The above picture is absolutely unrelated to the restaurants below, I just needed a cover image for this post.
With everybody having smartphones and easy access to all kinds of video equipment, everybody can document everything they do on a daily basis, from how they get ready for the day to their workouts to their weekend trips to their meals. Sure it can get obnoxious sometimes, but I think keeping records is a lot better than leaving things to be forgotten, the way I did for these restaurants, some of which were my favorites. To be fair, it was really only Chocolate Kiss that persisted until the social media era; the rest were gone before digital cameras and smartphones became widely used and taking pictures of food was a huge thing.
Most of these have been closed for many years, so I can only tell you what I am able to remember about them. If some of these restaurants are familiar to you, share a bit more about them in the comments.
- Chateau Verde. This was located just past the UP Shopping Center. There were a lot of trees and plants in the area, so you’ll only know that this garden restaurant was there because of the gravel parking slots out front and a large leaf-shaped sign saying “Chateau Verde.” You walk down a pebbled path and into an al fresco dining space that never feels warm no matter how hot the weather gets. They served Spanish-, French-, and Italian-inspired food; I ate so much of their pesto and their manicotti. Chateau Verde was owned by Mrs. Gregoria de Leon Cervantes and closed in 2010, I believe. Spot.ph has an old article about the place.
- Angelino’s. This wasn’t a QC-exclusive restaurant, but Angelino’s had branches along Quezon Avenue and Katipunan Avenue, so I think this counts 😀 Angelino’s was a revered Italian restaurant that was great for date nights. It felt high end but was still very accessible, and I remember marveling at their fried ice cream.
- Mang Jimmy’s. It was easy to miss Mang Jimmy’s if it was your first time in the area, but you’ll never forget it after one meal there. They served lots of grilled goodies, like the tapa mix, sisig, and lechon kawali. You got unlimited servings of rice and a free dish if you ordered three dishes or more. Order softdrinks and you got 1.5-liter bottles. We ate too much and had so much fun here. In 2024, we heard that Mang Jimmy’s Apo was taking orders, but now, we’re not sure if they’re still open. We’ll check it out.
- Alps. Before there was McDonald’s Quezon Avenue corner Ligaya, there was Office Warehouse, and before there was Office Warehouse, there must have been something else, I just can’t recall right now, but Alps Cakes and Pastries definitely came long before that. They wouldn’t be out of place among the crop of restaurants serving comfort food if they still existed today, and I remember that they had amazing ensaymada.
- A La Diane. A La Diane started as a cute, frilly, floral little restaurant at National Book Store Quezon Avenue. It then moved to a bigger spot across Tropical Hut before settling along Sto. Domingo Avenue near Siena College. They opted for a more modern, sleeker interior at this branch, but their meals remained the same—good and homey.
- White Spot. White Spot was the favorite hangout place of my sister and her friends after classes at Siena College. I can only imagine that it was called White Spot because the place was mostly white, from the walls to the chairs. I remember really liking their chicken teriyaki and chicken nuggets, which had a very sweet sauce. It used to be where Hi-Precision Diagnostics is currently located.
- Steak Town. Oh, Steak Town. My mother and my sister took me here because I asked them to, being intrigued by the concept of steak, and it didn’t disappoint. The branch we went to was along Quezon Avenue, near where Popeye’s currently stands, and I adored the Wild West theme and the quirky decorations and the toy train running on tracks dangling from the ceiling. Steak Town then moved to West Avenue, in the same spot where Bioessence is found. It then moved to Tagaytay, specifically at The Lake Hotel, and became known as Steak Town by the Lake. It didn’t last very long, and they have not been heard from since.
- Prospero’s. I found out about Clinton Palanca’s Prospero’s from an article by Jessica Zafra. The way she wrote about Prospero’s was so intriguing and the food sounded amazing, so during my senior year in college, a couple of friends and I decided to have dinner there one night. For the life of me, I can no longer recall what we ate (I’m very sure we had pasta, but what else?), but I do remember that we felt grown-up and cool that evening.
- Wham! Burgers. We often went to the branch located right by Libis Tunnel along Katipunan Avenue. Wham! served some pretty hefty burgers, and we often ordered the Hungarian Sausage, Wham! with Cheese, and Cross-Trax Fries.
- Chocolate Kiss. I first ate here in 1998 (I had the beef stroganoff) and instantly fell in love. It became my go-to place for family lunches, meetups with friends, and dates. It was always there, welcoming and reliable, that I never thought it was ever going away. They closed during the pandemic era but have since been offering up beloved cakes as Weekend Bake, and I personally feel it’s about time that they came back.
So just let this post be a reminder for you to take pictures, take videos, document whatever you can, because things don’t last forever, and with the pace at which restaurants open up and close down nowadays, it’s nice to have a memento of a place you enjoyed.
