WHERE TO EAT: Filipino Food is in the Spotlight. We Track Down 8 Ways to Find Filipino Food in the Capital Region + Hudson Valley
In 2026, interest in Filipino food continues to soar. A new generation of chefs is reinterpreting heritage Filipino flavors while the culinary-curious Gen Z is expanding familiarity with classic Filipino dishes like lechon, adobo, + sinigang through social media. We hunted down the upstate Filipino eats from Glens Falls to Nyack, N.Y.
🫒 Don’t miss the TROY TAMBAY, an afternoon of Filipino food on Sat. Jun 27. (Details below.)
🫒 We’re getting the word out about an afternoon of Filipino food featuring 6 local Filipino chefs and home cooks at a new TROY TAMBAY— Tagalog for “hangout” or “chill out spot”—that will be held at 102 Ferry Street, Troy, in the Sunhees’s parking lot on Sat. June 27, 2 to 5 p.m.
In 2026, the Michelin Guide officially named the Philippines one of the world’s “most exciting destinations;” across U.S. cities carinderias (eateries) are flourishing, and ube has easily shifted from a traditional Filipino dessert to a popular global flavor from cheesecake to ice cream.
Upstate, Filipino food is still uncommon, instead popping up in one-night collabs at breweries and music venues or in seasonal food trucks — which what makes it worth seeking out. A handful of cooks and career chefs are translating lutong bahay (homestyle cooking) into shared kamayan feasts, popular crepe-thin lumpia, or pre-order meals to go, often while juggling day jobs. But we’ve seen growth from a lone Filipino buffet outpost in Cohoes in 2019 to several roving pop ups + a few brivk-and-mortar eateries. Here's where to find Filipino food right now.
CHEEBOG 300½ Ontario St, Cohoes | @cheebog518
Chef Champ Peralta opened this tiny former diner in Cohoes in 2022 after a year of pop-ups, turning the space into a Filipino karinderya serving silog plates, Inihaw na Baboy and a Seafood Bicol Express that's been on the menu since day one. In late 2025, citing a need for flexibility and family time, Peralta announced plans to sell the Ontario Street building and shift Cheebog away from a sol=chef storefront toward pop-ups, private catering and private kamayan dinners, with a food truck possibly in the mix. For now his rotating menu is online weekly, with occasional days when he closes for family events, so it's still worth checking his Instagram before you drive out.
Why go? Peralta's crisp lumpia and bold flavors are beloved by the local Filipino community and broader fans of Filipino cooking alike. His private kamayan feasts with grilled meats, rice and condiments served over banana leaves and eaten by hand, are some of the most communal Filipino dining upstate. And Peralta’s regular weekend pop-ups include frequent fusion collaborations with Kingston's Mexican pop-up Los Hermosas. Check @cheebog518 on Instagram for regular updates.
🫒 Check out our tastemaker interview with Champ Peralta.
Ala Ala Pop-up — locations vary, follow Instagram for dates | @ala.ala.ny
Ala Ala is the Filipino-American pop-up from chefs Nick Furnia and Arvin Clemente, two Ballston High School classmates who became friends over a chance conversation at Jeff's Record Shop and now cook professionally a few towns apart. Nick is sous chef at Hamlet & Ghost in Saratoga Springs, Arvin is the new Executive Chef at Little City Luncheonette. The Ala Ala name means "memories" in Tagalog, and the food reflects two distinct paths to Nick's Filipino grandmother and Arvin's Manila upbringing. The result is billed as Filipino-American rather than strictly Filipino with adobo on every menu, but reworked each time, while a dish like their halo-halo might be pared down to pandan jelly, lychee, and tapioca rather than served as a full sundae. Since launching, they've done pop ups all over the Capital Region from fine dining at Farmacy in Glens Falls and Hamlet & Ghost in Saratoga to Filipino bbq at Wolf Hollow Brewing and Troy’s Whiskey Pickle. The Dishing also brought them to Hudson for a pop up at Saint Florian in 2025. Their next stop is at the Filipino pop-up in Troy on June 27, 2026.
Why go? These two young chefs use their pop-up to explore Filipino-American identity with punchy, intentional flavors in varying settings. Keep an eye on their socials.
🫒 Check out our tastemaker interview with Ala Ala.
SIRA ULŌ Hudson Valley-wide pop-up, plus a Catskill location coming summer 2026. | @siraulo.ny
Chefs and life partners Jesseca Naldo and Harrison Cohen turned an informal pop-up into one of the region's most in-demand Filipino dining experiences in their first year, cooking open-fire, banana-leaf feasts everywhere from Rose Hill Farm in Red Hook to the Hudson Valley Garlic Festival, weddings, breweries and a sold-out collaboration dinner at Restaurant Kinsley in Kingston. Naldo grew up in Kingston with Filipino parents and previously cooked at Inness; Cohen left brick-and-mortar kitchens to run his own food truck before the two started cooking together. Sira Ulō has announced plans to open a permanent home in Catskill — a small-production kitchen, culinary studio and community gathering space — with a projected opening for August 2026.
Why go? Their seasonal, dietary-restriction-friendly menus (think heirloom tomato sinigang with chargrilled chicken inasal) reframe Filipino comfort food through the lens of Hudson Valley ingredients and open-fire technique. Follow their Instagram for pop-up dates until the Catskill space opens.
HARANA MARKET 5125 Route 209, Accord | haranamarket.com
Founders Eva Tringali and Chris Mauricio built Harana from a closet-sized Woodstock storefront into a 2,500-square-foot barn restaurant and Asian market in Accord, earning a James Beard Award nomination for Mauricio along the way for dishes like patis citrus fried chicken and hand-rolled lumpia. As of late August 2025, Harana wound down its daily restaurant and grocery hours for a better work/life balance, and the Accord space is now a commissary kitchen and event venue for private dining and workshops, while Tringali and Mauricio focus on their brand of packaged sauces and pantry staples sold through local retailers.
🫒 The latest news is of Harana At Home, a monthly dinner and provisions club in collaboration with Table 22. Sign up for the limited slots by the 31st of each month, and pick up in Accord. Details at haranamarket.com/monthly-meal-subscription.
Why go? This James Beard nominated Filipino spot is no longer a stop-in restaurant, but Harana still caters across the region (so consider them for a backyard party, weddings or corporate events), offers a monthly meal service and occasionally opens the barn for community events. Follow their Instagram for the next gathering.
MANILA GRILLE 892 US-9, Gansevoort | weekends seasonally
Romeo and Teresita Soriano, Philippines natives, run this family food truck with their grown children out of a spot next to DayDream Farmer garden center in Gansevoort, Saratoga County, serving weekends through the fall. Romeo worked in restaurants before the family pivoted to catering local festivals and markets, and eventually landing the truck. The menu leans into hearty, saucy classics — chicken adobo, lechon kawali, BBQ skewers, juicy lumpia and pancit — with a handful of picnic tables for eating onsite.
Why go? It's the most low-key, pull-up-a-chair version of Filipino food in the region, and a reliable Saratoga County weekend stop while the truck's parked at DayDream Farmer. They've also shown up at Dancing Grain Farm Brewery in Gansevoort and at the The Shirt Factory's Thursday market corral in Glens Falls. Check their Facebook for daily updates on their weekend hours and location, but the DayDream Farmer is the regular spot.
HAPÁG BISTRO (FORMERLY HAPÁG KAINAN) 58 Vineyard Ave, Highland | hapagbistro.com
Chef-owner Alvin Balabastro, who grew up in a rice-farming village outside Manila, opened this Highland restaurant in 2022 with his wife Odette to fill the culinary gap between New York City and the Capital Region. The menu goes beyond the standard sisig-and-silog lineup into regional Tagalog dishes like bangus sisig (flaked milkfish) and crispy pata, alongside familiar adobo, pancit and lumpia. [Highland has quietly become a small Filipino food hub with businesses like Friend's Corner Tea & Snack Bar and Sari Sari Boutique Asian Grocery, both run by Filipino owners.]
Why go? It's one of the only sit-down Filipino restaurants left standing in the wider region, with a deep, regionally specific menu.
KARENDERYA 248 Main St, Nyack | karenderyany.com
We know this is further afield than most of our Hudson Valley recommendations — it’s within striking distance of the Tappan Zee — but Karenderya is so well respected, it’s a destination restaurant worth the drive. Husband-and-wife team Paolo Garcia Mendoza and Cheryl Baun opened this counter-service spot in Nyack, named after the Filipino roadside carinderia. Mendoza, who grew up in Manila and trained at the Institute of Culinary Education, blends Indo-Malay, Chinese, Spanish and Indian influences into dishes like duck confit empanadas, an arugula-and-bagoong salad, and a pork belly adobo bowl.
Why go? This rare Filipino eatery in Rockland County is a casual, family-friendly setup that’s both a fabulous introduction to Filipino cuisine and well worth a roadtrip .
Chef Gio Lontoc | @chefgio_lontoc | gio_chef@yahoo.com
We have to give a shout out to Chef Gio whose now closed turo turo buffet at 133 Remsen Street in Cohoes was (we think) the first Filipino restaurant in the 518. Although the brick-and-mortar has closed, and Chef Gio is now adjunct teaching at SUNYSCCC, he still operates part-time as a private chef and caterer for the Filipino community in the Capital Region, especially the large population of Filipino nurses employed by Albany Med. St. Peter’s + Ellis Hospital!
Why go? No longer an option for dine in or buffet, it's worth reaching out to Chef Gio for catering events. He covers a pretty wide area from Niskayuna, Ballston Spa to Connecticut. Send an email to inquire.