That restaurant, as it turns out, is a Filipino-American joint called Lucy's, which Lucy Doherty opened after giving the strip mall space a quick makeover, adding a blue and white color scheme and tan booths.
"My mom's family in the Philippines owned a half store, half restaurant," explains Ben Johnson, Doherty's son and general manager. When she opened her restaurant here, she brought several of those recipes to life.
"I call it Chinese food and Hawaiian food's cousin," Johnson explains of the cuisine his mom is cooking up. "It's sort of right in the middle of those two foods." The menu, he notes, includes traditional Filipino items like pancit, a rice noodle dish, and lumpia, which is similar to an egg roll. The whole fried tilapia has already startled a guest -- "we serve it with the eyes and everything," says Johnson -- but the chicken adobo has been popular, especially with old Navy guys once stationed overseas.
Lucy's also provides a menu of burgers for diners who aren't feeling the Filipino list, and toppings range from green chile to pastrami to ham, egg and cheese.
The place is open daily for lunch and dinner.