Ruby’s Fast Food

My Favorite place… I love everything they have… If you want a home cook meal than you need this place in you life…

Don’t expect fancy here! It’s definitely a whole in the wall. And if you are ordering food to go, call it in first because it takes a long time! Despite the fact that I hate trying to find a table here (Filipinos will stay there for hours and do not leave!!!) I still love this place. The owners are awesome and their small buffet cart is constantly filled! My boyfriend grew up near Manilla, and he said this place has food that he grew up with. Never seen him so happy with such simple (and greasy) looking foods. I’m slowly becoming addicted to their foods though (lechon, sweet spaghetti, lumpia shanghai).

Picked up a trey of palabok for a birthday party, and it was just good as I remembered. Staff is nice & attentive.

We had the buffet yesterday was simple and good priced very well also only under $ 9
Two gentlemen in which I assume we’re the owners were very polite. Places like this only survive because of simplicity and good hospitality.

So good. I’m told it is very authentic Filipino food. Nick was behind the counter and helped us out. We tried about everything they had. It was all awesome and extremely affordable.

Had a great first experience here w my boyfriend. I got the topsilog and my bf got longsilog and both were very delicious. We are curious to try the buffet next time and the cantaloupe juice was very good as well. Definitely coming back here.

The food is good, but it’s very crowded and service is slow.
We got the tapsilog with beef. It’s a garlic fried rice with salty tender beef jerky. I really like this dish. The beef is really tender, and the rice is very fragrant.
We also got halo-​halo which is shaved ice with the toppings (red beans, crispy rice puff, caramel, and taro). I think it’s too sweet but I don’t normally like shaved ice.
The worst part is that there are too many people and the service is really really slow. It took us about half an hour to order, and another for the food, and like ten minutes to pay. So maybe it’s better to go at an off-​hour.

I was walking home tired from a work week when I walked in and ordered calabasa stew and bbq chicken. I took it home and when I tasted these treats I was very pleasantly surprised. The calabasa was so delicious and the big shrimp were an extra treat. Then I bit into the bbq and my mouth was super happy as the flavour exploded in my mouth. I will definitely stop in again on the way home.

I’m not a Filipino food expert, but I know what I like, and this was awesome.
I always like to see when locals eat somewhere, since that’s a sure sign that they are preparing authentic food, at a good price, and good quality.
Despite the menu being exclusively in Filipino, the guy serving was more than happy to break it down for us, and not make us feel silly for asking questions.
We over ordered, since we don’t know when we’ll net be able to visit again, but we ate as much as we possibly could, and honestly didn’t have a thing we didn’t enjoy.
The lumpia were amazing, the buffet had some incredible dishes, including the best pork belly I ate in Chicago during my visit. The blood soup with pork and tripe might not be for the faint hearted, but the flavor is amazing — and I went back for more of that.
I’d go back for sure next time we visit, and that’s saying a lot since we would be in a food-​city, with limited numbers of meals we could fit in… So we’d typically always want to eat somewhere new each time, but this was good enough to warrant going back again for sure.
Pro tip — sit behind the door, it doesn’t close properly, and people don’t close it behind them, so it gets super cold — we were right there, so we’d keep closing it each time someone came/​went.
Also, note they are cash-​only!

Been here twice and both times didn’t disappoint. Food is great for a really good price. Will definitely come back again :)

Me and hubby loves this place! Love their comfort food. and Nick and his brother are awesome! Everything they cook here are authentic and very very tasty!

Per usual, Nic is awesome and food is fresh.
I urge you to try buffet on weekends — can’t lose with $ 9.
One thing my parents mentioned was that the food was kind of cold. I personally didn’t notice this, but I just downed everything without chewing, so I wasn’t as observant.

3 stars from me because I lean more towards quality over quantity. The food is great for the price ($ 5.75 for tocino special, which includes a large amount of garlic fried rice and two over-​hard eggs), but it is indeed «fast food». We ordered the tocilog and tapsilog, both of which were very oily and over-​fried. I walked out feeling like my arteries were clogged, but it was a good quick meal.

They need to put their correct business hours because everytime we go, they are always close and its in the afternoon.

If I could give Ruby’s more than 5 starts, I would in a heartbeat.
I don’t think I have ever walked into this shop and had it not be crowded. The food here is incredible and the portion sizes are huge for the price. On top of that, the owners are genuine individuals who care about their food and the patrons they serve.
This past weekend, my boyfriend had a death in his family and needed a significantly large order on short notice. Rubys was very accommodating and had a catering size platter of lumpia and pancit ready within an hour. I can not explain how much it meant, not only to my boyfriend and I, but his family as well. Most places would not be willing to fill such a large order on such short notice. However, at Ruby’s, not only were we told that it would be no problem at all, but they didn’t even charge extra for the last minute order.
I would HIGHLY, HIGHLY, HIGHLY recommend trying it out. Thank you Rubys for everything. You are an Albany Park gem.

I found this place on Unilocal after getting a nail removed at Elmo’s Tire, just down the block. I am not flipino, nor have much experience eating flipino food. Ruby’s son (I forgot to ask his name), took the time to explain the canteen style food for me. He even volunteered to let me sample every menu item. We are talking about 1 inch cuts of meat here of salmon, pork, and beef, all in different sauces. I was almost full from trying all the samples!
I’m bad with names but I got the pork cooked in shrimp paste, salmon with onions, and fried beef w garlic fried rice and two eggs. He knew I was a first timer, so threw in a container of spagetti and leftover beef sauce to eat with rice. Try the purple desert made of purple yam called ube. Homemade and delicious! I’ve been in a rut lately with food, not really craving or enjoying anything, just going through the motions for sustenance. I think it was because the food is different from what I’m use to eating that I really enjoyed the food. Very refreshing to enjoy food this way again.
This place is really great. I grew up in albany park and amazed that today is the first time I’ve heard of this place (the restaurant has been open for 19 years). I will definitely go back to try their weekend buffet, lumpia, and lechon. This place also caters, so I’ll be getting a tray of lumpias from here, rather than my usual place. The prices are very reasonable! I had a ton of food with all the freebies that feed 3 people with plenty of leftovers. Total was $ 16 and change. The prices are very reasonable (5.75 for a 2 combo plate) Please support this family, this place is a true hidden gem!

Beef jerky for dinner, that’s what tapsilog reminds me of. When it comes to finding the great hole in the wall places, definitely come check out Ruby’s.
I’m not very familiar with Filipino food, but some of the items reminds me of Chinese «fast food» like fried rice and roast pork, just «flipped». Ruby’s has an interesting format. There’s a board on the wall that I ordered the Topsilog (I suppose the rice box) and then there’s the pre-​cooked trays of food. I got in half an hour before closed and I thought, shoot, they ran out of food, but they cook the topsilog in the kitchen.
I got half beef and half pork — the pork is way better, beef is cut thick and tough. Both are meat candy that can be offset with the vinegar onion sauce. The rice is fantastic and TWO eggs that looks partially poached and fried. It’s two meals in ONE.
I’m ok with the lumpia. They are like cigarette sized egg rolls, a bit salty, just dip it in sweet chili sauce. It’s super greasy, so be prepared to be stuffed. It’s cheap, it’s good, it’s alot and it’s perfect for take out.

Today I tried the tocilog, BBQ chicken and sansrival. Wow, it was all delicious. Ruby’s has become a family favorite. I took my picky son (burgers & pizza only, thanks!) today to give it a try. He loved it. Thank you Jesus! We now have more food options. =)
As always the counter service is perfect. Nick is always so patient and gets me to try new things each time. Everything he’s recommended has been on point. The prices are unbelievably great. Well worth every cent.

I came here after seeing this place on Bizzare Foods. Everything here is pretty homey and definitely pretty popular. On the weekends, there is the buffet as well!
We ordered the Tapsilog, a variety of other dishes, Coconut Corn Cake, and the Halo-​Halo. Overall, I thought everything was not too bad. I can see why it is pretty popular here and everything is affordable. The coconut corn cake was sweet but not too sweet. It was pretty good for a mini dessert. I think I may have been a bit crazy ordering the halo-​halo on such a cold day, but I couldn’t resist. Loved the dessert and definitely would order it again if I am ever back in Chicago.

The weekend ayce buffet ($ 8.45 as of 01/​10/​2015) is totally worth it! I am SO sorry that I forgot about taking the pictures after my initial plate. I sincerely apologize for that. My tip is to come in within 30 minutes after opening so that they will all the dishes ready and hot!