Matias BBQ: Mandaue’s Pride

A staple in Pinoy street food is barbecue – pork or chicken meat or guts skewered on sticks and plastered over a charcoal grill to cook. Any occasion is incomplete without a generous serving of these favorites and their complementary soy sauce and vinegar dip.

One go-to place for barbecue here in Cebu is Matias, located along AS Fortuna restaurants in Mandaue City. Matias is an al-fresco carenderia that is always peopled, whatever the time of day is. It has plenty of indoor and outdoor seats.

It is surrounded by sweet star apple trees, which makes this open-air eatery feel very homey and non-intimidating. They sell very affordable pork barbecue, chicken barbecue, chorizo, pork belly, balbacua, and other local dishes.

The dining experience here is a bit different. You have to wait for a staff to approach you and lead you to your seat. There are no table numbers, but the staff are able to take everyone’s order by just remembering where they sit.

Matias BBQ Menu

• Puso (Php7) – Theirs are wrapped in banana/coconut leaves.
• Pork Barbecue (Php16) – By far, this is Matias’ bestseller. They serve this in generous proportions and has a sweet banana ketchup taste. They sometimes run out of pork barbecue to high demand.
• Pork Belly or Liempo (Php70) – Another favorite is their pork liempo. It tastes like a cross between grilled belly and lechon kawali. If you visit Matias and had the misfortune of not being able to order pork barbecue, then this is an excellent alternative.
• Cebu Chorizo (Php13) – This is also known as Filipino sausage or “longganisa”. The typical Cebu chorizo is red, fatty, sweet, and spicy. It is best eaten dipped in Matias’ special sauce dip.
• Chicken barbecue (Php55-Php65)
• Chicken Heart (Php25)
• Shakes (Php45) – They serve shakes in two flavors: avocado and mango.

It is not hard to have a hearty meal in Matias BBQ, Average budget per person can easily go around Php100-Php120.

Along AS Fortuna Street in Mandaue City, Matias’ Food Haus stands out from the rest. They make eating barbecue become a true local experience. They have a relaxing atmosphere, partly in owe to the shade of their star apple trees.

If this barbecue restaurant has an issue, it is that their system for serving food is a little bit unconventional for an eatery their size. As mentioned earlier, you will be made to wait, and sometimes the wait can be too long. It is very reliant on the staff’s ability to remember which food items were ordered by who.

But this system has worked for as long as Matias BBQ has existed, and the restaurant continues to thrive. They have garnered more diners, locals and foreigners alike. Their signboard is inconspicuous to say the least, so it’s easy to miss them if you don’t already know the place or if you are not with people who are familiar with Matias.

Matias BBQ location

Matias BBQ is located along A. S. Fortuna Street, Banilad, Mandaue City. You can reach them on their telephone numbers (32) 3452164 and (32) 3469123. They are open Mondays to Sundays, 11:30AM to 10PM.