Nothing lasts forever.
Not even restaurants are exempt from this three-word rule. I’ve seen a lot of restaurants close over the years for one reason or another. It honestly makes me feel sad to see such an establishment go, but you have to know when to hit the brakes and move on.
It took the enhanced community quarantine to push me to check my old camera for possible ideas, just like how it was with my previous triptych entries. Thankfully, I accumulated enough to work on a few blog entries.
I’ve featured Churreria La Lola in one of my earlier triptychs here, garnering the top spot in that post. A lot has changed years after that. La Lola underwent a rather rapid expansion, opening new branches in a short period. There were even branches in Eastwood Mall, Estancia Mall, and SM Fairview!
Unfortunately, these branches closed down as part of downsizing efforts; even the UP Town Center location wasn’t spared. If memory serves me correctly, I only know of two branches near me that are still open: SM Megamall and SM North EDSA. A bit of good news though: the chain has expanded to Singapore!
Bliss Bowls in SM Megamall was mentioned in a post of mine from three years ago. This concept by Pam of Green Lunch Diaries was at the fourth level of SM Megamall’s Building A, near Fitness First. I personally found its spot across a fitness club rather well-placed as the target market is right across.
The small joint served healthy fare such as smoothie bowls you can customize, non-dairy milk, and vegan chocolate bites. Sadly, Bliss Bowls closed for good and I was unable to visit them on their last day. Heck, I even have an unclaimed promo from them that I won through Instagram!
Australian chain Pie Face started off with four locations in Manila: Eastwood City, SM Mall of Asia, McKinley Hill, and SM Megamall. The joint is well-known for its signature savory pies, both in snack and regular sizes, that are best paired with coffee. One could easily find out the kind of pie they ordered, as each one had a different “face” on them.
I would usually hang out there to have breakfast before my work day would start, back when I first worked in Eastwood. As fate would have it, Pie Face would permanently shutter its doors after a short-lived run in the Philippine market.
And that wraps up this one; until the next post!
Ahhh La Lola! I remember I always stop by to get churros every time I get to conduct a coffee tasting 😅
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What branch did you frequent back then? There used to be one in Eastwood Mall, but it closed down (Tiger Sugar now stands in its place.) The SM Fairview branch too, but it closed not long after.
Heck, even the first branch at UP Town wrapped up! 😦
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SM North! I don’t know if it’s still open. Haven’t been back to that mall since I left last year.
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It’s still open, fortunately! 🙂 One of the few remaining SM mall branches, alongside that of Megamall.
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I once tasted La Lola at SM Mall of Asia when I went home for vacay 🙂
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Interesting! 🙂 Sadly, I just don’t know if that branch is still open as of this typing.
I suddenly missed their Junior Clasico (3 churro sticks with their signature chocolate dip) — always perfect with coffee in the afternoon!
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Hope that branch is still open so I can pay visit when I get home after the COVID-19 crisis and will try that Junior Clasico 🙂
Stay safe Monch
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You too! 🙂
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I guess F&B is pretty competitive everywhere and the profit margins are slim, so many can’t survive in the long run. I remember going to a Cat Cafe in Teacher’s Village back in 2016 – it was quite a novel concept and the place seemed popular, so I was surprised to learn that it closed down. I guess more restos (both here in Malaysia as well as the Phils) will be closing down after this quarantine. 😦
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Are you referring to Cat Cafe Manila? :O If you are, it’s high time I updated that entry!
It’s definitely the case; most private enterprises, not just restaurants, were hard hit by the lockdowns brought about by the Covid-19. We’re looking at a major recession here, but I hope business gets back to normal once this crisis is over.
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Yep, the one in Maginhawa. I’m hopeful things will regain some sense of normalcy, but in the meantime, I’m brushing up on skills while at home so I can pick up other jobs in case things go downhill with my current job (it already is lol).
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Yes, so very sad if it is a good one like one Thai restaurant here. So very nice, we sure frequented the place very often even though quite expensive. Then the Thai chef deserted the boss, my friend, out of the blue and in the end, she decided to close it down. Real frustrating!
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Damn, now that’s just terrible! Not even a fortnight’s notice…
Speaking of restaurants gone, I noticed that you guys still have franchises that all but disappeared here in the Philippines. Manila used to have A&W and Texas Chicken, two joints that have a strong following in MY.
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