Restaurateur Targets Lenox Hill With Upcoming Filipino Restaurant

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — A new Filipino restaurant is set to open in Lenox Hill, owned by the same group behind the beloved Bilao.

In January, Bilao abruptly closed its doors on the Upper East Side, catching customers off guard. Now, the team behind Bilao, one of the city's few Filipino restaurants, has revealed their next big project.

In a recent social media announcement, the owners of Bilao revealed that their next venture, Sugba, is on the horizon, urging Bilao fans to "stay tuned" for more updates.

Sugba is slated to be situated at 1425 York Avenue, positioned between East 75th and 76th streets. An official opening date has yet to be announced.

While details on the new venture are scarce, Sugba will also be offering authentic Filipino cuisine, much like Bilao, which was launched amidst the COVID-19 pandemic by Jude Canela, Marie Dinopol and Joan Calanog.

The trio, who were employed as nurses at Mount Sinai Hospital, made the decision to open Bilao after craving authentic cuisine from their native Philippines, which was lacking on the Upper East Side.

After opening, they discovered that their most loyal customers were fellow nurses at Mount Sinai, Lenox Hill, Weill Cornell, and other medical centers along the Upper East Side's hospital corridor, many of whom are Filipino and work night shifts like the owners, as previously reported by Patch.

"That’s why we’re open very early," Canela told Patch. "Whenever we get off from shifts, we are really hungry, because the days are dinnertime."

Bilao closed its doors in the first week of January this year, and details surrounding the closure were sparse, with only a brief notice thanking patrons for their support being issued.