CHIBUGAN CAFE AND MORE (302 Athens Road, Winterville; 706-424-4286): Formerly Off the Vine and C & C Cafe and Produce, the small building on the corner of Athens and Cherokee roads in Winterville is now an unexpected and intriguing Filipino restaurant and market.
Filipino food in Athens has come and gone over the years. There used to be a grocery store on Baxter Street. Then there was the Manila Express food truck, which I missed terribly. Now there’s a charming place where you can get your fill of salty, sweet, sour and porky dishes, and sometimes all at the same time. Cibugan’s address is on Athens Road, but you have to turn the corner to access the rear car park. The restaurant’s name means “meal time” and a chalkboard behind the counter has the word of the day written in Filipino.
The main menu is American deli sandwiches wrapped in red and white checked paper. They’re not bad, but that’s not why you’re here. The Filipino menu is much smaller, but seems to be growing. There are lumpia (small deep-fried spring rolls of pork or vegetables with a vinegar-based dipping sauce), pancit (a tangy rice noodle dish with meat or vegetables), barbecued pork skewers lightly smeared with sweet and sour sauce and served over rice, and bone-in chicken adobo braised in soy sauce, garlic and vinegar served over rice. These, too, are ranked from worst to best, but we know there is no truly worst. The best option is to order the chibugan combo and add adobo for a real treat. Lately, chibugan seems to be venturing into silog, a nice breakfast dish with meat and eggs. A refrigerated case on the counter contains some large but light cakes in flavors like mango, ube and matcha. For drinks, you can choose from bubble tea (milk only, several flavors) or coffee made to order. You can also check out the coolers stocked with Pororo and Mogu Mogu fruit juices and Ramune sodas, while chilled Ocean Bomb sparkling water in flavors like kiwi and white grape is a refreshing choice.
Cibugan also sells ice cream, and a variety of snacks and Filipino groceries packed into several shelves. Milky breadsticks, shrimp crackers, noodles (instant and regular), sauces (banana ketchup, sriracha, Mag Tomas all-purpose sauce), Spam, canned fish, ginger candy, Hello Kitty marshmallows, mochi, and nagaraya (maybe better known in Mexico as Japanese peanuts; peanuts encased in a thin cracker shell and doused in flavors like adobo and barbecue, a snack I’ve been craving ever since their Baxter Street store closed). There are a few tables inside and outside, and the atmosphere is laid back, but they also do a lot of takeaway business. Go for it. Cibugan’s hours are Tuesday to Saturday, 11am to 7pm.
Philanthropy Fresh (350 E. Broad St., 706-215-9954): An offshoot of the Loganville restaurant, Philanthropy Fresh opened in December in the former Zombie Donuts location. Its location on Broad Street is right downtown, but it feels farther than you’d expect from the shop across the street. The name comes from the idea that you could round up your bill and donate it to a different local charity each month. Unfortunately, the overall atmosphere is underwhelming and falls short of expectations.
Want a burger? Toppings like arugula, bacon jam, and herbed goat cheese are nice, but the patty itself is overcooked and the garnishes are not amazing. The bowl, which combines wild rice, avocado, roasted broccoli, tomato, grilled chicken, and Cajun ranch, has a lot of broccoli (which is a good thing!) but too much dressing for flavor. There are chicken wings, but they don’t taste outstanding. There is coffee, but it feels like an afterthought. There is breakfast, but it starts at 10 and the Philanthropy Toaster, a sandwich with fried egg, mayonnaise, arugula, avocado, cheddar cheese, and tomato, tastes oily. The ingredients on the menu look good and the combinations seem delicious, but the results are often disappointing. The fast-casual atmosphere is further reinforced by the plastic cutlery, the run-of-the-mill ketchup packets you get with your fries, and the green walls decorated with Polaroid photos. When you factor in the fact that the main clientele is college students (given the late hours, the abundance of charging ports per seating area, and the seeming emphasis on takeout at the expense of customer service), it all starts to make sense.
If you’re downtown and have a late-night veggie craving, Philanthropy Fresh will satisfy your needs. You may not be as picky as I was at midday. The restaurant is open Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday from 10am to 11pm, and Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 10am to 2am.
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