The Filipino Table plans mid-November opening in Elk Grove, California

Owner Lee Ann Torrecarion's The Filipino Table on Elk Grove Florin Road is serving takeout three afternoons a week under a temporary permit and hopes to open fully in mid-November, pending a city hearing.

The Filipino Table, a Filipino eatery at 9625 Elk Grove Florin Road in Elk Grove, California, is aiming to begin full operation in mid-November, What Now Sacramento reported. Owner Lee Ann Torrecarion is open for now on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays from 1 to 4 p.m. under a temporary permit, for takeout only.

What Now Sacramento described it as a hybrid concept: the space has a prep kitchen, but the cooking happens on a food cart and food truck behind the building, with a commissary supporting both. A public hearing is expected in the first or second week of November to decide whether the restaurant can operate six days a week from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. In the meantime, Torrecarion has county health department approval to cater and join pop-up events.

The menu centres on chicken, pancit, lumpia and adobo, with lechon coming soon, plus street food such as kwek-kwek, fried quail eggs. Torrecarion said city officials told her it will be the first Filipino restaurant in Elk Grove. The Sacramento Business Journal reported that she started selling Filipino food at pop-up markets after moving to the U.S. about five years ago and craving flavours from home; she also runs Kuya's Inasal Express, a pop-up market stand.

The space is about 1,116 square feet with seating for around 40, and Torrecarion hopes to host a Filipino Christmas dinner there before the holiday. "I'm thanking the Filipinos of Elk Grove and my fellow Filipinos. They're very supportive as well," she told What Now Sacramento.

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