Best Filipino Restaurants in Houston: Sisig, Lechon and Halo-Halo
Date Published
Houston has eight verified Filipino restaurants, bakeries, and food hall vendors spread across the city, from a nationally recognized sisig-and-kamayan spot in the Heights to a turo-turo lechon counter on Bissonnet. The scene is anchored by the Medical Center corridor on South Main Street — home to Max's Restaurant, Jollibee, and Godo's Bakery within a quarter mile of each other — and a 50,000-square-foot Filipino supermarket with its own multi-vendor food hall in Sugar Land.
Filipino food houston visitors ask about most: Start with the sisig at Be More Pacific or Gerry's Grill, order halo-halo for dessert anywhere on this list, and save a drive out to Seafood City for the full pantry-and-food-hall experience.
The quick list
- Best all-around Filipino dining: Be More Pacific, Greater Heights — sisig, kamayan feasts, halo-halo, featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives
- For the historic Philippine chain: Max's Restaurant, Braeswood Place — the 80-year-old fried chicken recipe
- For Filipino fast food: Jollibee (two Houston locations) — Chickenjoy, Jolly Spaghetti, peach mango pie
- For baked goods and daily plates: Godo's Bakery and Restaurant, Medical Center — siopao, kakanin, lechon kawali
- For a night out: Gerry's Grill, West Houston — sisig, crispy pata, live band on weekends
- For a turo-turo buffet: Best of Filipiniana, Westwood/Bissonnet — lechon, dinuguan, dessert spread
- Worth the drive: Seafood City Supermarket and Food Hall, Sugar Land — BBQ skewers, sisig, lumpia, Filipino pantry
How we chose
Each spot had to have a current official website or an active official Facebook or Instagram page showing operating hours as of October 2026. We confirmed every address against Yelp updates, official social pages, and each venue's own site. Chains (Max's, Jollibee) are included because they serve dishes genuinely unavailable elsewhere in Houston: Jollibee's Palabok Fiesta and peach mango pie, Max's bone-in fried chicken with banana ketchup. We left out restaurants whose online presence had not been updated since 2024, any spot listed as closed on Yelp, and a planned Goldilocks Bakeshop Houston location that has not opened. Goldilocks products are available at Seafood City if you want the brand experience.
Greater Heights
Be More Pacific
506 Yale St, Suite E, Greater Heights · closed Mondays
Be More Pacific is Houston's standout Filipino kitchen, the kind of place that earns a national television appearance on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives and keeps filling seats. The menu is built around Filipino comfort food made with real technique: sisig (chopped pork belly and cheek, calamansi, egg) cooked on a hot iron skillet; kare-kare (oxtail braised in peanut sauce, served with bagoong shrimp paste on the side); and kamayan feasts, which are banana-leaf spreads for the whole table where you eat with your hands.
Order: The crispy sisig, lumpia Shanghai, and halo-halo for dessert — shaved ice layered with ube ice cream, leche flan, sweetened beans, and coconut jelly.
Insider tip: Kamayan feasts typically require advance notice. Check the Be More Pacific Facebook page before you go. The restaurant is walkable from much of the Heights neighborhood.
Best for: First-time Filipino food visitors, groups who can share dishes, anyone chasing a DDD stamp.
Medical Center and Braeswood Place
Godo's Bakery and Restaurant
7235 Fannin St, Medical Center area · closed Sundays
Godo's has operated near the Texas Medical Center for years and is one of the longest-running Filipino spots in Houston. The display cases up front hold the baked goods: siopao (steamed and baked pork buns), mamon sponge cakes, ensaymada, and kakanin — sticky rice cakes in purple ube, yellow corn, and coconut white. The back of the restaurant serves lunch and dinner staples: lechon kawali (twice-cooked pork belly with crackling skin), kare-kare, dinuguan (pork blood stew), and sinigang (tamarind-sour soup).
Order: A bag of kakanin and two siopao to go, plus lechon kawali if you're eating in. Halo-halo is on the menu and worth adding.
Best for: Baked goods, a quick Filipino lunch, or stocking up on kakanin for a gathering.
Max's Restaurant
8011 Main St, Suite 100, Braeswood Place · open daily
Max's is an 80-year-old Philippine restaurant chain, and the Houston location is the only one in Texas. The signature is what the chain calls Sarap-to-the-Bones fried chicken: bone-in pieces with skin that stays crispy, served with banana ketchup. The menu also includes bistek (beef with soy and calamansi), calamares, pancit, and a full halo-halo. Max's sits in the same South Main Street Filipino commercial corridor as Jollibee and, a short walk away, Godo's Bakery.
Order: The fried chicken. If you have not had halo-halo before, Max's is a reliable introduction — shaved ice, leche flan, ube jam, sweetened beans, jackfruit, in a tall glass.
Best for: Families and groups where not everyone is familiar with Filipino food; the menu has clear descriptions and the fried chicken is an easy crowd-pleaser.
Jollibee — Main Street (Medical Center area)
8001 S Main St, Suite 100, Houston · open daily
Jollibee is the Philippines' largest fast-food chain, and this location sits right in the South Main Filipino corridor. The chain's Chickenjoy — crispy fried chicken with a gravy dipping sauce — is the item that draws lines in the Philippines and has a devoted following here. The Jolly Spaghetti (sweeter than you expect, with hot dogs and ground beef in a tomato sauce) is the most talked-about item among first-timers.
Order: Chickenjoy, the Palabok Fiesta (bihon rice noodles with shrimp sauce, pork rinds, hard-boiled egg), and a peach mango pie.
Best for: Quick meals, introducing kids to Filipino fast food, and trying something genuinely different from any other fast food in Houston.
West Houston
Gerry's Grill
6833 W Sam Houston Pkwy S, Suite 109, West Houston · open daily, live band Fridays and Saturdays
Gerry's is the place for a Filipino night out in Houston. It runs as a full-service bar and grill with a live band on weekends, a long beer list, and a menu that reads like a greatest-hits of Filipino grilling: sisig, inihaw na pusit (chargrilled squid), crispy pata (deep-fried whole pig's knuckle), chicharon bulaklak (fried pig intestine rings), and lumpiang Shanghai.
Order: The sisig and crispy pata. If you want to try something not on many menus, the chicharon bulaklak is the local pick.
Insider tip: Friday and Saturday nights are loud and festive with the live band — great for a group, but worth knowing in advance if you prefer a quieter dinner.
Best for: Groups, celebrations, anyone who wants Filipino food with a real bar atmosphere.
Jollibee — Westheimer (Energy Corridor area)
13347 Westheimer Rd, Houston · open daily
The second Houston Jollibee location serves the same menu as the Main Street spot and makes sense if you're on the west side of town. It's the practical choice if you're pairing a Jollibee visit with dinner in the Energy Corridor or heading toward Katy. Same order applies: Chickenjoy, Palabok Fiesta, peach mango pie.
Westwood / Bissonnet
Best of Filipiniana
9671 Bissonnet St, Westwood · closed Mondays
Best of Filipiniana runs a turo-turo counter — Filipino for point-point, meaning you walk up, point at what you want, and it's plated in front of you. The display changes daily but typically includes a whole lechon (roasted pig with crackling skin), lechon kawali, dinuguan, kare-kare, adobo, pancit, and a long row of Filipino desserts. Halo-halo is made to order.
The Bissonnet/Westwood corridor runs alongside the wider Houston Chinatown and Asiatown area, so you can build an afternoon around multiple cuisines.
Order: Whatever portion of the whole lechon looks freshest when you arrive — if it's there, get it. Follow with halo-halo. The dessert spread is worth exploring.
Best for: Curious eaters who want to try five or six things, solo diners on a budget, or anyone who wants to eat well under $20. Turo-turo is priced per dish.
Worth the drive: Sugar Land
Seafood City Supermarket and Food Hall
15237 Southwest Fwy, Sugar Land · open daily
Seafood City opened in December 2023 as the first Texas location of the Filipino supermarket chain — a 50,000-square-foot store that has become the go-to Filipino grocery in the Houston area. The in-store food hall has multiple vendors: Grill City for pork and chicken BBQ skewers with garlic rice, Noodle Street for pancit and bihon, Bakers Avenue for Filipino baked goods (ube cake, ensaymada, bibingka), and additional stalls for sisig, siopao, and Filipino ice cream.
Goldilocks brand cakes and pastries are stocked in the bakery section — the closest thing to the standalone Goldilocks Bakeshop experience in the Houston area.
Order: A tray of pork BBQ skewers at Grill City, a slice of ube cake at Bakers Avenue, and a few pieces of kakanin to take home.
Insider tip: Budget 20 minutes to walk the store beyond the food hall. The refrigerated section stocks longganisa (Filipino pork sausage), tapa (cured beef), tocino (sweet cured pork), fresh ube, and calamansi concentrate. Sugar Land is about 20 miles southwest of downtown Houston — pair it with our Sugar Land area guide.
Best for: Foodies, grocery runs, or anyone who wants to explore Filipino ingredients and eat well in the same stop.
Save this: what to order on your first visit to Filipino food in Houston
- Sisig — Sizzling chopped pork cheek and belly with egg and calamansi. Best at Be More Pacific or Gerry's Grill.
- Halo-halo — Shaved ice with ube ice cream, leche flan, sweet beans, jackfruit, and coconut jelly. Available at Be More Pacific, Max's, Godo's, and Best of Filipiniana.
- Lechon — Whole roasted pig with crackling skin. Go to Best of Filipiniana (turo-turo) or Seafood City's food hall.
- Siopao — Steamed or baked pork buns. Godo's Bakery is the dedicated stop.
- Kakanin — Sticky rice cakes in purple ube, yellow corn, and coconut. Godo's Bakery and Seafood City's Bakers Avenue.
- Chickenjoy — Jollibee's fried chicken with gravy dipping sauce. Both Houston Jollibees.
- Crispy pata — Deep-fried pig's knuckle, served with vinegar dipping sauce. Gerry's Grill.
- Palabok — Rice noodles with shrimp sauce, pork rinds, and egg. Jollibee's Palabok Fiesta is the entry point.
More eating in Houston
The Bissonnet and Bellaire corridors where Best of Filipiniana sits are also the heart of Houston's Chinese and Vietnamese dining scene. If you're building a food crawl through Houston's international districts, our guide to Houston's international food neighborhoods maps it out. For the next Asian noodle bowl, try best ramen in Houston or best Vietnamese restaurants in Houston.
Last verified: October 2026.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best Filipino restaurant in Houston?
Be More Pacific at 506 Yale St in the Greater Heights is Houston's most recognized Filipino restaurant, having appeared on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. It serves sisig, kare-kare, and kamayan feasts on banana leaves.
Does Houston have a Jollibee?
Yes, Houston has two Jollibee locations: 8001 S Main St (Medical Center area) and 13347 Westheimer Rd (Energy Corridor area). Both serve Chickenjoy, Jolly Spaghetti, Palabok Fiesta, and peach mango pie.
Where can I get halo-halo in Houston?
Halo-halo is available at Be More Pacific in the Heights, Max's Restaurant on South Main Street, Godo's Bakery near the Medical Center, and Best of Filipiniana on Bissonnet. Seafood City's food hall in Sugar Land also serves it.
What is turo-turo Filipino food?
Turo-turo means point-point in Filipino: you walk up to a steam-table counter, point at the dishes you want, and they're plated for you. Best of Filipiniana on Bissonnet Street runs a turo-turo format with lechon, dinuguan, kare-kare, and daily specials.
Is there a Filipino grocery store in Houston?
Seafood City Supermarket at 15237 Southwest Fwy in Sugar Land (about 20 miles southwest of downtown Houston) is a 50,000-square-foot Filipino supermarket with an in-store food hall. It opened in December 2023 as the first Texas location of the chain.
Where can I get lechon in Houston?
Best of Filipiniana at 9671 Bissonnet St in the Westwood area frequently has whole lechon (roasted pig) at its turo-turo counter. Seafood City's food hall in Sugar Land also serves lechon and lechon kawali.