Business of the Week: Sisig Restaurant

Last week we featured as our “Business of the Week.” This week, we will take a look at the authentic Filipino cuisine that is offered on both sides of the store, in the bakery and the restaurant , both directly connected to the grocery store. Rowena Navarro, General Manager,said the restaurant, grocery store and bakery is a one stop shop.

“It’s all in one, there’s no need to go anywhere else,” she said.

Navarro has been working at the family owned business since it first opened, four years ago this May. Previously a stay-at-home mom and day care provider, she decided to go to work with Canlas, who is her brother-in-law.

At the time, Navarro had customer service experience, but little retail experience. Now she can be found in every part of the store, helping out with shipments, cashiering, preparing food in the bakery or cooking dishes at Sisig.

“I can cook whatever we serve in the front,” said Navarro. “Whenever we’re short of a cook, I am the one who covers. I (work) all around. I even go to the back with the fish. Wherever there’s a shortage.”

 Navarro said she enjoys the environment she works in and that it is a great place for families to come, not only because just because of the items, but the atmosphere offered.

“It’s a family oriented business,” said Navarro. “So it’s more relaxed, not like when you work on the outside. Everybody is really close to each other. It’s just an at home feeling.”

The restaurant, Sisig, is named after the traditional Filipino specialty dish of the same name. It is usually prepared with diced meat, soy sauce, lemon juice, vinegar, onions, and a variety of spices. Squid, chicken, fish and pork are among the different types of sisig dishes you will find at the restaurant. Pork sisig is the most popular of the four in Filipino culture, and includes the meat and fat found on various parts of the pig, especially the neck, ear, and snout.

“Nothing goes to waste,” said Rene Canlas, owner. “The people back home, when they cooked pork, it would only (be) maybe a few times a year, because most of the people there are poor.”

Canlas said it is tradition in the Philippines to roast a whole pig, called lechon, for special occasions such as weddings. Now, once a week on Saturdays, Sisig offers lechon sold by the pound. Canlas said so many people come in for the roast pig that Saturdays can get quite busy.

“We have it at around ten, and it will last about four hours,” he said.

Other traditional Filipino foods include lumpia, pansit, and both chicken and pork adobo. Canlas said the bakery is also a popular stop for shoppers. The bakery not only serves hot breads, but soups and noodle dishes such as goto, arrozcaldo, mami and sinigang. He said people in the area can come for great Filipino food, at a low price, and without much of a wait, something that no other Filipino restaurant in the area offers all in one.

“It’s very affordable and you don’t have to create the mess and buy the ingredients for yourself,” said Canlas.