Elvie’s Turo-Turo

Why did they close this place down?
Do I have to mail-​order another one back in it’s place?
They had the best Barbeque sticks and munggo ever…
tang ina…

It appears to be closed, therefore, it gets only one star for no longer existing. I live only a few blocks from it, but only ate there a few times. The concept was better than the execution, I’m afraid. The last time I went, years ago, I got very little food for the money. A Filipino friend I took there many years ago did like it, though.

I saw that Elvies was shuttered yesterday– sad that such a East Village Institution is no longer there. I hope that they pop up somewhere else, because it seems like it was a landlord dispute.

So, this place wasn’t a complete let down. I expected sub par food with sub par service. I was pleasantly surprised at the smiling faces and the manner in which we were dealt with.
We arrived about a half hour before closing and had very limited choices left. I was really looking forward to their Kare Kare but there was none left. We got a lot of stuff to taste and bring home; we got the pork adobo, dinuguan (sp? I know I should know because I’m filipino, but I’ve never eaten the stuff. Forbidden in my household!), longaniza (my favorite!), BBQ, and chicken afritada. The adobo was much different than what I’m used to since in my family, we never used the anise. It was a completely different flavor profile which my tongue did not hate. It was pleasant and perfumey. The BBQ was a disappointment. I’m used to juicy, saucy, boldly flavored BBQ, and this one was much tamer. Had a great grilled taste but it was too light in flavor for my preference. The longaniza was «THE BOMB». A must try. The delicious little nubbins of porky goodness. Sweet, savory, juicy… just plain old tasty. The afritada was much sweeter and not as thick as i’m used to. Again, personal preference, nothing like home cooking. It wasn’t bad but after awhile, it became sort of… sickly sweet. I still ate it though. This sister don’t hate.
I will definitely be back. It is much more accessible to me from my Billyburg apartment than some of the spots in Queens. Bonus!
Go. When you see something that makes you salivate, that is the one to go for.

Its so hard to get Filipino food in Chicago unless you have family around. Sucks.
So I made a point to good somewhere in the City when I went there just recently.
Mmm, trust me I’m not just filipino-​food starved and jacking up this rating. Knowing I would never come here in a very long time I went overboard and got the tortong tulong (eggplant omlette) the chicken adobo, the lumpiang shanghai, the bbq pork and a the BIG can of Buko juice
Everything tasted EXACTLY how home cooked filipino would and that’s a good thing. The adobo which can vary widely was exactly the right balance of soy sauce vs vinegar and very tender. The tortang tulong wasn’t freshly cooked but still tasty. And man that pork BBQ was delicious! its another dish which can vary widely depending on the ingredients. I thought everything I got would be totally palatable to someone not familiar with filipino food, though I did get the more common stuff.
The people there were really nice, chatted with me while I was waiting for my food. Talked about how Cendrillion closed (dang!_)
Do yourself a favor and get a stick or two of the pork BBQ and the coconut juice if you’re on the run… you’ll be really haaappy
Slim pickings here in Chicago unfortunately.

Oh how I wish there was a half star option on Unilocal.
I used to eat here all the time when I lived in NYC simply for the fact that it had ready-​made homestyle cooking. I usually got the Sinigang and the BBQ which made my belly smile. Just like a family party mmmm… The people are super nice and it’s real convenient here. There’s always a nice place to sit, the prices are pretty solid, and the food is quick. Besides the tasty food, I mostly rated it so high because I honestly couldn’t find any other good, quick Filipino joints in Manhattan.
If you’re looking to try Filipino food for the first time, or just want a quick bite that reminds you of home/​the motherland, check it out.

I’m Filipino so a chance to go to Elvie’s for the first time this past week was something that was WAY overdue.
There’s a good selection of Filipino dishes which you will have to order from the counter, there is no waiter service. The prices are very affordable and the service is very friendly.

This was where I got my first taste of filipino food. This is where I first discovered the vinegary taste of adobe, the crunchiness of lumpia shanghai and the yumminess of pancit. These are all really good dishes that many Filipinos seem to introduce non-​filipinos in the wonderful world that is Filipino cuisine.
As the years gone by and my knowledge has expanded, I still go back to this place. It’s relatively cheap as you can select two dishes with rice for under $ 10. It’s got this really warm, cozy feeling — like you’re in someone’s family dining table. Try the halo-​halo on a hot, sultry summer day. It really does the trick of cooling you down.
It’s a good deal and somewhere to get your fix. It’s probably not the best but it does its job as there aren’t too many filipino restaurants in Manhattan.

It was the closest thing to home-​cooking for me in NYC.
The uncles and the aunties were friendly and the food was okaaaay…
I just prefer my family’s Filipino cooking =)
If you’re craving decent Filipino food at a good price, I recommend this place.

If you want to try some good home cooked Filipino food… this is the place to go. Very affordable… pretty small, I think it seats 16 – 16 people… They have a small selection of meat, chicken and pork dishes… The Pork barbecue is really good!!! You can pick out 2 dishes with soup and rice 9(combo) for a .$ 8 – 9.00 fee… the owner and the staff behind the counter were very pleasant!!. They also have a very refreshing drink called –Halo Halo .(mix-mix).try it. .its a mixture of sweetened beans, flan, purple yam, sweetened coconut strings, shaved ice and milk Its similar to Taiwanese ice…

I was little disappointed last night,
After I realized that Elvie’s was JUST around the corner from Curly’s (dude, it’s divine intervention, I tell ya) — I made sure to leave space after my Curly’s dinner for some Pinoy dessert.
I was sad to see that their dessert selection was not out on display *womp womp womp*.
I’m a visual learner/​appreciator (ok, I’m a voyeur *sheesh*)…I need, gots to have that visual temptation.
I walked out quite sad… I was not about to ask them to bust out with their full selection of desserts. What if at the end of it all none looked appetizing? I don’t like making people go out of their way ridiculously like that. It’s a shame though, because I think having some sort of dessert display hooks in more peeps.
I can vouch for the food display, everything looks deelish. Can’t wait to try their pancit. Perhaps my review will change then.

Who knew there was a Filipino restaurant around the corner from me?
Wandered into Turo Turo on a lazy Sunday afternoon, in my search of a cheap, quick brunch place that didn’t have an hour’s wait to be seated.
Didn’t see any eggs as I’d originally hoped for, but I did find a large selection of yummy looking food laid out, cafeteria style, right before my eyes…
And by large selection, I mean LARGE selection… 4 amazing soups/​stews, and at least 10 other dishes to choose from.
If you want instant gratification, this is the place to go…
The ambiance is quaint and reminiscent of the small Filipino food places I often try to go to whenever I visit the West coast.
So «point-​point» away, as Michelle C. says~
And who knows, you might just spot your old high school friend that you hadn’t seen in over 10 years just standing right outside the restaurant window… I did.

3 stars = A-​OK
Having been in NYC for about a month, I needed to have my Filipino food fix. Living in Cali, I got it at least every two weeks, if not weekly.
This spot is actually convenient to my place as it’s about 15 min walk and I can come here after mass on Sundays.
I ordered the chicken afritada with rice, lumpiang prito (vegetable eggroll) and turon (fried banana with jackfruit). It was tasty and it hit the spot since I wanted some Filipino food. I liked the afritada since it had potatoes, bell peppers and carrots. Yum! However, all this food and bottled water was $ 10! I thought that was expensive considering I could get all this in Cali for about $ 7.(Hey, $ 3 makes a difference, I am poor grad student!)
This was good and I’d come back here if I need to have my Filipino food fix. However, as always nothing can beat home cooked food. Sadly, I must wait until I get back to Cali for that.

I have to say, this is a great place for some cheap Filipino food if you’re not in the mood to make it. I came here for the Halo-​halo, though — awesome :) The bbq pork skewers — also a big fan, although for $ 2.50 each, it’s a bit expensive.

i don’t buy filipino food bc everything my mom makes tastes 100xs better. why pay for food when its free and tastier at home? However, i did try this spot for the hell of it. For those who haven’t tried filipino food, i’m sure you’ll like it. Something new to try: pansit and the longanisa with some white rice. My personal favorites (not at this place but filipino food in general are the Kalderetang and Kare-​Kare). If you don’t want to be daring, cop the BBQ sticks and Lumpiang. I swear on anything you’ll love em. For dessert, Halo-​Halo all the way!

If you are a Manhattanite looking for some Filipino food, Elvie’s Turo Turo is one of the few places to go to. What I like about Elvie’s is the fact that it is a turo-​turo — a place with a plethora of traditional Filipino home-​cooked food to choose from. As you may already know, turo-​turo means point-​point in Tagalog and the concept is that you get a serving of rice and point-​point to the dishes that you’d like for your meal. This is typical local Filipino food and way of eating.
At Elvies, you get to choose rice with 1 entrée or 2 entrees for less than $ 10. Some of my favorite dishes are the following:
— Tortang Talong (I’m an eggplant fanatic so I love this. It’s basically a whole eggplant roasted/​steamed, peeled off its skin, squished and dipped in an egg batter, shallow-​fried to create an eggplant with an omelette skin
— Pinakbet (Mixed vegetables usually with string beans, squash, etc in shrimp paste)
— Kare-​kare (oxtail, beef tripe, and mixed veggies in a peanut sauce. A really traditional Filipino dish but don’t expect that it’ll taste like the peanut sauce with your satay. This Filipino version is more liquidy and on the savory side)
I really can’t speak about this restaurant in the perspective of a person who did not grow up on Filpino food. I can say though that if you are Filipino, you can find the dishes (and the ambience) at Elvie’s pretty close to what you can get from home.

I’ve been meaning to come here for the longest time for obvious reasons — their novelty dishes (ahem.balut!) The balut tasted like one big egg yolk w/​a crunchy white. Ordered chicken adobo, sausage, beef w/​pork blood, salmon head soup, 2 balut, 2 sodas (one dalandan soda). Can’t quite put my finger on what dalandan extract tastes like. For the price though you can’t beat that with a bat! Service was friendly. Where else can you eat homemade cooking and leave stuffed/​satisfied for $ 22.50?
Décor: very casual.
Note: I didn’t see a bathroom anywhere so be forewarned.

Last I was here was summer 2007. first was ¹⁹⁹⁹⁄₂₀₀₀.
Food and prices r still reasonably good.
large enough selection and you can see what you’re ordering before you do, which is good for both those familiar and unfamiliar with filipino cuisine.
If the dish you crave is not displayed, ask if they’ll make it for you.
cleaner than some other small fresh ready made food places.

This is hard. We had gone without Filipino food for nearly a week. That in and of itself is a problem. Who knew there would be no Filipino food from Bangor/​Bar Harbor all through the state of Massachusetts until we got to New York. So, we were drooling at just the idea of some sinigang. It met the need, but it just wasn’t great. I will say that the family is very nice and makes you feel right at home. This place is tiny. You may have to wait for a table; so do the filipino thing. One person wait in line while having another member of the group steak out a table.

Had a craving for pork adobo like no other today. So I went on
and looked it up. The only place listed was Elvie’s. I immediately went to Unilocal to see what other people thought about it.
It was exactly as I read about it to be. It’s a small cozy little restaurant specializing in home cooked Philipino food. You order from the counter and pick the items that you want with your rice. They have chicken adobo, pork adobo, loganisa, empanadas, fried eggplant and a lot of other sides.
The pork adobo was delicious. The meat was tender and juicy, marinated to perfection with vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, and basil. It inspired me to make my own adobo next week!
I will definitely be back. What made it even more authentic was the fact that the owners and their friends were sitting at a table enjoying dinner right next to us.