Where to eat the best pares?

Here are the 10 Metro Manila spots worth the extra rice.

There is something deeply comforting about pares: chunks of tender beef swimming in sweet-savory sauce, steaming broth on the side and garlic rice waiting to soak everything up.

Once a humble roadside meal, pares has exploded into countless versions—classic, tendon-heavy, sizzling, overloaded and even crowned with bone marrow.

So where should you eat it?

Based on reputation, diner reviews, neighborhood following and distinctive takes on the dish, here are 10 Metro Manila pares spots worth seeking out. The list is not a strict ranking.

1. The Original Pares Mami House Retiro — Quezon City

• Address
  • N.S. Amoranto Sr. St. corner Dr. Alejos St., La Loma, Quezon City
• Price range
  • Around ₱150–₱200 per person

Start with one of the institutions most closely associated with old-school pares. Located along the street formerly known as Retiro, this no-frills favorite serves the classic combination of braised beef, garlic rice and soup.

For many diners, this remains the benchmark.

2. Jim’s Pares & Mami — Malate

• Address
  • 1739 Ma. Orosa St., Malate, Manila
• Price range
  • Around ₱100–₱180 per person

Jim’s has the atmosphere many people associate with a proper Manila pares run: casual, uncomplicated and perfect for late-night cravings.

Its beef, hot soup and generous condiments have helped turn it into a Malate favorite.

3. D’ Original Pares — San Juan

• Address
  • N. Domingo St., San Juan City
• Price range
  • Around ₱120–₱250 per person

For diners who like thick, sweet-savory sauce with tender beef and chewy tendon, this San Juan favorite delivers.

Add a generous spoonful of chili oil and suddenly one cup of rice doesn’t seem enough.

4. Pares Point Grill And Resto Bar — Makati

• Address
  • Chino Roces Ave., Pio del Pilar, Makati City
• Price range
  • Around ₱150–₱300 per person

Pares gets considerably more indulgent at this Chino Roces destination.

This is for diners who want their meal big, rich and unapologetically heavy, with decadent 

additions such as bone marrow taking the humble pares experience to another level.

5. Good Pares — Quezon City

• Address
  • 22A Scout Ybardolaza St., Diliman, Quezon City
• Price range
  • Around ₱120–₱270 per person

This neighborhood paresan may not have the decades-old mythology of Retiro, but that is part of its appeal.

Think tender beef and an aromatic, sweet-savory sauce in a straightforward bowl made for people who simply want good comfort food.

6. Boss B Pares — San Juan

• Address
  • Dr. P.A. Narciso St., San Juan City
• Price range
  • Around ₱100–₱200 per person

One of the smaller names on the list may also be one of its most interesting.

Boss B has attracted a strong neighborhood following for affordable loaded meals, including the irresistible combination of tender beef pares and crispy lechon kawali.

7. Pares Retiro — Tomas Morato

• Address
  • 205 Tomas Morato Ave., Diliman, Quezon City
• Price range
  • Around ₱130–₱320 per person

Want pares without the roadside setup?

This Tomas Morato restaurant offers a more comfortable sit-down experience, with classic pares alongside tendon, sizzling and other heavier variations.

8. Doble Pares — Mandaluyong 

• Address
  • 537 Boni Ave., Mandaluyong City

• Price range
  • Around ₱100–₱300 per person

Boni Avenue has its own contender.

Doble Pares caters particularly well to the after-work and late-night crowd, delivering the hearty and affordable character that helped make pares a Metro Manila street-food staple.

9. Arquiza Street Pares and Mami — Ermita

• Address
  • 1000 Arquiza St., Ermita, Manila
• Price range
  • Around ₱100–₱200 per person

Not every good pares destination needs to be Instagram-famous.

This Ermita neighborhood spot represents another side of pares culture: inexpensive beef, rice and mami served without fuss—the kind of comfort food you crave after a long day or an even longer night.

10. Pares Mami House — Caloocan

• Address
  • 177 9th Ave., Grace Park West, Caloocan City
• Price range
  • Around ₱100–₱250 per person

Caloocan deserves a place on the pares map, too.

This 9th Avenue favorite has built a loyal following while keeping the uncomplicated neighborhood-restaurant character that suits pares perfectly.

Why we can’t get enough of it

At its core, pares isn’t complicated.

The classic formula is braised beef in a sweet-and-savory soy-based sauce, paired with garlic fried rice and hot broth.

But perhaps that simplicity is precisely why Filipinos keep reinventing it.

Add litid. Add chili garlic. Throw in lechon kawali. Crack open a bone and pile marrow on top. Or forget all the extras and serve it exactly as generations remember it.

From a roughly ₱100 neighborhood meal to an overloaded bowl costing several hundred pesos, there is now a pares for practically every appetite and budget.

Metro Manila may never agree on which one is the best.

But that’s one delicious argument worth having.

(Prices are approximate and may change depending on orders, add-ons and restaurant pricing.)

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