Where to Eat in Makati: Bib Gourmand Picks Under ₱1,500

For where to eat in Makati at a sensible price, start with six restaurants that hold a Michelin Bib Gourmand: La Pita, Lampara, Your Local, Taquería Franco, Manam at the Triangle and Sarsa. All six cost ₱500 to ₱1,500 a head, and three Michelin Selected kitchens sit in the same range or below it, which makes nine places with the guide's recognition and no tasting-menu bill.

The six Bib Gourmands

• La Pita: Middle Eastern food, in Poblacion.
• Lampara: a neo-Filipino bistro.
• Taquería Franco: French-accented tacos at LPL Center on San Agustin St, Salcedo. Open to midnight on Fridays and Saturdays.
• Manam at the Triangle: Filipino comfort food with twists, at the Ayala Triangle. It takes big groups.
• Your Local: contemporary Asian sharing plates.
• Sarsa: Negrense Filipino cooking.

Every one of them is indoors. Dinner for two at any of the six comes to ₱1,000 to ₱3,000.

Three Michelin Selected kitchens at the same price or less

• Super Uncle Claypot, Poblacion: claypot rice, from a kitchen also named by Tatler in 2026. ₱500 to ₱1,500 a head.
• Kodawari, Adamson Centre on LP Leviste, Salcedo: an izakaya known for gyudon, open until 11pm. ₱500 to ₱1,500 a head.
• Aida's Chicken: Bacolod-style grilled chicken in a shopping-centre basement. Under ₱500 a head, the lowest on this list.

Choosing among the nine

For Filipino food. Four of the nine: Manam at the Triangle for comfort food with twists, Sarsa for Negrense cooking, Lampara for a neo-Filipino bistro and Aida's Chicken for Bacolod-style grilled chicken.

For a late dinner. Taquería Franco on a Friday or Saturday, or Kodawari before 11pm. Most kitchens in the business district close at 10 to 11pm.

For a group. Manam at the Triangle is the pick among the nine. For ten people, see a Makati birthday for ten.

For sharing. Your Local is known for its sharing plates, which suits a date where you would rather taste six things than commit to two.

Before a night of bars. La Pita or Super Uncle Claypot in Poblacion, then the bars close by. That half of the night is in where to eat in Poblacion before the bars.

On the smallest budget. Aida's Chicken.

Where to find them

Five of the nine are easy to place:

• Taquería Franco: LPL Center, San Agustin St, Salcedo.
• Kodawari: Adamson Centre, LP Leviste, Salcedo.
• Manam at the Triangle: the Ayala Triangle.
• La Pita and Super Uncle Claypot: Poblacion.

Lampara, Your Local, Sarsa and Aida's Chicken are all in Makati, and the last of them sits in a shopping-centre basement. Open the map link on each name to find the street or the mall before you go.

Do not plan a walking food crawl across this list. Look at the map first and decide what can be walked.

The step up

Above ₱1,500 a head, the Michelin names are:

• Pablo Bistro: tapas, paella and sangria until midnight in Salcedo. Michelin Selected.
• People's Palace: Thai with a vegetarian menu, near Greenbelt Park. Michelin Selected.
• Blackbird: fine dining, Michelin Selected.
• Helm: two Michelin stars and seasonal set menus.
• Kása Palma: one Michelin star in Poblacion, with tasting menus at ₱6,500 to ₱8,500.

Those belong to a different kind of evening, laid out in romantic restaurants in Makati for an anniversary.

How this compares

A typical night in the Makati business district runs ₱1,200 to ₱3,500 a head and in Poblacion ₱800 to ₱2,000. A Bib Gourmand dinner at ₱500 to ₱1,500 leaves room in either figure for a drink afterwards.

For Salcedo on its own, see Salcedo restaurants for a quiet date. For the same question in other parts of the city, there are BGC restaurants by occasion and restaurants in Cubao by budget. If food is the reason you go out at all, the planner has a name for that: the Food Tripper.

The night-out planner covers Cubao now, and Makati is next. The areas page shows what is live.

The planner covers Cubao now. Makati is next, and this post is written from the same kind of checked list.