This diner-café, it seems, is ‘extremely’ successful

WHAT’S your order? Photo by Amadís Ma. Guerrero, Contributor

The giant sculptural hamburger in the façade says it all. It is an invitation for you to come inside and order this food item which is as big as a pizza, and can be consumed by many diners. Not only that. There’s an even a bigger pizza which costs twice as much as the hamburger.

These are among the main attractions of Extremely Xpresso Café, an American-style diner-resto which in the past ten years has appealed to the Filipino palate. It is located in the Subic Bay Freeport Zone, a two-hour drive north of Manila if traffic is light. And there are branches in SM Clark and in Angeles City, Pampanga.

ENJOYING a merienda. Photo by Amadís Ma. Guerrero, Contributor

The success of the café in Subic has led to an affiliated restaurant, Ben’s Kitchen (tel. 047-2511078) which is within walking distance of Extremely Xpresso.

“The café is a home-grown brand which has weathered the stiff competition in the food business in Subic,” says a gourmet from Manila who frequents the place whenever he is in Subic. It was founded in 2003 by Catherine Foo and her late husband, Benson, after whom Ben’s Kitchen is named.

Manager for both restaurants is Marlene Fernando.

CAFE-DINER at Subic Freeport zone. Photo by Amadís Ma. Guerrero, Contributor

The café-diner may be said to be “extremely” successful, business-wise, or at least very successful, judging by the crowds that go there lunchtime and at night. If you are craving for that kind of food and can’t get a seat, you might want to walk over to Ben’s Kitchen, which serves the same cuisine.

In the afternoons, however, for merienda, it is usually not SRO, although there are quite a number of diners.

In a chat with visiting national media, Marlene said the place started as a coffee shop serving mostly cakes, pastries and coffee. Then, through word of mouth, visitors from Manila, and TV interviews, it grew “step by step” and became very popular.

HAMBURGER as big as a pizza. Photo by Amadís Ma. Guerrero, Contributor

“It is open from 6 a.m. to 12 midnight and is always full come lunch, merienda and dinner,” she said. Staff complement is 50.

Soon the menu grew through the years with appetizers, salad, soup, sandwiches, pasta and pizzas, desserts, main entrées like steak, beef stroganoff and stuffed chicken breasts, baked salmon and a so-called Coca-Cola roast pork.

Prices range from P60 for a waffle to P380 for the giant burger, and P749 for the monstrous Big Ben Pizza. The latter two, needless to say, are the bestsellers.

“The big servings are the favorites,” laughed Malerne, “Natutuwa sila sa laki (the diners are delighted by the size).”

The culinary genius behind the success of the venture is a daughter of the Foos, Vanessa. She created all the recipes and taught the cooks how to prepare the main dishes.

The market clientele are Subic residents, traders from Bataan and Manila, and visitors to the Freeport zone. During the weekends, especially during extended holidays, you will see a lot of vacationers and domestic tourists from Manila.

Has the rate of investment (ROI) been recovered? The manager is confident this is so: “After 10 years they have surely recouped their investments. Business is very good.” It doesn’t take a trained eye to see that Extremely Xpresso has been a very profitable venture.

Despite failure along the way, food remains by and large a great business, if one has the acumen, creativity and drive, and knows how to tap the right market.