Hi Fi - Part 2: Filipino American Businesses

This is the Hi-Fi map we downloaded off the internet. We ended up getting a bigger (more readable)  and updated map from our quick jaunt to the Filipino American Library (to be covered in a separate post).

Our road trip was not just about food but also about Filipino American history. As an avid collector of Filipino American history books, literature and poetry, I tend to seek out these types of sights/trivia in most of the cities that we visit...Call me nerdy or whatever, but I am into this!

We drove by most of these places and stopped at a few to snap the photos. In a future visit, we will check out some of the restaurants and eateries.

My Mom's Bake Shop (ooh, I see a "Pinoy BBQ" sign there)

1606 Beverly Blvd

Luzon Plaza
1925 West Temple Street.

Luzon Plaza building

Kapistahan Grill
1925 West Temple Street, Suite 103

This used to be "Aristocrat" (a Philippine restaurant) which was on the second floor. I remember eating there in May 1991 with Bert, Astroboi and Thane. We were there for N's graduation from USC! The food was good! It was the fanciest Filipino restaurant any of us had even been to. One of the more memorable dishes was fish cooked in a clay pot with Philippine vegetables.

Temple Plaza
2452 West Temple Street

Businesses in Temple Plaza: Macapagal Optical and Nanay Gloria's Market...

as well as Temple Seafood Market. I'm sure this place is a godsend for those who need to get their fix of Filipino ingredients and supplies. You can't find that shit at Ralphs or Vons you know!

Bahay Kubo
2330 West Temple Street

I think I want to try this place next time we cruise up! "Bahay Kubo" is a Philippine thatched hut (there's one in the fish tank in "Finding Nemo" courtesy of one of the Filipino animators who worked on the film, Ricky Nierva). It is also the name of a Philippine folk song which describes a nipa hut surrounded by all kinds of native vegetables.

Remy's on Temple
2126 West Temple Street
I checked on Yelp and the last review was from 2008. I don't think this place is still open (see the "Available" sign?). It was formerly an art gallery. Their website doesn't work either.

Tribal Cafe
1651 West Temple Street

This was some sort of juice bar and casual eatery.

This is not a Filipino owned business, but I just had to snap this shot of this McD's on the corner of Temple and Alvarado. I'd never seen a McD's with "arches" before!

Not shown:

Bernie's Teriyaki

318 Glendale Blvd

Actually, we passed this up and I didn't have the camera ready. There were tons of Uncles and Aunties hangin' out over there. Looks like a happenin' place for the over 60 set. Seriously, we would go to this place! I read that this place was founded in 1977 and is the oldest existing Filipino American restaurant in the area.

Little Ongpin

5050 West Sunset Blvd.

Didn't get a chance to see this...Heard they have the best noodles here and is one of the best turo-turo ("point point") places in L.A.

Kabayan Pinoy (the map says "Kabayan", the LA yellow pages say "Kaban" and the google search turns up "Kababayan"). I think the actual name is "Kaban Pinoy"

3253 Beverly Blvd.

Missed this one completely!

Next up...Filipino American organizations...