Tsismis is the opposite of a speakeasy. It isn’t hiding anything; its glass facade on Orchard Street wants to strike up a conversation so badly that it almost follows you home. The windows are stenciled with cartoon characters and with text-message bubbles that call out in English (“Hello! New York”), Spanish (“que rico!”), French (“bon appétit”) and Tagalog (“masarap,” for delicious).

The language lessons continue on the front door, which gives translations for “tuloy po kayo” (welcome) and the restaurant’s name (gossip), pronounced chiss-miss. In case you miss all of this, a sandwich board straddles the sidewalk, advertising discounted beer, wine and wings at the bar during happy hour (“5:thirsty”).

If you accept the facade’s invitation to benaquitodits (come here here, a repetitive bit of Tagalog slang), the conversation will continue inside. Tsismis, which opened in June, is a chatty restaurant. At times, when one of the owners pulls up alongside your table and expounds on how the chef’s interpretation of the dish you’re trying to eat differs from what you might find in the Philippines, you may find yourself eyeing the exit. If you’ve found your way to the menu’s strengths, though, odds are you won’t want to go anywhere.