Sizzling food, music and international beer cans

ENTREPRENEUR Davey Militar. Photo by Amadis Ma. Guerrero, Contributor

Drop by this resto-bar lunchtime or better yet in the evening and chances are you will hear the sizzle of, well, sizzling food (steak, squid, sisig et al) and music, as in ballads, folk songs and old standards. The lone singer is none other than the owner of the place, Davey C. Militar.

PREPARING for the day’s work. Photo by Amadis Ma. Guerrero, Contributor

This is Sizzlers’ Blends (0915-5556252), located at the mezzanine of Victoria Towers, Panay Ave. corner Timog, Quezon City.

“It’s my wife, Evangeline, who is really the businessman of the family,” says Militar. Both hold engineering degrees from the University of Santo Tomas, one reason Sizzlers’ Blends is popular among UST alumni and students. Other habitués are politicians, lawyers (“they like to sing”), cast and crew of teleseryes from nearby ABS-CBN  and GMA 7, sports buffs (there’s a Gold Gym upstairs), and journalists.

GUITARIST strums away. Photo by Amadis Ma. Guerrero, Contributor

Employees of the Legal Division of the Bureau of Internal Revenue and St. Luke’s Hospital regularly hold Christmas parties here.

Militar points with pride to his varied collection of colorful beer cans from other countries, from the United States, Europe and Asia, collected during his travels abroad. These are all lined up above, in the spaces just below the ceiling.

You will also not miss the deer’s head  just above the bar. “This is a good luck charm of my wife,” says Davey. All present and future branches of Blends must have this feature. The horns are real but the face is made of wood.

PATRONS enjoy an afternoon snack. Photo by Amadis Ma. Guerrero, Contributor

It was Evangeline, the entrepreneur, who opened the first Blends in Lipa City, Batangas. It became a success, and Davey decided to replicate this here in Metro Manila. The casual dine-in resto can occupy up to 70 patrons, with an additional outside area which can accommodate up to 150 persons.

The outlet became known through Facebook accounts and word-of-mouth, and is now open to franchising. In fact, the franchise brochure states that the franchise term is for six years, with a capital requirement of P2.5 million, a royalty fee of four percent of gross sales, and a required space of about 100 sq.m.

Franchise fee is P400,000.

There is now a franchise branch in Lipa City, and negotiations are underway in the metropolis for several more. These can be a coffee shop, resto-bar, stand-alone restaurant or fast food. The key word is “Blends.”

CASUAL dine-in resto-bar. Photo by Amadis Ma. Guerrero, Contributor

Sizzlers’ Blends has hosted birthdays, reunions, product launchings, special events, TV shootings and corporate activities. It earns more from these than from the daily walk-in customers.

“Within two years you can get an ROI (return on investment),” Militar says. “I am now in my third year.” But he hastens to add: “It’s not just about profits; it’s about meeting all kinds of people.”

He concludes: “My batting average (in pleasing costumers) is high. May naiinis diyan (there are cranky patrons); you can’t please everybody. But most like the food, the ambience and the music.”