To eat or not to eat — that is the question Filipinos on a hurried lifestyle often face. Should they go with the first choice, they are again confronted by an inner conflict: what to eat — fast food or healthy ones?
Luckily, whatever they choose, Filipinos no longer have to compromise their health for instant gratification, nor do they have to burn time and money in waiting to eat guilt-free.
Fast casual dining, a trend that started in the United States, is burgeoning in the Philippines, reports restaurateur Jill Gerodias-Borja.
“Fast casual means the food is prepared upon order, not pre-cooked or grab-and-go. The food is served to you as you sit, which is more personalized and better in quality. There is a two to three minutes waiting time but the food is prepared better,” she explains.
Among those who claim to pioneer the trend in the country is the Filipino-owned restaurant chain Manang’s Chicken, whose tenth branch has just opened in BF Homes, Parañaque City. It has also just recently launched its centralized delivery number: 661-1111.
“We’re starting a trend of fast food becoming more real,” claims Gerodias-Borja, president and chief executive officer of Giabella Foods Corp., the company behind Manang’s.
Founded in 2010 by Gerodias-Borja, Manang’s distinguishes itself from the many fried chicken joints out there with its signature double-deep fried chicken. Manang’s, Gerodias-Borja says, buys its poultry fresh from reputable local suppliers and cooks it only when ordered. The first fry is to remove fat from skin, making the fried chicken somewhat healthier and no longer soggy. The chicken is first cooled down for a while before plunged into a second fry, which she says is responsible for making their chicken crisp even when eaten cold or soaked in sauce.
Apart from being the “healthier” fry, Manang’s Chicken is not your usual fried chicken with a gravy sauce or inasal even if Manang Linda is from Bacolod, Gerodias-Borja assures. The soy garlic chicken, she explains, can be eaten on its own because it is served with its special sauce already poured on it. Manang’s flavors are Asian-inspired, she bares, but Filipino in taste — sweet, salty, savory, and very good with rice, which she believes Filipinos love.
These qualities make Manang’s confident to face Jollibee and other fast-food giants.
“As a fast food, we don’t want to be a copycat. We have our own personality and products. We try to go the other way, to push the envelope as to what’s in fast food. Not frozen chicken and extenders,” Gerodias-Borja stresses.
In fact, she says she personally knows one of Jollibee’s owners and admires him for being so down to earth.
“For a local company to surpass all international fast food chains is something,” she admits. “I admire the way they (Jollibee) built their company. We share the same history — from a family recipe. Theirs is ice cream, ours is fried chicken.”

Crunch time
“We never thought we would open a restaurant,” professes Jill, a lawyer and a certified public accountant. “My parents have been entrepreneurs for over 30 years. They started from scratch. They didn’t ask for a capital from our grandparents. Now, they live very comfortable lives,” she shares. “If you think about it, we don’t have to work because of our parents’ business. But if we only work for our parents, we’ll be uninspired to work.”
Entering the food business is not a walk in the park even for someone like her who has been involved in her parents’ business for years.
“A food business is one of the hardest to run because you have to be hands on. Customers have different tastes and moods. You cannot please everybody. Price hikes are a challenge. As much as possible, you have to keep everything affordable,” she reports.
Because of these, she thought of selling their family recipe, simply called Manang’s chicken at their home, originally as a hobby only.
“Manang’s Chicken was never meant to be a restaurant, what more a chain of restaurants,” she divulges. “The original recipe for Manang’s Chicken was created by my mom, and soon after it became a staple in our dining table, parties and potlucks. The name Manang’s Chicken came about because our longtime cook, Manang Linda, was the one cooking the chicken all the time. My mom taught her the recipe. Whenever we would ask what she would be cooking for dinner, she would always say, ‘Jill, ‘yung chicken na lang. ‘Yung may sauce.’ Eventually we would say, ‘Manang, paluto ng chicken mo.’ And then later on, it simply was called Manang’s Chicken.”
According to her, she and her family knew the chicken tasted good and that there was something different about it.
“Often, my siblings and I would play with the possibility of selling the chicken just to confirm if other people think it’s as good as how we think it is. However, with our full-time jobs and busy schedules, that idea was shelved for several years.”
Then in November 2010, everything changed. She saw an ad announcing a search for concessionaires for Mercato Centrale, a weekend food market in Fort Bonifacio Global City, Taguig.
“I thought to myself, this is the perfect venue to sell Manang’s Chicken as it is only on weekends and the best thing is, it requires minimum investment and commitment. I quickly applied, got a slot and the rest you can say is history,” she narrates.
Encouraged by costumers’ consistent positive reviews, she decided to enter the mainstream food industry and opened the first Manang’s Chicken branch in Ortigas in June 2011. She registered the business under Giabella Foods Corp., named after her one-year-old daughter, Gia.
“Manang’s Chicken is among her (Gia’s) favorite words. She knows the logo,” Jill chuckles.
She admits that she had regrets about the restaurant’s name for a while; that she should have thought of a “cooler” name instead.
“But I thought, the name also makes a good story. People find it more fascinating. They would know that it grew organically from a home,” she elucidates.
Despite the traditional name, Manang’s offers a “more modern and young ambience” than other fast food chains, says Jill. Most branches have Wi-Fi, leather coaches and red and white interiors designed by Jill’s friend, architect Lara Barrios.
To develop the menu, Jill sought for the help of her younger sister Jenilee Gerodias-Slagle, a chef who studied in Paris’ prestigious Le Cordon Bleu and apprenticed with Guy Savoy, a Michelin-starred restaurant in Paris, and worked in La Folie, another Michelin-starred restaurant in California.
“My sister and I have the same vision; we think alike so that’s a great advantage,” Jill enthuses.
Jenilee, now the company’s commissary chief operating officer, is in charge of research and development. She whipped up everything on the diner’s menu. “Everything on the menu is our comfort food at home,” notes Jill.
The bestsellers, she says, include Chicken Cuts, their signature double-deep crispy fried chicken with Manang’s secret soy garlic sauce. These come in big chicken leg parts, just the way children love it, Jill says.
Chicken wings is the same signature chicken but with a crispier skin, making it an ideal finger food. A snack to-go, the Crispy Chicken
Manang’s secret
Sandwich is a slab of crispy chicken fillet lightly brushed with Manang’s secret soy garlic sauce on a bed of fresh coleslaw tucked inside an authentic pan de pugon bun. Those with a bigger appetite can try the Ultimate Crispy Chicken Sandwich. All chicken dishes come in a choice of original, mild spicy and extra spicy flavors.
“We put a whole chicken thigh in every burger. We don’t put shortcuts because we do not want to compromise the quality of our food,” Jill guarantees.
Sesame Beef Stew rice meal, based on another family recipe, contains strips of a real tender beef slowly simmered in thick sesame sauce and topped with fresh local vegetables.
Filipinos also love pork, Jill says, so Manang’s also offers a garlic pork liempo rice meal — liempo deep-fried until crispy, then topped with two special garlic topping, served with rice and a vinegar dipping sauce.

Sandwich is a slab of crispy chicken fillet lightly brushed with Manang's secret soy garlic sauce on a bed of fresh coleslaw tucked inside an authentic pan de pugon bun. Those with a bigger appetite can try the Ultimate Crispy Chicken Sandwich. All chicken dishes come in a choice of original, mild spicy and extra spicy flavors.
"We put a whole chicken thigh in every burger. We don't put shortcuts because we do not want to compromise the quality of our food," Jill guarantees.
Sesame Beef Stew rice meal, based on another family recipe, contains strips of a real tender beef slowly simmered in thick sesame sauce and topped with fresh local vegetables.
Filipinos also love pork, Jill says, so Manang's also offers a garlic pork liempo rice meal — liempo deep-fried until crispy, then topped with two special garlic toppings, served with rice and a vinegar dipping sauce.
"It's a regular liempo but with a garlic topping," she explains.
Inspired by Hong Kong-style fried noodles, fried pancit is another crowd favorite. This deep-fried crispy pancit canton is generously topped with a medley of chicken vegetables and savory sauce.
"For only about P60, the fried pancit is a steal because it's already good for sharing," Jill adds.
Manang's take on Pinoy-style spaghetti is Cheezy Spaghetti, served with a swirl of creamy cheese sauce on top instead of grated cheese because in Jill's home, "hindi uso ang grated cheese" (grated cheese is not traditionally used).
Creamy cheese sauce also comes as a dip, together with garlic mayo, in Manang's Chips and Dips — all-natural potato chips freshly golden fried.
Balance the complex flavors of Manang's Chicken with simple side dishes like Manang's macaroni salad and Manang's coleslaw — the classic coleslaw "but made well" with the use of crunchy vegetables prepared fresh daily.
Give one's meal a sweet ending with Manang's sundae, "made only from premium dairy," the restaurant guarantees. It can be mixed and matched with one's choice of candy sprinkles, chocolate bits, marshmallows and other toppings.
The Velvet Sundae is Manang's new baby. This warm chocolate cake topped with a cold sundae is a decadent play between hot and cold, and at P45, a more affordable way to enjoy lava cake, Jill says. They are planning to introduce more flavors to their Velvet Sundae, she enthuses, for their target market of mostly teens and yuppies who always crave for something new.
Besides promos like set meals and discount coupons like Pabaon ni Manang, Manang's Chicken looks forward to start franchising in Manila's neighboring provinces like Rizal, Laguna and Cavite at the end of the year.
Manang Linda, now enjoying her retirement by taking care of her grandchildren, was happy to know about the developments in the restaurant chain named in her honor.
"My training is to run a business like a family. Your people's loyalty will make you succeed," Jill reveals the secret behind their success achieved in less than two years.
She says she envisions Manang's Chicken as a future household name, like the way a caring manang had become a part of every Filipino's life.