Pls listen to other yelpers. Â We came here 3x thinking we must have timed our visit(s) wrong... all visits recieved very slow service, sub-standard quality of food not to mention the lack of authenticity as Filipino cuisine provider. Â And yes, there is a smell that indicates low consciousness to cleanliness... something Robert Irvine might scream "close this restaurant!" Â I understand some yelpers' high-rating because they are somehow connected with the owners; but I hope you will see our reviews from an objective stand-point. Â All we are asking is to listen and make the corrections so you will stay in business longer and be more profitable.
Review Source:HORRIBLE food. Save your money. Took over 45 minutes for our order. While we were there I was told that they were out of pork and beef. This was on a Saturday at lunch. That's shameful. The pinakbet was so flavorless. For food that took almost an hour I was expecting big flavors... This place sucks.
Review Source:If it were possible to give 0 stars, I would. I should have listened to other yelpers and saved my money. Everything about this place was terrible. As soon as we walked in, the nasty smell was overwhelming. There were three workers sitting behind the counter as we entered. No one said hello or told us where to sit. The woman working was so interested in her Soap Opera (which was blaring in the dining room tv) that she seemed completely annoyed at any question we had. We ordered our meal (lumpia, some noodle dish, and grilled squid). The food came out fairly quickly. As soon as our waiter handed us the food, he left to the local 7-11, returning 20 minutes later. Needless to say, no one ever asked how the food was or if we needed anything. Now, I will continue to go to a restaurant with poor service if the food is amazing. However, I kid you not, this was the worst food I have ever put in my mouth and I am not a picky eater! The squid was so slimy that I almost gagged when I took a bite! The noodle dish tasted fishy even though it was supposed to be a chicken dish. The lumpia was edible, but you could tell it came frozen and all they did was fry it. I cannot believe this restaurant is in business and I urge you to never go there, even if you have a <a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Frestaurants.com&s=8b83bf0ff8b716aae84527dc95577a310f201b166dcca25c8ca3824b15703869" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://restaurants.com</a> gift certificate like we did.
Review Source:I love Filipino, Thai and Vietnamese food. Â But I'll not be stepping into the Tambayan ever again.. unless the Thai place next door expands and takes it over. Â
(by the way.. Pancha Thai, right next door has WAY better food.. order the Chicken Phad Thai, you'll love it.)
But back to Tambayan.. nope. Â In a nutshell.. overpriced and slow service. Â I think the only reason they are still in business is (a) only 2 other Filipino places in the area, (b) good location and (c) karaoke junkies. Â But it's not just me.. check out the other reviewers and you'll see a pattern going.. inconsistent service, weird smell to the place, over-priced and even what looks like re-used rice.
Like I said, if you're in the area already and want some good Asian food.. just go next door to the Pancha Thai place. Â Better food, better service. Â I'd give Tambayan 'zero' stars but Yelp doesn't allow it, so.. consider the one-star a 'freebie'.
I saw that they were participating on <a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2FRestaurant.com&s=0aab4cbd731f3d3b0d1453050d3abc56a8c80bd214e25469c7555b750dca8a51" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://Restaurant.com</a>, so I thought I'd check out the place before buying a certificate. Â So, I walk in and I see no one at the register but there's a couple sitting at a table, not eating. To the left, is the karaoke side and the DJ has got the music going... and still, no one is at the register. Â But it's alright because I immediately walk out just after a few minutes. Â It smelled so disgusting in there! Â There was a rotten, sour smell as soon as I came in... at first, I thought it was the couple with really bad BO! Â I have never walked out of a restaurant like that before! But I thought to myself, if the place smells bad, then the food is probably bad. I definitely do not want to eat anything from there... *shudder* can you imagine what their bathroom and kitchen might be like??? Oh, I guess the food is made to order, since there was no food up front. I also don't remember seeing any signs or prices. I tried to post with zero stars, so one charity star it is!
Review Source:Im new to yelp but I had to leave a review on this place some how! it was absolutely amazing here! Speakers blasting, people drinking, people dancing and having a good time Great food although has a bit of a waiting time depending on the amount of people in the restaurant. I have came back to this place numerous times and it has had its ups and downs for me but i like it here.The KJ is nice and so is the Owner she is a amazing cook and the tall black/filipino waiter is a good hardworker he smiles at most customers his parents raised him well ( I did not know the waiter was their son because of the different skin tone) The little Filipina waitress is inexperienced hands down she shouldnt be messing with your phone while at work but if that helps her concentrate then sure.You can multitask to a certain extent but not to the point were she is ignoring the customers. Both of the waiters are good people.It seems as if things run very smooth and crisp when their son is around on busy days. I was recommended the Chicken Chopsuey by the owners son and I  loved it! If you would love to see this place at its best go on a friday or saturday  night when it just gets packed with amazing singers. If you plan on getting food you should call first to not suffer the wait.I give these first 5 Stars for my first restaurant review on yelp. Tambayan you have caught my attention I will be returning soon! Thanks for the amazing food and great service that you provided to me that night of the huge party I got to go home with a smile on my face!
Review Source:Sorry but if we could give no stars, we would because we ran out of stars (except for the stars one would see after having some sense knocked into them for being responsible for the worst experience everr). Knocked out one star for what smelled like vinegar and spoiled rice when we walked in (oh! maybe it was coming from the trash receptacle we were sitting near); one star for the temperature of the food; one star for the way the rice was cooked; one star for charging extra for rice and the overpriced food; and one star for the kind of beef that was used in the beef steak. One star is being quite generous!
The biggest complaint we had (and we were so close to insisting on a fresh batch) was the rice!! Even they couldn't get it right. And if the rice was that bad, how much more for everything else? Seriously the minute the plate was presented on our table, we knew it wasn't going to be good. It looked like the rice was AT LEAST a day old! Plus it was served flat on a plate (like it was spread around on the plate for what reason - I don't know), not in a bowl. And it had numerous crunchy spots all over, even the soup from the beef steak would not be enough to moisten it. And what's beef steak without some good rice?? Were we as customers not valued enough that this establishment thought they could get away with serving us old overcooked rice so the pot of leftover rice from the day before wouldn't be wasted? Rice is so cheap how hard is it to be provided with a fresh HOT batch like most other restaurants would do! How could anyone serve rice like that and still charge for it? How could anyone NOT throw old rice out? I'd be SO embarrassed to serve anything like that to anyone, let alone CHARGE for it! Wow.
The BBQ chicken was less desirable as well. Sauce had a weird taste and texture. The temperature of the food was so unsatisfactory beyond belief you almost would think you could catch salmonella from the chicken! Â The restaurant was not even busy and why it still took over 15-20 minutes to get our food was beyond me. Â You would think if it takes that long to prepare the food, it had better be piping hot (which it was not). Â Really wanted to like the place but we were so turned off and disgusted, disappointed to say the least. Twelve hours later, our stomachs are still bubbling and churning...and we were still hungry even after wasting $20 on nothing to show for. This was the first and the last time we eat here and definitely would not go back even if the food was free!! We would have walked away (maybe even run - if our digestive systems don't get there first LOL) if we could...it was that bad.
Great place to eat the owners are friendly and personable. I drive from Oceanside California just to enjoy the dining atmospher. Â Karaoke has a dynamic sound system. Â Best Filipino cuisine second to none. Â I don't mind some taking time to ensure my food is cooked to quality perfection. Â Awesome job Tambayan.
Review Source:Surprisingly, the food was very good but the service wasn't anything impressive at all! Â It took over 10 minutes for anyone to bring us our menus and then after eating, we had to go up and ask for our bill and boxes twice. Â The food was cooked to order so the wait was a bit long and no one came by to check and see if we needed anything like a refill on our waters. Â When our food finally came, we had to ask for napkins. Â The upside is that my family and I enjoyed the food we ordered, especially the Sinegang and the Pork Inihaw...portions are excellent! Â The male owner was very kind, as well. Â The young waiter was cute but needs a lot of training :) Â I'd give him a chance....
Review Source:I am a fan.
This is a great place with great people. The restaurant is family owned and they are the nicest people that you will ever meet. I am not Filipino but some of my favorite dishes to eat there is the Lechon Kawali, chicken curry, mixed seafood plate, milk fish with eggplant/salsa and even the chicken wings are awesome. I wasn't a big Karaoke fan before until I found Tambayan and now I hooked. But I can only sing there for some reason. I go other places and I will not put my name in. Oh but Tambayan service is different, once you sing a song a couple of times then you will automatically be put into the rotation once you walk in the door. This alleviates a lot of insecurities of putting your name in the rotation. I would reccomend this family restaurant to anyone that wants to enjoy a fresh home cooked Filipino feast and while you eat sing some Karaoke. Come out and check it out Thursday thru Saturday are best nights for me.
Bad and slow service food is no good. Place is dirty and server doesn't  have any clue abt the menu.  We ordered abt 4 different dishes...and didnt get served ONE dish until an hr later.  2 of their to go customers bailed out and wanted their money back because they have been waiting way too long as well.  We were the only sit down customers at that time between 12-1pm, so I dont see why we cant get fast service.  Their fountain drink machine was not working and served us soda cans instead.  When we saw the bill, each soda can costs us $3 each!  WTheck??  The food isn't even worth a penny to pay for.  GO TO Goldilocks or Great Panda for much better Filipino food in the area....even Filipinoy's turo turo style in Temecula is so much better.  Thumbs way down for this restaurant.  Will never recommend and will never come back.
Review Source:Not bad for the area, but it wouldn't stand a chance in West Covina. Â
The fried tilapia is good, especially with the diced veggies. Â The bistec is ok, the sauce was a bit too runny and it was missing the big slices of onion that I'm accustomed to.
I'd probably be back only because there aren't any other sit down Filipino restaurants in the area.
But that isn't a good thing...
I have been eating here since it first opened my mom is friends with the owner Maria not to mention we are both from the same Southern region in the Philippines so when my family and I want some down right HOME cooking this is our spot! It's definitely made to order, fresh, hot food so expect a bit of a wait to get your dish(es) when you dine here and Maria does most of the cooking herself. If you decide to stop in for dinner you can entertain yourself or be entertained with some Karaoke while you wait. I love coming here for dinner especially if we're having a late one as they close later than most of the restaurants in town and on Fridays and Saturdays they close at midnight! There aren't any places in town you can get Filipino food past 8:30pm. As for the food I don't know where to start I LOVE it! I just love Maria's cooking! It brings me memories of back home. The Pork Inihaw is my fave with Garlic Fried Rice. I also love the Pork Sinigang, Nilaga, Crispy Pata, you can't go wrong with her Pancits and Lumpias and OMG the Chicharon Bulaklak if only I can eat it more often without having to worry about my cholesterol! The restaurant is conveniently located right off the freeway. For large parties I suggest calling in prior to see if a table can be reserved as seating is limited especially on Fridays and Saturdays. I really enjoy coming here it's a family run business Maria and her husband are great people. I prefer this place over Goldilocks as the people and atmosphere IMO are more welcoming. As for food comparison this place taste more "home-cooked"...well technically cause it is, but I too love the "G". They have some dishes you can also get at Goldilocks and vice versa and some that you can't etc. but I'm sure if you don't see something on the menu you can just ask Maria if she can make it I know cause we've done so in the past. If you want your Filipino food fix I recommend you try this place and if you want a fun place to do some Karaoke then this is the spot to be. Can't wait to be back!
Review Source:
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