Patio Pilar is a Castillian-inspired courtyard café and events venue, featuring a pair of heritage structures
with contemporary updates. An appealing blend of the traditional and the trendy, it captures what is
quintessentially Ermita – an area once graced by the mansions of elite Filipino families in the early
1900s and later known for its artsy, bohemian flair.
Come experience this nostalgia-made-new ambiance, courtesy of our Patio Pilar amenities.
A courtyard for al fresco dining – Our open-air garden serves as the perfect refuge amidst the bustle of Manila. A quaint and quiet spot for savoring dishes by our in-house chef, or sipping Spanish tsokolate or freshly-brewed coffee served from our outdoor bar.
Vendors’ stalls display an array of goods, from artisanal food products to handcrafted gift and decorative items. While a charming flower lane features carts offering fresh cut blooms.
Casa Pilar events space – Our Casa Pilar ground floor hall is a stylish venue available for pop-up bazaars and exhibits, milestone occasions, photo shoots, book or product launches, mini concerts and more – as well as events on our own Patio Pilar calendar.
Gallery, Cucina, and Panaderia – Our White House boasts of a full-service chef’s kitchen, Cucina Pilar, preparing a Spanish menu for our diners, as well as an in-house bakery, Panaderia Pilar, producing freshly-baked bread and pastries daily. The second floor houses an Escuela area open for bookings for guest classes, workshops, and seminars ranging from cultural to culinary and everything in between.
Given all these, Patio Pilar will be a hub of activity year round – drawing diners, event patrons, Escuela attendees, and the Ermita community to its heritage and hip atmosphere. Do join us!
Nostalgia Made New at Patio Pilar
“A corner of Spain in today’s Ermita”
You might miss it. The structure seems to blend right in with the area. Sixties era wood-slat wall sidings, rought iron grilles, capiz window panels even. But then you spot it, that hipster signage in neon-bright swirls topping the main gate.
You’ve just found Patio Pilar, the newest addition to the trendy hangouts in Ermita, Manila. This Spanish-inspired courtyard café and events venue charms with its air of nostalgia as it recaptures that artsy, bohemian vibe that is Ermita. As we said, you could miss this place. But you really shouldn’t.
Beyond the Cool Logo
Once you walk through the gate, you get this sense of stepping back in time while keeping pace with today. After all, the three-story Casa Ermita on the left was built circa 1930s, while the White House on the right is a mid-century structure.
Walk on further and that blend of old and new accompanies you. You make your way past custom-built stalls displaying cut flowers, potted plants, artisanal food products, and handcrafted gifts and decorative items. A few steps more and you find yourself in an open-air courtyard tucked between and behind the two buildings. Cobblestone paving, flower-decked trellises and, yes, that is the sound of water trickling down one of the ivy-covered walls.
Clusters of café tables entice you to take a seat. The perfect spot, you think to yourself, to enjoy a meal, hold a small meeting or chat over drinks with friends.
That’s when you notice the outdoor bar, tucked underneath a second-floor balcony. The bar is new, you are told, while the balcony is part of the original building. Fittingly, then, you have a choice of traditional Spanish-style tsokolate to freshly brewed coffee and tea, to your favorite beers, wines and cocktails.As a waiter approaches, you consider those drinks options and the dishes or desserts to go with them. You open the menu to a selection of Castillian fusion entrees, soups, salads, and sweets combined with comfort food favorites, all prepared by Cucina Pilar’s chef. You may, in fact, catch a glimpse of him at work through the cucina’s windows in the White House across the courtyard.Just as you make your order, the aroma of freshly-baked bread wafts your way. Intrigued, you discover it’s coming from another gem in this compound, Panaderia Pilar, right along side the cucina. An assortment of breads and pastries is temptingly on display, still warm from the oven. So you know that the rolls with your meal – and of course, the dessert after that – will be fresh and delicious. You make a mental note to buy a bag of pandesal to go.
On the second floor of the White House, you are told, is an area dubbed theEscuela. Open for bookings for guest classes, workshops, and seminars from cultural to culinary and more, this Patio Pilar feature goes on your must-check-this-out list as a place to both teach and learn.
