Melanie got me with the idea of breakfast. I didn’t get breakfast however– I met MUNGGO!!! How have I lived past forty with out experiencing this delicious smoosh of mung beans and whatever else goes in it? It’s like black eyed peas from Asia. I’m hooked.
GO try it.
And who doesn’t need a chicken soup called «Mami»? WHY doen’t all cultures call their chicken soup Mami? This stuff is not as good as the best Mexican Caldo I’ve ever had, or the best Matzo, but it’s up there. Great noodles. Good broth, fresh veg accoutremonts. And cheap, yes sir.
I’ll be back.

Being half Filipino and from California, I found their palabok to be delightfully comparable to the Filipino restaurants back home. Their fresh lumpia was pretty spot on too. The shanghai lumpia while in a generous portion tasted off/​a little sour but it was freshly fried so I just doused it in Mae Ploy and called it a day.
I will def be back for the palabok and fresh lumpia! Maybe I’ll even try the pan de sal!!!

I spotted this joint when I went to Little Quiapo restaurant. What a great find!
I keep coming back for the freshly baked pan de sal. So good, so scrumptious pan de sal. This taste just like the ones back in the Philippines. Everytime I go here, they always have a fresh batch just taken out of the oven.

I WILL NEVER GO BACK TO THIS PLACE AGAIN!
i had one of the WORST experiences here that i’ve had in a long time! i was really wanting some tocilog and didn’t want to drive far so i decided to give simple delights a try. i live about 10 minutes away and thought hey why not.
upon arriving there, no one greats you and there’s only ONE person at the register who also is the server. it was on a sunday that i went so i guess they had a «buffet», yeah some buffet, the cashier/​server goes over to the buffet station, asks you what you want and she then pours the food into the bowls for you (probably cause filipinos are cheap and didn’t want people over filling their plates with food) about after 10 minutes of waiting only to order my food, it took another 15 minutes for them to make my food.
the cook in the back yelled out my order and left it on the counter in which i waited another 5 – 7 minutes for the only cashier/​server to get back to the counter to get my order together.
when i got home and opened my box of food i was surprised to see that the food in the box was not what i had ordered. by this time i was already cranking and hungry cause it took so long to order and get my food, i called simple delights to let them know that i got they gave me the wrong order only for that same cashier/​server to say to me «oh, you got the wrong order? i’m sorry» *click* meaning she hung up on me! she didnt even offer my money back or offer for me to come back and get the correct food! at this point i was very upset and drove back over there!
i got there and again another 10 minute wait until she acknowledged what the box of food sitting on the counter was. i then said it’s the food that i am returning because you gave me the wrong order. she then says «sorry, we gave your order to that man sitting down over there» she then looks at me and says we’ll make u a new one; which of course i waited another 15 minutes for them to make!
after getting back home a 2^nd time i went to eat my food in which was supposed to be garlic rice, which was pretty much regular white rice and fatty tocino
like i said i will NEVER go back here ever again and i will NOT recommend this place to anyone!!! i should have just gone to ruby’s fast food to begin with even if it was a further drive.

Why doesn’t the menu have prices? It annoyed me. I prefer not to ask how much each item cost and when I did asked they had to confirm with someone else which bothered me also.
Ensaymadas — missing something… my bread was flat (not fluffy) and tasted just like a bread with sugar.
Chicken empanadas — I guess because it’s baked it tasted like that. Flavor was okay but dough was not to my liking. I’ve had better.
Pork BBQ stick (sister tried) — meat was hard… overcooked?. Nonetheless, maybe they should pick a different cut of meat with some fat to make it softer.
I’ll give it another try for actual Filipino cooking since I am in the area. I hope for the best.

BEST PLACE TO ENJOY AUTHENTIC FILIPINO FOOD. From their Arroz Caldo (GOTO, LUGAW) to their Lumpiang Sariwa, and a lot more.
YOGAD ORIGINAL

Apparently, there’s not that many Filipino restaurants in Chicago and if you want any, you have to drive outside the city.
Our aunt felt the need to feed us comfort food and I’m game.
Ensaymada: This is Filipino brioche with smeared butter and sugar sprinkled on top. Pretty good. Plenty of butter and sugar on top.
Tapsilog & Dasilog: Garlic rice is pretty good. They didn’t mess up the eggs. The fish was not overly done (aka so dry it turned into jerky). For those of you who don’t know what the heck I’m talking about…
* TAPSILOG — TAPa or beef, SInangag or garlic rice, and itLOG which means egg.
* DASILOG — DAing or milkfish, SInangag, and itLOG.
Fried Vegetable/​Spring Rolls: REALLY good.
Calamansi juice: From concentrate. But really good. I’ve had some before where it was bland and watery.
Mango juice: Really really good.
Ice cream: Filipino ice cream!!! Yey!

(Refresher time! Apparently, I forgot Simple Delights served Filipino breakfast even though I definitely talked about it in my initial review. Oops!)
Lookin’ for Longsilog, Tocilog, Tapsilog? Get it here for $ 6.25!
It comes with your choice of meat (longanisa, tocino, tapa or even bbq), garlic fried rice and a sunny-​side up (or over medium, maybe?) egg. Yum!
Tip: If you’re in a rush, you should probably call in the order as you end up waiting 10 – 15 min for the food to come out.

I’m Filipino. I like Filipino food. I know what Filipino food should taste like and this place is decent. Actually, if it wasn’t so close to my house I wouldn’t eat here. The last time I went here they served me hard rice. Really? They ran out of garlic fried rice and said they only had one order left. Fine. But the white rice was hard? Freaking fry it and make it into garlic fried rice. Heat it with sine eater. But dont serve me hard rice!
So far I’ve only had the Filipino breakfasts, lumpia, halo halo and pan de sal. The pan de sal was really good. The BBQ stick was good. The longanisa was my favorite of the breakfast meat.
Don’t go out of your way to eat here. It’s not bad but it’s really not that good.

I find myself here 1 – 2 times a week. The food is good and pretty cheap. I recommend the Filipino breakfast (friend rice, egg, and meat combo).
I recommend calling in your order if you stop by for lunch because the food can take awhile too cook.
I also suggest buying their fresh baked Filipino breads especially the pandesal.
My white hubby loves using them for his sandwiches because they’re so soft and yummy :)

A friend of mine goes to the gym next to this restaurant and knew I’d be up for a conceptual trip the Philippines.
They had my favorite comfort dish as a lunch special that day — ginisang mongo. The healthy/​unhealthy balance between succulent pork cracklings, mongo beans (similar to lentils), stewed tomatoes/​carrots/​onions/​spinach, and light broth over white rice should not be missed. My friend loved her Filipino breakfast plate with BBQ chicken skewers and sunnyside up egg. The skewer was great, but I typically think of Filipino breakfast as fried rice instead of white rice. We shared the lumpia as an appetizer and halo halo as desert — happy taste buds and tummies :-) Even after ordering, I did double, triple, quadruple takes in the bakery. I vetoed an order of the pan de sal, boy was that difficult, but could not resist my favorite desert, ensaymada. Gigantic, doughy, sugary, optimum sprinkling of grated cheese — the ensaymada comes in packages of six, and I dare you to eat just one.
I’m grateful that the restaurants by my gym are delis, burger joints, and sit down restaurants rather than inexpensive, satisfying Filipino food.

Reaction after SKOKIE BAKERY was closed: «NOOOOOOOOO!!!» Like… Darth Vader realizing he had just killed Padme kind in «Star Wars Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith». Like… no joke I was pretty depressed on Sunday mornings after church when I would usually hit the place up.
Reaction after SIMPLE DELIGHTS was opened? «Okay…I see what you’re saying… now show me what you got!»
Not gonna lie, their empanadas are the… for the lack of a better word…“the shiznit.” They simply are pretty darn amazing. Melanie V. had it right on the spot as far as her description: «Semi-​sweet doughy crust, beef, potatoes, egg and raisins!» The last 2 times I’ve been there, they had just made them so they were perfect. Even if the $ 1.50 price is a bit much for a half-​fist portion, it wouldn’t stop me from hitting that craving… especially since it’s so nearby and always fresh!
As far as their pan de sal (Filipino roll)…not as good as Skokie Bakery. They’re pretty hard actually, which takes away from the «freshly baked» claim. Like day-​old bread kind. Although, I do enjoy the sweet kick to them and so far haven’t found any other Filipino place nearby to satisfy my nostalgic cravings for them, so they will have to do for the meantime. Maybe my timing is wrong. Maybe I just gotta figure out when they bake them and come when they’re fresh out of the oven. Maybe…
Haven’t really tried anything else yet because I prefer to see the food before I order them when it comes to Filipino food.
Pan De Sal pickups? Check. Empanadas of Perfection with a capital ‘P’? Double check with whipped cream and a cherry on top!

I stopped in here after dropping off a package at the UPS store. I am not very familiar with Filipino food, so I have no standard to judge it against. I ordered their daily lunch box special. Basically it was a big pile of white rice and i got to select 2 types of meat to go with it. I chose the chicken adobo and pork steak. It was not very appetizing to look at, but tasted ok. Felt more like what one would imagine being served in a soup kitchen or something. I ended up taking most of it home and picked at it for supper.
I also got a beef enpanada. The crust tasted like a type of corn bread and was rather sweet. I liked that a little better. Also bought some bread rolls I have yet to try.
The place is very clean and the lady behind the counter was friendly. I wish I could say I am eager to try it again, but I think it will be a while before I return. I need to educate myself more on the cuisine.
P. S. just got an update from my mom. She had one of the rolls. She loved it. Said there was a slight sweetness to it, but was very good.