Pop. Pop. Pop. In late 2025, ManilaBoy food pop-ups started springing up everywhere in Des Moines: Horizon Line Coffee, RAYGUN, Crème, the Art Terrarium. They even made an appearance at the Little Book for Indie Bookstore Day this April.
ManilaBoy isn’t popping out of nowhere. Chef and owner Earvin Idio and his family have been serving Filipino comfort food with a modern twist at the Downtown Farmers’ Market for eight tasty years.
Idio feels right at home at the market. It reminds him of the mom-and-pop street food vendors, called carinderias, found throughout the Philippines. These are outdoor, makeshift kitchens serving up flavorful comfort food in a fast-paced, turo-turo (“point-point”) format: customers point out their cravings among the various chafing dishes and buffet warmers. ManilaBoy is bringing the same warm and casual vibes to Iowa streets one temporary food event — and tempting food— at a time. Take Idio’s creamy ube banana pudding, made from the purple yam ube and layered with vanilla wafer cookies and bananas.
Through his food creations, Idio is on a mission to tell a story about his favorite spots in Metro Manila, which he describes as the “melting pot” of the Philippines. He tools his menu to reflect the complexities of flavors, spices and cultural influences within Filipino cuisine — the accumulated product of Spanish colonization, Mexican imports, Japanese occupation in World War II and 48 years as an American colony, followed by another 46 years of hosting major U.S. military bases (hello, Spam!), not to mention the region’s proximity to China, Malaysia and Indonesia. It’s a lot of history in a couple of bites.
Idio came to Iowa in 2004 at age 18 and has been going hard ever since, often working two jobs at a time. He didn’t have a plan after graduating high school, but he did know that he missed Filipino food. He called his mom and learned how to make it for himself.
One thing led to another. Idio went to culinary school at Le Cordon Bleu in Minnesota, then worked many odd restaurant jobs, landing a gig at 801 Chophouse in Des Moines in 2013. This is where Idio met his mentor, Brian Dennis, who gave him a loan to start his pop-up business.
“I love the idea of a farmers market. I’ve always gone to them and wanted to join them,” Idio said. “I thought, ‘I want to do this. I will do this.’ So then I did.”
He bought the basic equipment and tent, then went to work. He and his then-girlfriend, now-wife Kristi debuted their first booth in Des Moines’ Downtown Farmers’ Market in 2018. He paid back his loan to Dennis on the first day.
They kept going. They had their first child in 2019. When the pandemic hit in 2020, they converted their Beaverdale neighborhood garage into an outdoor kitchen. As prices went up, they moved to Cedar Falls to be with family, then moved back to the Des Moines metro in 2025, whereupon they opened their second booth at the market.
Even with all the time away, “It was as if we had never left,” said Kristi. It seemed that their customers were ready for them, too. They sold out of food at their first 2026 farmers market by 10 a.m.
In July 2026, many of the ManilaBoy staples were there: a Filipino breakfast sandwich stacked with longganisa (sweet and garlicky sausage), a fried egg and a hashbrown. Lumpia (spring rolls), Tocilog (slow-roasted pork belly and fried egg), garlic turmeric rice and ube banana pudding were also up for grabs.
By now, Idio believes Des Moines is ready to diversify its palate, and Kristi agrees. “We’re right where we need to be,” she said. They’re partnering with community spaces that are “contributing something positive” and share their focus on inclusivity.
The next ManilaBoy pop-up is set for Aug. 29 at the Downtown Farmers Market.
Idio claims his brain runs “100 miles per hour,” often with plans for the future. First, he wants to get his family to the Philippines for Christmas 2027. Second, in due time, he dreams of having a brick-and-mortar restaurant to turn his “side hustle” into something more sustainable for his family.
“This thing is bigger than me and even my family now,” he said. “Now is the time to bring Filipino food to the big stage.”
ManilaBoy
Downtown Farmers’ Market, Des Moines, Saturday, Aug. 29
Follow @manilaboyandco on Instagram for more ManilaBoy pop-ups
This article was originally published in Little Village’s August 2026 issue.
