(funky music)
- That was my mom's goal. She's like, "Everyone's familiar
with Chinese, people are getting real familiar with Tai
and Pho, I want people to
know Filipino food. People need to know Filipino food."
And I was like, "You know what? I truly agree,
they do because it is so good."
(funky, energetic music)
My name is Joanna.
My official title here would be my mom's right-hand woman.
Because my mom's in charge (laughs).
We have this fun-looking vegetable.
It's called bitter melon.
In our language it's ampalaya.
There's a lot of fresh ginger there.
When I have first-time customers, the way I explain
Filipino food is it's Asian food with a very
strong Spanish influence.
Because when they invaded our country in the 1800's
they just brought a lot of their produce,
the way they cook.
We use a lot of tomato sauce, a lot of onions,
a lot of peppers, but then again we're still
using soy sauce, and vinegar and stuff like that.
So it's just a great fusion to me.
When we first opened, our first menu
was all Filipino on the front side, and then my mom
had her own side on the back and it was all American food.
So we literally had over 30 different options
on our menu when we first opened.
It was overwhelming.
- It's not hard to learn to cook American food.
It's very easy and very simple.
Everything is fried.
I said, "Oh, my God!"
It's nothing vegetables in there,
it's just everything is fried.
- We realized people aren't here to get anything but
Filipino food so we ended up super gluing two menus
together, of course people would rip them apart,
like, "Oh, what's this other part of the menu?"
No, sorry that doesn't exist.
- I know it's a hard work but I think for the customer
it's very worth it for them.
To eat a lot of recipes.
- There's only a handful of other Filipino restaurants
here in the area, but we are the only ones that
make it fresh to order.
Typically when you go to a Filipino restaurant
it's called turo-turo, the buffet style.
People to this day do not believe us that there's
not something back there waiting for them
to purchase immediately.
"Are you sure there's nothing back there?"
I'm positive, nothing is already made.
This is the final product to go.
Our barbecue: half chicken, half pork.
I feel like I didn't truly appreciate Filipino food
until me and my family went for the first time in 2009.
That's when I truly learned to appreciate Filipino food
and that's when I realized that's what makes me.
- I don't know what they gonna react when they see
my country because it's a big different
than over here, in their own country.
Especially our culture.
It's the big different over here, than over there.
I grew up in a very small island in the Philippines
and from a very poor family.
My parents just worked for fishermen.
In the beginning I don't know how to cook.
My ex-husband is the one who taught us.
So every time they have a party, I learned from there
to cook, because every wife has to bring something.
I call my sister how to cook it this and that,
and then I learn it, so that's how I start.
- She's been a single mom for 15 years now,
working two jobs.
In the military base my mom always worked in the bakery
or in the deli, and stuff like that.
And once my parents divorced and we came here
to Round Rock she's always been either with the school
in the cafeteria, or she's always worked at HEB.
- I leave the house 5:30 in the morning.
I come home at 3:30 in the night.
I do this to support my kids, my family.
- There she goes, she's smiling now!
(crying) We're here side by side every day, it's awesome.
It's awesome.
(calm, contemplative music)
I was not confident at all in the beginning
I was like, "How am I ever going to cook this food?"
I'm nothing like my mom.
I can cook now.
I'm proud to say it.
My mom finally has her day off and it's good.
It's awesome.