New Frontier Theater Night: Where to Eat and Drink

For a night at New Frontier Theater, eat before the show, because most kitchens around it keep mall hours and can be closed by the time the encore ends. Have dinner at Ali Mall or Gateway, about a 4 to 5-minute walk away, then take the after-show drink at the hotel on the same avenue or at a bar that runs until midnight.

The theatre and the clock

The theatre is at 7 Gen. Aguinaldo Ave. It has 2,325 seats, hosts concerts and fan meets, and opens on event nights only. Ticket prices vary by show, and the Araneta City shows page has the door times, so plan backwards from there.

The other clock is the malls'. Araneta City mall hours are 10 AM to 9 PM from Sunday to Thursday and 10 AM to 10 PM on Friday and Saturday. A show that starts at 8 PM ends after most of the food around it has closed. Dinner goes first.

Dinner before: three speeds

Pick by how much time there is between leaving work and the doors opening.

Thirty minutes. Food Express on Level 3 of Gateway Mall 1 is a food court costing under ₱500 a head, with stalls such as Sisig Hooray and Salo Lechon Belly Kitchen. No booking, no waiting for a bill.

An hour. Gerry's Grill is a Filipino grill on the ground floor of Ali Mall, at ₱500 to ₱1,500 a head, and Ali Mall is the closest stop to the theatre at about a 4-minute walk. In Gateway Mall 2, Palenque is a regional Filipino food hall where you walk in with no booking, and Grace Park serves Filipino farm-to-table cooking on the ground floor.

Ninety minutes, and a bigger budget. Food Exchange Manila is the international buffet at Novotel, on the same avenue as the theatre. It costs ₱1,500 and up a head, and diners get three hours of free parking. Dinner runs from 6 PM to 10 PM, Monday to Thursday only, so it suits a weeknight show with a late start and is not an option on a weekend.

Skip the unlimited grills before a show. A meal with no natural end is the wrong meal when there is a curtain time.

With an afternoon to spare

Gateway Gallery is on the same avenue, on the fifth floor of Gateway Tower. Its SiningSaysay exhibit tells Philippine history through art, it is free, and it is open from 10 AM to 6 PM daily. For a date that starts at 4 PM, that is a quiet hour before an early dinner, and it costs nothing.

A drink after

Three directions, depending on the mood when the doors open. Check the hotel bars' own pages for tonight's closing times before counting on them.

Stay on the avenue. Novotel has two bars. Gourmet Bar by Novotel is the ground-floor lobby lounge for coffee, snacks and cocktails, the calmer choice for talking the show over. The 6th Manila is the pool bar, which turns into an evening club with music and dancing by the pool.

Go up. The Edge Skyview Bar is the rooftop pool bar on Level 22 of ibis Styles, with a deck for the skyline. It opens at 5:30 PM and takes reservations, so book a table for after the show.

Walk to Cubao Expo. It is about an 8-minute walk. Cubao X Brewery is an open-air taproom open until midnight daily, and INT.Bar is a speakeasy behind a photobooth door in a space that stays open until 12:30 AM.

If you skipped dinner

Two places near the theatre outlast the malls. Grace Park is open until 11 PM daily. Paeng's Gateway Bowl on Level 3 of Gateway Mall 2 is open until midnight, though it is a bowling alley, not a kitchen. In Cubao Expo, Ichiban Takoyaki sells takoyaki until midnight from Monday to Thursday and 1 AM on Fridays and Saturdays. Late-night food in Cubao has the full list of what is open after 10 PM.

Plan the rest

The night-out planner can build the before and after around your show time and swap any stop. For the arena in the same complex, read restaurants near Araneta Coliseum, before and after a show. To stay the night instead of fighting for a ride, see hotels in Cubao for a staycation. The Cubao date night guide covers the area, and the Gig Rat is the archetype for people who plan nights around a stage.