Tatoy’s, Iloilo: The Menu, the Prices and Which Branch to Pick
Prices off the Villa menu board, hours for all three branches, and what to order at Tatoy's Manokan and Seafood in Iloilo.
Three branches, three sets of hours. Prices below are read off the Villa menu board photographed in 2023, so treat them as the shape of the bill rather than today’s total. Hours checked September 2026.
Tatoy’s is the name Iloilo gives when a visitor asks where to eat, and it has been that name since the late 1970s. The original sits on the water at Villa Beach in Arevalo: open-sided pavilions, long wooden tables, a roof over everything and the sea a few meters past the low wall. It is a lunch place more than a dinner place, and it fills with families who came for the chicken and stayed for the oysters.
Villa Beach, Arevalo, Iloilo City · 10.6802° N, 122.5082° E
Tatoy’s in one minute
| Branch | Where | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Villa, the original | Villa Beach, Arevalo, Iloilo City | 8 AM to 8 PM |
| Atria | Shops at Atria, Donato Pison Avenue, Mandurriao | 10 AM to 8:30 PM |
| Cabatuan | Cabatuan, Iloilo, on the airport road | 8 AM to 8 PM |
- Order first. Native chicken, baked talaba, kinilaw na tangigue.
- Budget. Around ₱500 to ₱1,000 a head with rice and a drink, more if the table orders lapu-lapu by weight.
- Go at lunch. The Villa branch is a daytime room. It is on the water and the light is the point.
- Coming from the airport? Cabatuan is the branch on that road, not a detour into the city.
What to order at Tatoy’s
The native chicken is the dish the place is built on. It is a whole free-range bird, charcoal grilled, and it comes out darker and firmer than the supermarket chicken most lechon manok is made from, which is the entire point. At ₱420 on the board it also feeds three people, and it is the cheapest way to understand why anybody drives out here.
Then the oysters. Talaba comes plain at ₱290 or baked from ₱460, and the baked version, split and run under cheese and garlic butter, is what most tables order twice. Kinilaw na tangigue at ₱290 is the other thing to get while you decide, because it arrives fast and it resets the palate between the chicken and whatever comes off the grill next.
Beyond that the menu runs long and Ilonggo: pork done six ways, sinigang na isda, crabmeat, squid rings, buttered shrimp, and lapu-lapu priced by the fish rather than by the plate. If you want the local dishes on their own terms rather than as a side, pancit molo and talaba by the basket both have their own homes in this city.
Tatoy’s menu prices
These come off the printed board at the Villa branch, photographed in 2023. They are the most specific figures published for this restaurant anywhere, and they are also three years old, so read them as the shape of the bill. Anything marked “up” is priced by size or weight, which is how the fish and the crispy pata work.
| Dish | Board price, 2023 |
|---|---|
| Native chicken | ₱420 |
| Lechon baboy, one plate | ₱380 |
| Lechon kawali | ₱380 |
| Sisig | ₱380 |
| Crispy pata | ₱880 and up |
| Kinilaw na tangigue | ₱290 |
| Talaba | ₱290 |
| Baked talaba | ₱460 and up |
| Camaron | ₱390 |
| Squid rings | ₱390 |
| Crabmeat | ₱390 |
| Sinigang na isda | ₱640 |
| Lapu-lapu, whole | ₱920 and up |
Google puts a meal here in the ₱500 to ₱1,000 per person band, which squares with the board once rice and drinks go on. A table of four sharing a chicken, an order of baked oysters, a kinilaw and rice lands well under that. A table that orders a whole lapu-lapu and crispy pata lands well over it.
Which branch to pick
Villa is the one worth the ride. It is the original, it is on the water in Arevalo, and the room is a covered hall of long tables that fills and empties in waves through lunch. Nothing about it is polished, which is the appeal.
Atria is the city branch, in the Shops at Atria on Donato Pison Avenue in Mandurriao, a few minutes from the business district hotels. Air-conditioned, easier to park at, open until 8:30 PM, and the obvious choice on a night when nobody wants the drive to Arevalo. It is the same kitchen in a different room, and the trade is atmosphere for convenience.
Cabatuan sits out on the airport side, which makes it the branch for a last meal before a flight rather than a destination in itself.
Getting to Tatoy’s
From the city center, Villa is about twenty to thirty minutes southwest through Molo and Arevalo, longer in the late afternoon. A taxi or a ride-hailing car is the simple version; jeepneys marked Villa or Oton run the same road and drop you on the highway a short walk from the beach. Coming from Iloilo International Airport, Cabatuan is on the way in, and Atria is roughly halfway between the airport and the old city.
Make it a day rather than a meal. Arevalo is the flower village and the sunset stretch, and Miagao Church is an hour further down the same coast. If the trip is longer than a weekend, Guimaras is a short crossing from Iloilo City and the Gigantes Islands are the northern end of the province.
The annoying parts
The board prices here are from 2023 and food prices in the Philippines have not held still since, so bring more than the table above suggests. Villa is open-air: on a hot April lunch it is warm, and in the rain the edges of the hall get wet. The seafood priced by weight can run away from a budget quietly, so ask what the fish weighs before agreeing to it. Weekends and fiesta days fill the place, and Tatoy’s does not do intimate. And the drive back into the city at dusk is the worst traffic of the day.
Questions people ask
Where is Tatoy’s in Iloilo?
The original is on Villa Beach in Arevalo, Iloilo City. There is a city branch at the Shops at Atria on Donato Pison Avenue in Mandurriao, and a third in Cabatuan near the airport road.
What time does Tatoy’s open?
Villa and Cabatuan run 8 AM to 8 PM. Atria opens later, 10 AM, and closes at 8:30 PM. Checked September 2026.
How much does Tatoy’s cost?
Budget ₱500 to ₱1,000 a head. Off the 2023 board, native chicken was ₱420, talaba ₱290, baked talaba from ₱460 and kinilaw na tangigue ₱290, with whole fish priced by weight.
What is Tatoy’s known for?
Charcoal-grilled native chicken and fresh seafood, particularly the oysters and the kinilaw, served on long tables beside the water at Villa Beach since the late 1970s.
Does Tatoy’s take reservations?
Call the branch. The Atria number is (033) 393 5060. For a large group on a weekend or a fiesta, call ahead rather than turning up.
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Photographed at Tatoy’s, Villa Beach and Atria, and priced off the Villa menu board in 2023. Branch hours and addresses checked September 2026.
