Chicago’s new Filipino cafe serves up pandan tea and ‘candy tocino’ burgers

Photos from manomoderncafe/Instagram;chicago.eater.com

Since Filipinos are accustomed to various Pinoy gestures, it’s not surprising this Filipino-owned restaurant at West Town, 851 N. Ashland Ave. plucked its name from the Filipino word “mano”—a gesture of respect.

This Filipino restaurant’s launch coincides with Filipino American History Month, which is the goal of one of its owners, Melvin Reyes. Paying homage to Filipino culture, this new food spot specializes in Filipino-inspired sandwiches (yes, they use pandesal), and delightful rice bowls.

Blending Filipino charm with South Asian tea flavors, Mano Modern Cafe is brewing something special in the Windy City: the pandan chai.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Sandy | Chicago (@energizedbyeats)

If you haven’t tried anything like it before, it’s a caffeinated beverage with a combo of ginger, pandan, and other South Asian aromatics.

Other epic dishes on their menu are the tocino bacon cheeseburger and maple pork sandwich, which use the iconic Pinoy pandesal for buns.

You may also like: Espresso and ube? This three-way Filipino collab makes it a reality

Mano Modern Cafe and its irresistible menu

Reyes comes from Cleveland and has over a decade of restaurant consulting experience. Coming from a family with restaurants in Manila, Philippines, Reyes also works with his cousin in concocting the recipes.

Their flavorful adobo rice bowls come with pulled pork or chicken. And as a Filipino restaurant, they of course can’t go without lumpia. Here, the lumpia is hand-rolled by a group of aunties from Cleveland, adding that special touch of Pinoy love while helping locals, too.

For coffee lovers and early risers, they also serve cappuccinos and a variety of coffee with unique flavors. One early bird who got to sample their food was raving about their buko pandan chai and their combo bowl of tocino and longganisa.

Photo from manomoderncafe/Instagram

She captioned her post, “The creamy Buko Pandan Chai is the first of its kind in Chicago and it’s so refreshing! The combo bowl with tocino (bacon), longanisa (sausage) and an egg on top of garlic rice will be my go to!! Excited to witness their journey in Chicago.”

Mano Modern Cafe will be on soft opening this week from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Starting Monday, Oct. 30, they’ll be open from 6:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekdays, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturdays, and 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sundays.