Our Story
Manila Inasal honors heritage while redefining flavor. Critically acclaimed by the LA Times and featured multiple times by The Infatuation, the restaurant has quickly become one of LA’s most talked-about new dining destinations. Born in 2020 in San Juan, Manila, Philippines, when Chef Natalia Moran and her siblings cooked for frontliners during the pandemic, Manila Inasal grew into a beloved Manila restaurant before expanding to Los Angeles in 2023.
At the helm is Chef Natalia Moran, co-owner and executive chef, whose culinary journey spans over 20 acclaimed concepts including The Sunny Side Café, Spice Bird, and Granivore. Joining her are longtime partners the Simon family—Elzar “Dodjie” Simon, his wife Elisa, and their children Elisha, Joshua, and Ysabel—who help bring the vision to life through music, culture, and community. Together, they’ve built a restaurant that blends tradition with creativity, sharing Filipino flavors with a global audience
We see a world where ‘Filipino’ is part of the mainstream consciousness of the global community associated with ingenuity and creativity…
A groundbreaking wine bar to close this summer because ‘continuing felt untenable’
A popular and groundbreaking wine bar from two of L.A.’s most celebrated restaurateurs is set to close this summer. On Saturday the Lucques Group’s Suzanne Goin and Caroline Styne announced they will shutter the Brentwood location of A.O.C. on Aug. 1, ending their run of 16 years in the space.
— Stephanie Breijo
The Best Restaurants In Silver Lake
Ah, Silver Lake. The golden hills of the trendy people. There’s a reservoir that you absolutely can’t (nor should) swim in, boutiques where you can buy vintage Italian sunglasses, and coffee shops that smell like Aesop soap. Silver Lake will always have its fans and haters—and its New York transplants—but everyone can agree that it’s home to a high density of fantastic restaurants. Here are the ones you should be eating at.
— Sylvio Martins, Brant Cox & Cathy Park
Manila Inasal remixes Filipino food with fun family-reunion energy
Before opening their restaurant, the family behind Manila Inasal ran a catering business delivering trays of grilled meat, lumpia, and sisig to birthdays and baptisms. The party is still alive and well.
— Cathy Park
The Hit List: New LA Restaurants To Try Right Now
When restaurants open, we check them out. This means that we subject our stomachs and social lives to the good, the bad, and more often than not, the perfectly fine. And every once in a while, a new spot makes us feel like Angelyne driving her convertible down Santa Monica Boulevard. When that happens, we add it here, to the Hit List.
— Brant Cox, Sylvio Martins, Cathy Park & Garrett Snyder
How Manila Inasal went from homegrown concept to LA presence
Manila Inasal, a locally grown food service, offers a distinctive take on Bacolod’s traditional grilled barbecue dishes. Their menu includes a variety of garlic fried rice bowls such as chicken tocino and lechon belly, along with family-style inasal meals featuring whole chicken and bangus. Their popular grilled items are served with their signature inasal sauce and cucumber salad.
— Pauline Joyce Pascual
Family food business Manila Inasal enters the LA food scene
Manila Inasal is going international to bring Filipinos around the world comfort food at its finest. Chef Natalia Moran started the brand as a home business in San Juan City back in 2020. She teamed up with her siblings Bella and Enrique to have home-cooked meals delivered straight from her kitchen.
— Andrea Posadas
The Chicken Inasal Just Landed in Hollywood: This Pandemic-Born Venture is now in L.A.
Ah, the curious case of pandemic brands. Takeout- and delivery-oriented concepts and brands boomed during the time of COVID, but the question always remained: what then once pandemic restrictions ease up?
— Patricia Baes