Grill City

Before I start, you might want to take a quick look at an *authentic* video explaining the Tagalog word, «turo». Married to a Filipino, I must endure this on a daily basis.
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Your sympathy is appreciated.
So now that you have viewed that, you can better understand when I say, this is a «turo turo» food establishment. You must point-​point to indicate your choices. Yeah! Turo Turo. Thankfully, in this venue you *are* allowed to employ your fingers as well.
Anyone familiar with that culture knows about these cafeteria style delis the Filipinos are so famous for. They feature the usual suspects. And what are the… usual suspects? Well, I will let you figure that out, because you will most likely find yourself going there. Especially if you are reading this review. Besides, they change daily.
So, here is what Mr. B and I had.
Lechon paksiw (pronounced pawk see yu) — pork in a lechon sauce. Fantabulous from the aspect of having crispy chunks of pork+skin in a delicious vinegary gravy, slightly sweet and gingery.
Lechon kawali — Same pork with crispy skin, but no gravy. This is then dipped in a garlicky vinegar dip before ravaging.
Bbq Pork and Chicken skewers — generous amounts of bite sized meat that have been marinated in a soy based concoction similar to teriyaki, then skewered and cooked over an open flame. Japanese yakatori is similar.
And…a big scoop of white rice.
There are a few tables. Remind yourself, this is inside a grocery store, so no dining high expectations.
Inexpensive, satisfying, very decent food, for what we tasted. However, I would suggest you get yourself in front of a mirror and start practicing lip pointing. They may not understand fingers that well.

Went in the morning. Breakfast items ran out quick with no more being made. Two counter servers were at a loss who would get the last longanisa with 2 left and I had claims on it. Prices a little high. Phil House at Island Pacific is better. They’re food taste better. Glad it reopened again (formerly at Carnelian).
They know what they’re doing there.

First time here did not know what to order or expect just look interesting. First up the Kabobs
Pork n Chicken have to say very tasty then came the Pancit Palabok kind of small noodles dish.
With a half order of Bangus (grill fish) finally
Something kind of sweet Bibingka egg dessert made with coconut milk on a banana leaf delicious.
I think I going to like Filipino food something different than Chinese food. Can’t wait to try a new thing at the grill try it for yourself and make your assumption. Forgot the lumpias

I go here when I crave filipino food that I don’t cook. I’ll usually get the pork bbq and a combo with rice, which always hits the spot.
During my past visit here, my husband got the pancit and pork bbq w/​rice combo; and I splurged and got the lechon and stuffed grilled bangus. Food is not salty, nor oily compared to other places.
In the times I’ve been here, I feel like the servings have always been consistent (just enough). Pricing is fair. «Friendliness» of service varies, but whatever, it’s a turo-​turo place. I just take my food and sit down at one of the «cleaner» tables.
I’m sure I’ll keep coming back here as cravings come up.

Poor management and customer service at this Grill City. First off their sign says breakfast is from 7 am to 10 am on weekends. My family and I get to Grill City around 9 am on Sunday and they did not have anymore garlic fried rice, beef tapa, and bangus. I asked the lady behind the counter in Tagalog if they were going to be making more food. She says no and says that food is always gone by 9 am. Any decent management will anticipate this and make more food. We order what is left which is tocino, eggs, and steamed rice. We ask for a fountain drink and the lady says they do not have any, so instead we ask for mango and calamansi juice. The lady says they don’t have any calamansi even though you can clearly see that they have it. I don’t know if the lady was having a bad day or if this is typical for them, but why stay open if you have nothing to sell. Seriously?!? Do yourself a favor and just eat at Manila Sunset!

This Grill City is ridiculous. Not ridiculously good but ridiculously bad when it comes to service. Don’t waste your money coming here, the employees are unhappy and unwilling to help you out. There are other Grill Citys’ that have better service and selection. Stay away from breakfast after 8:30AM, they don’t cook more breakfast food after 8:30 AM on weekends. I gave it two stars because I eat my food. But I won’t be coming back anytime soon.

Finally they have offered the mahi-​mahi, salmon and shrimp skewers. I have seen the advertisement 6 months ago but its often unavailable.

Yuck, ordered 2 dozens pork BBQ and the top part are burnt but the bottom part were so undercooked.
Yuck!

Dont understand why this place is 3 stars. it deserves 1 star. I was super excited today to introduce my corworkers to Filipino food. We were all wanting to try the pork bbq on a stick and they were all out and next batch would take about 40 minutes. So we decided to try the pork liempo which is grilled pork belly and we also ordered the kawali which is crispy pork very similar to carnitas and we ordered the lumpias (eggrolls) well lets start with the temperature of the food, it was COLD!!! The lumpias were not crunch, they were limp and soft. disgusting. The crispy pork has no flavor other than grease. Liempo didnt taste good either. Never returning ever again. The only part I enjoyed was my cold plain steamed rice. Very sad. We all want our money back!!! lol I do not recommend this place at all!

SO RUDE. I think they intentionally don’t answer their phones or something. One time somebody actually picked up the phone and immediately hung up. The two stars are there because food is alright.

Terrible service. Stood there by the cashier a whole half hour while this lady was just there fiddling with the cash register. She didnt even greet/​try to talk to me. Wasn’t accomodated until AFTER she took care of a friend and rang her up. Then 2 others before she even acknowledged me. Afterwards she passed me on to someone else and then that person told me I have to wait another 10 mins for my order to finish. Could’ve told me that in the beginning instead of just standing there looking like an idiot.

I normally don’t have a problem with this place. The food is good on par with other Filipino restaurantants near by. They offer a variety of dishes in a fast food type setting. And whenever im feeling nostalgic the food is good in a pinch. The employees are polite and efficient for the most part. However recently I had a two item combo to go and when I got home to eat my food they gave me nothing but sauce. No meat or vegtables.
I normally dont mind buying food and having it taste bad. Taste for the most part is subjective. But when you buy something and recieve nothing in return that is very disappointing. I will come back here but i will make sure to check what i bring home next time.

After today’s experience I had to post a review. This is NOT the first time this occurred so to all, heed this warning. Be sure to remind whomever is helping you out the quantity of what you are ordering. And be sure to have them count it right then and there. Earlier today, around 3pm, my mom and I went in to get some of the chicken bbq sticks. We ordered 4 sticks and some other things. My mom noticed that she put in three and initially asked if the gal behind the counter placed in 4 as she had ordered. The gal said yes in a way that seemed to just shrug us off and proceeded to wrap it up without checking (maybe we should have insisted but considering we were the only customers at the time I would think she would have checked without having to be asked twice). We were just about to leave when we checked our order one more time (at this point we already paid) and lo and behold the 4^th bbq stick was not in the bag. We went back and my mom pointed it out. This time the gal didn’t hesitate and put in the 4^th (though if it’s chicken as opposed to pork we don’t know just yet).
Moral of the story check and insist because this isn’t the first time we were charged for the amount we wanted but we’re NOT given the amount we were charged.
Also for employees I believe it’s proper customer service to at least have the decency to check the first time when it’s brought up.

— Lunchtime, pork bbqs are either all gone or still on the grill; wait at least 15 minutes.
— Try going at 8 pm and either the food have been picked-​over or cleared out. I thought you guys close at 9?
— Inconsistent serving sizes.

THE REVIEW: This place is extremely hit or miss. When they get it right they are good, but when they don’t, it can be really bad and just ruin your day.
One of the most important things in my opinion, other that getting good service and a good value, is consistency! Nothing is more annoying than a place that is sometimes good, and then sometimes bad — as it amounts to me essentially «gambling» every time I visit such places, and this is definitely one of those kind of places.
THE BOTTOM LINE: This is a place where you roll the dice and take your chances.
THE RATING: I give the city grill 3-​Stars. I wish I could give them more, but its a matter of a lack of consistency — otherwise they could be a four, or possibly even a five star rated place.

So today is Pacquiao and Mayweather night. I ordered 30 pcs of chicken barbeque in advance, May 2 8:44am to pick up at a later 6:00pm. Lady reassured the morning that it should be ready for pick up by then. I arrived 6:45pm late from work to pick it up and low and behold, it was not there and my order was not qeued yet until I arrived. You gotta be kidding me!!!
I was told to wait 30 mins for it to be ready. I have learned my lesson this 2^nd time around. 1^st time, I was food poisoned by a liempo from Grill City and have spoke with a staff (manager was dodging).
I would recommend buying from Manila Sunset or Banaue Filipino Food in terms of customer service and taste. Do not expect quality service from Grill City.

My sister was always raving on how good their bbq sticks are. Came in today to pick up some for the family and this was how it went…
Lady behind the counter: Hi
Me: Hi, I’d like 2 orders of… Lady: (cut me off) WHAT?! Me: –_​_​– bbq sticks… Two orders. Then to top it off, I asked another older lady at the register if I could pay extra to add a side of palabok to one of the meals and she started yelling «NO YOU CAN NOT!» Then stated to tell me that I have to pay 4.99 if that’s what I wanted. With a smile, I declined. The pork bbq sticks were delicious but not enough to come back. One star for service and another for their food. If any of you are in the area … Go to Greenhills market off the 60. Better food, better prices, friendlier service.

I am loving the BBQ skewers! I was ecstatic when I saw that Seafood City was opening up here not because I plan on shopping there but because I knew that with the opening of a new Asian market meant more Asian food and Filipino food, nonetheless!
Let’s face it, the Inland Empire sucks when it comes to a variety of food. Everything is basically a chain or sandwiches, pizzas, burgers, you get the gist.
Grill City offers a takeout style, quick And hearty Filipino food.
I love coming to Grill city for their skewers. The pork and chicken are $ 2.50 each but if you buy a few they have special deals going on. I think it’s like 4 for $ 9, 12 for $ 20 or 6 for $ 12. They are so yummy. Nice and tender and juicy and the sauce is good too, not super sweet but a tad salty.
I haven’t tried the other BBQ items besides the pork and chicken skewer but I look forward to it. I have tried their other items Including both pancit’s that they have and some sort of sour shrimp soup. Not a fan, listen to me and just stick to the BBQ items/​skewers. The pancit bihon is dry and not tasty and neither is the other one.
It’s meant to be a quick to go place so I am not too picky about service as long as the food gets from the grill to my mouth then I’m happy. I love seeing them grill the meat, so happy this place is here. Now whenever I make a trip out to the IE to visit my boyfriend, we will probably end up here when we get hungry.

I wasn’t sure what eateries were in the food court in the new Seafood City in RC, so I was happy to see something other than Jollibee. I am not a big fan of Jollibee ;P. As the name implies, Grill City offers primarily grilled (inihaw) items.
The menu includes chicken, pork, beef and squid skewers, in addition to whole fish (bangus [milkfish], tilapia & pompano). They also advertise no MSG (Hi Cherylynn N. — LOL!). For you non-​Filipinos out there, there are labels and pictures to help you navigate the confused menu (Hi Maggie C. — LOL!). You can also order combos on the other side of the line that includes lechon kawali, crispy pata, pancit and a host of other items. For side dishes you can order pancit bihon (cornstarch noodles), or pancit palabok (egg noodles w/​a shrimp sauce). Lastly, Grill City also offers party platters, and you can order a whole pig too.
All of the items are reasonably priced ($ 8 or less). I ordered the chicken insalag ($ 5.95 — Grilled chicken leg & thigh). Included w/​the plates is a generous portion of soup. You have your choice of sinigang (tamarind flavored) w/​pork or shrimp, and mungo bean w/​pork. I opted for the mungo bean because it reminded me of my late father. The chicken was really good. It was nicely seasoned and moist from being marinated. The portion looked small. However, when you combine it with the soup and rice, even Joe’s fat a$$ was full — LOL!!! — 4 Stars. The mungo bean soup was also good, w/​the exception of the pork being a boiled piece of bacon vs a piece of pork. Maybe that is the way they do it in the PI (Philippine Islands), but my Dad used to put real pieces of pork in his version: 4 Stars.
The girl behind the counter was very nice and helpful. She admiited the menu was hard to navigate, but it didn’t take long for me to figure it out: 4 Stars. Seating is typical shared seating in a food court: 3 Stars. When I am craving some quick, hearty food at inexpensive prices, I know to come to Grill City in the future.

Hot damn, Grill City– I think I love you! The BBQ sticks are tasty and I love the sinigang sabaw. The food is fresh and doesn’t sit around getting all gross and oily.
I also love that there is a diverse staff here– Pinoy and non-​Pinoys– all are helpful and friendly.