This restaurant is ube-lievable. Oribello’s, a new Filipino sports lounge on West 37th Street, has carved out a niche in the Austin dining scene with its ube-forward menu, all-day brunch offerings, and creative pizzas.
You’ve likely seen its viral purple drinks and dishes on your social feeds, but now it’s time to meet the folks behind them. The bar + kitchen is a family affair, run by Darrel Oribello — a seasoned restaurateur and partner in Sazan Ramen and Endo Sushi — and his sons, DJ and Wesley Oribello.
ATXtoday sat down with the Oribello brothers to taste the food, drink a Frozen Purple Ube-Rita, and chat about the restaurant’s origins, Filipino and Mexican influences, and its impact on the Austin community.
Editor’s note: This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.
Has food always been central in your family?
DJ: "(Growing up), food was a really big part of our lives. We have really big Filipino parties where everyone would bring food, and that’s how we kind of learned about our culture. ... I grew up like a typical California kid, but food was really a way of us understanding our culture.
Our great-grandfather married a Mexican woman later in life from Sinaloa, and when we would have Christmas parties, she would make tamales and we would walk to the Mexican stores. Watching her cook was a fond memory.”
What inspired the Oribello’s menu?
DJ: “One of my inspirations for Austin food is Paul Qui. In my head, I wanted to create something that reminded me of when I came to Austin and had East Side King for the first time and had the beef tongue baos. We wanted to do something that was fun — and not be too crazy with the flavors — but also be unapologetic with what we’re trying to do. We want to do stuff that represents us at the end of the day.”
Wesley: “I think one of our advantages is that my dad is a restaurateur, but we’re not traditionally restaurateurs, and so we kind of just go, ‘Let’s eat the stuff that we like.’”
What does Oribello’s bring to the community?
Wesley: “We’ve become this hub of Filipino culture where if you come in here, you’re going to find a Filipino person, friend, or family (member). It wasn’t the goal, but a lot of people have been coming. ... The Filipino Young Professionals and the Filipino Student Association, they’re holding their meetings here, and they’re just like, ‘Dude, this is the place. Like, we have this place (where) I can feel part of the identity and the culture.’”
DJ: “1% of Asian American restaurants are Filipino or Filipino-inspired, but we represent 18% of all Asian Americans. We want to add a lot more Filipino-forward dishes and we really want to make sure that we hit it on the nose.”
What’s a perfect order at Oribello’s?
DJ: “I think you get pork lumpia, mozzarella sticks, birria pizza, and ube tres leches for lunch. For breakfast, you’ve got to get the ube pancakes and our breakfast pizza. I think it’s really unique.”
Wesley: “If you drink, we make a lot of the Lychee Spritzes and Banana Old Fashioneds.”
