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PAO Cafe Featured in Tampa Bay Times
The PAO Cafe recently landed in the Tampa Bay Times newspaper. Here is the article:
Everybody’s Business: Filipino PAO food truck builds restaurant; Grill One Sixteen closed
By Karen Ring, Times Correspondent
NORTH TAMPA — Two years ago, chef Jonjie Sibayan launched the PAO food truck. His mission was to introduce authentic Filipino food to the people of Tampa. On Aug. 21, he took that mission one step further by opening his first brick-and-mortar restaurant, PAO Cafe, at 14837 N Florida Ave.
“With the food truck, space is limited. With the larger kitchen we can add more variety to the menu and expose more people to Filipino food,” said Johnny Sibayan, Jonjie’s younger brother and manager of the restaurant.
The expanded menu features Filipino classics like tocilog (sweet marinated pork and garlic rice topped with a fried egg), pancit (stir fried mix of rice noodles and egg noodles with vegetables) and Lola’s lumpia (fried spring roll with beef and raisins).
There are also crossover items, such as Boom Boom PAO (a cheeseburger topped with cured pork known as tocino and a fried egg) and Filipino nachos (tocino with spicy mayo and green onions served on shrimp chips).
The staff is happy to help first-time customers navigate the menu.
Followers of the food truck movement can rest assured the PAO Truck is still making its rounds. PAO Cafe is open 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. It is closed on Monday. For more on PAO Cafe, visit paocafetampa.com. To find out where the PAO truck is headed next, follow it on Facebook: PAO Truck.
Full article link: http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/retail/everybodys-business-filipino-pao-food-truck-builds-restaurant-grill-one/2201222
Filipino Feast “Kamayan” Dinner Recap
The PAO Cafe participated in a Kamayan Dinner last month on September 22nd, 2014 in Orlando at East End Market. It was the first its kind in Florida and allowed diners to experience Philippine cuisine in a format often enjoyed by actual Filipino with food served family-style on banana leaves (utensils were available for interested diners). The event was SOLD OUT which was awesome and showed there is certainly some support for Philippine cuisine to succeed in Florida.
We were joined by Filipino MasterChef 5 contestent, Francis Biondi and Filipino chefs from Kappo at East End Market, an amazing new culinary spot in Orlando serving up excellent Japanese cuisine. We brought along our halo-halo machine for the event and had an excellent evening!
Here are some photos from the evening:
Until the next Filipino food event. Stay tuned! 🙂
USF J-Club Fundraiser @ PAO Cafe
The PAO Cafe hosted the Japanese Club at USF or USF J-Club for a fundraiser for their annual A Night in Tokyo cultural banquet which draws hundreds of visitors at the University of South Florida – Tampa campus. We were happy to host the J-Club members for a special evening and happy to show them our food. Here are some photos from the event:
If your organization is looking for a place to fundraise for a cause, consider reaching out to us at the PAO Cafe!
Bamboo & Strings 2014
The Philippine Cultural Foundation, Inc. will host the Musikong Kawayan Bamboo Ensemble at the Bayanihan Arts and Events Center (14301 Nine Eagles Drive Tampa, FL 33626) in Westchase on Sunday, October 5th, 2014 at 3:00PM. Tickets are $10 and children ages 6 and under are FREE.
The concert will be one you do not want to miss and the ensemble will be playing with a string quintet consisting of the Bayside String Quartet with bassist John DiMura and pianist Dale Williams, all members of the Florida Orchestra. Guest performers also include PCFI’s very own Philippine Choral Group and the Philippine Performing Arts Company. The program will consist of original compositions and arrangements of Nhick Ramiro Pacis which include Filipino ethnic, folk, and popular songs. Traditional and popular American favorites like music of Richard Rodgers will also be performed.
The Arts Council of Hillsborough County support the Philippine Music, Theater, Dance and Art Program making the Bayanihan Arts and Events Center the ability to share Filipino culture with the Tampa Bay community Area community and surrounding counties and states through free classes and outreach performances.
For more information about “Bamboo and Strings 2014″, contact PCFI at (813) 925-1232.
Yelp Tampa Bay visits PAO Cafe for UYE
On Saturday we hosted Yelp Tampa Bay at the PAO Cafe for an Unofficial Yelp Event (UYE). We were happy to expose many of them to Filipino food for the first time and look forward to seeing them again in the future. If oyu have a networking event that you want to have at the PAO Cafe please contact us – we would love to have you. Here are some photos from the event:
PAO Cafe published in Creative Loafing Tampa
Check out tomorrow’s new issue of Creative Loafing Tampa and find a story on the PAO Truck establishing the PAO Cafe!
You can also read it online at this link: http://cltampa.com/potlikker/archives/2014/09/03/pao-truck-launches-cafe-new-mac-n-cheesery-and-more#.VAdZQflENjJ
PAO Cafe ABC Action News The List Show TV Footage!
The footage from the PAO Cafe’s appearance on ABC Action News has been posted!
Watch it here: http://www.thelisttv.com/the-list/around-town/around-tampa-bay/tampa-bay-new-cafe-gives-you-a-taste-of-the-phillipines
PAO Cafe Featured on ABC Action News The List TV
The PAO Cafe was featured tonight on ABC Action News The List TV Show! We are so humbled and honored to be included on this show. It was the hosts first time having Filipino food and we are glad they loved it! We love spreading Filipino food culture. Our first weekend open had a positive response and we are excited to be open again starting Tuesday! See you soon at PAO!
PAO Cafe Grand Opening!
Thank you to everyone who joined us for Grand Opening day! We are so honored to have our PAOllowers supporting us in a new venture as we help spread the Filipino Food Movement throughout Tampa Bay. Here are some photos from opening day:
Join us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/PAOCafeTampa
Tweet us on Twitter: @PAOCafeTampa
Visit us on Yelp: http://www.yelp.com/biz/pao-cafe-tampa
Vote for us on Urbanspoon: http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/30/1880591/restaurant/Tampa-Bay/North-Tampa-Lake-Magdelene/Pao-Cafe-Tampa
PAO Cafe Tampa 