Close Encounters of the Grilled Kind
Gerry’s Grill in Union City and a UFO. I didn’t notice the hovering speck until I d’nloaded the pic from my camera phone.
There’s now a Gerry’s Grill on this side of the Pacific. It’s a welcome addition to the selection of Filipino restaurants here in the Bay Area. It’s a little bit more upscale than the average Pinoy hole-in-the-wall turo-turo diner. Decor and choice of furniture are decent. One wall is lined with capiz-adorned panel doors. A nice little water fountain is built into the wall to the right and a bar occupies the front-end of the restaurant. I was greeted, however, by a familiar smell when I entered the place. It’s that certain scent you smell when you enter a Filipino grocery store or when you first crack open a newly arrived balikbayan box. It sort of smells banig-like, you know what I mean? (Some Thai restaurants have it too.) It definitely adds to the authenticity. For sure though, you won’t see any “Hello, Garci” pre-paid phone card posters or Philippine government-issued calendars stapled onto the maitre d’s podium. Which brings me to the staff — they’re mostly non-Filipino of different stripes, sort of what you’d see at the local TGIF or Chili’s. Oh and the food? It was okay, I guess. I’m not much of a gourmand so I’m not going to elaborate on it further. I just remember having kare-kare, pancit and sisig. It was quite filling.
Tags: bay-area, filipino, Gerrys-Grill, restaurant, UFO
July 22nd, 2006 at 1:20 pm
Try their Pork Sisig! Grabe sarap!!!
July 23rd, 2006 at 6:29 pm
Oooh! I’m glad there’s a Gerry’s there! Sisig, baby!
July 24th, 2006 at 12:22 am
They’re sisig was okay. It was a little dry. But it seems I’m not alone in this assessment. I discovered this review site and here’s what others have to say:
http://www.yelp.com/biz/jha1UpXzadMHbC-NxV1tJQ?hrid=fVTr4JiY9xMx2-kIfhIoGw
Yeah, so maybe the cooks are still in training. Hope they get better…
July 25th, 2006 at 6:58 am
we had lunch there with a friend. everything we ordered was a bit sweet. grilled naman lahat. di rin ako natuwa sa sisig nila. hopefully they’ll improve. pero puno sila when we went.
July 30th, 2006 at 10:52 am
hmm, intriga ako. baka bisitahin ko next week. baka me discount ako, kapangalan ko, pareho pang ‘G’.
July 30th, 2006 at 7:18 pm
so gerry nandito ka uli? ano, “let’s volt-in” na naman tayo ni mark?