Popular Filipino American food truck operators open a restaurant in Oakland

One might question the wisdom of opening a restaurant in the middle of a pandemic, but Señor Sisig, the food truck company credited with popularizing Filipino food to the foodie culture, has opened a new brick-and-mortar locale in Oakland, California.

Señor Sisig, that San Francisco Bay Area favorite among food truck fans,  has opened a new storefront in downtown Oakland for its legions of East Bay customers. There aren’t many Bay Area food items, after all, that can match the enduring popularity of those fusion sisig burritos, exclaim Eater.

The newest Filipino food outpost will have something new for its foodie fans. In addition to its original menu, it will offer an all-vegan version of that menu, side by side.

At first, vegan and Filipino food sounds like an oxymoron. But when Senior Sisig debuted the vegan choices in its Señor Sisig Vegano food truck located in San Francisco's Mission District last November, it proved to be a hit for those loving the Filipino flavors but want to reduce their meat consumption. 

“We’ve been getting a lot of East Bay people hitting us up (about Señor Sisig Vegano), saying, ‘Come out to Oakland. Come out to Oakland,’” Eater quotes co-founder Evan Kidera, who runs the business with partner Gil Payumo. “This will be the first location where you can come get both.”

The pandemic has hurt the Señor Sisig food-truck empire. Before the dining restrictions, his six trucks were concentrated in San Francisco's financial district and the South of Market where many of the tech companies, the new UC-San Francisco Medical Center campus and the sports teams like the Giants and Warriors  have gentrified the former warehouse district.

Señor Sisig had to branch out to places like Daly City where the trucks proved popular with the city's  large Filipino American residents and the East Bay, with its multi-cultural vibe and where a lot of its regulars live.

In Oakland, he parked near the Spice Monkey Restaurant and Bar, which offered up cocktails. The combination of Filipino food and the modern cocktails was a hit with the office workers. When dining restrictions forced Spice Monkey to close, Señor Sisig took the leap of faith and moved in.

The traditional sisig burrito and its vegan version are
offered at the new storefront in Oakland..

With the two grills in the new kitchen, it became physically possible to offer both the meat and plant-based menus. There's a vegan version of anything on the traditional Señor Sisig menu such as the California burritos, the tostadas, the loaded fries, etc. Vegan “meat” options will include pork, chicken (the most popular option among Vegano customers, Kidera says), tocino, and longanisa chorizo, cites Eater.

Who knows when the restaurant dining rules will allow in-house dining, but for now, the restaurant will function as just a takeout window.

There are plans to eventually offer Filipino-inspired cocktails. Expect “tropical vibes,” Kidera says.

There are already a couple of vegan restaurants offering takeout dishes in the Oakland neighborhood and they often have lines of customers waiting for their orders.

“It’s the next wave,” Kidera tells Eater. “We want to be a part of that.”

Señor Sisig’s Oakland storefront at 1628 Webster Street will be open for takeout Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m.–3 p.m. and Friday to Saturday, 11 a.m.–8 p.m.