Pinoy cuisine restaurant beats competition with dancing crew

CEBU, Philippines - Amid the stiff competition in the food business industry, a local restaurant offering authentic Filipino cuisine veers away from the traditional style of simply serving its guests with its signature food by incorporating an innovative strategy to attract more customers and provide a unique dining experience.

Hikay Lutong Pinoy, an affiliate of the Innoland Development Corporation under the retail division, introduced its dancing waiters and waitresses as a new form of entertainment for its guests.

Innoland Retail Division operations and marketing manager Bruce Cortes Bollozos said that such innovation of Hikay Lutong Pinoy allows the restaurant to differentiate itself from other players.

He added that it claims to be the first restaurant in Cebu to integrate the concept of dancing waiters when serving customers that are mostly comprised of locals, families and tourists.

“We envision to be everyone’s favorite Filipino cuisine destination and we want to fascinate our customers by sharing the genuine “hikay” experience,” he said. The Cebuano word “hikay” stands for feast or a festive meal.

Bollozos also said that as a homegrown company, they aim to hire Cebuano talent that promotes best service in the industry.

The dancing waiters shall perform every Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from 6 PM to 9 PM with a performance interval of 30 to 45 minutes.

He further cited that the restaurant has been popularly known with its signature Filipino food, excellent customer service and fun dining, thus enabling Hikay Lutong Pinoy to stand out in the competitive market.

Its menu of authentic Filipino specialty dishes range from an average price of P85 with its dinuguan or sizzling talong to P380 with its pochero.

Its bestsellers include Manang Gina’s Fried Manok Bisaya which is priced at P300, Special Manang Gina’s Mongos that is pegged at P200 and Crispy Pata that ranges from P325 to P365.

Bollozos further revealed that they are planning to increase the presence of Hikay Lutong Pinoy in the local market by putting up two more company-owned branches inside the large-scale malls in Cebu such as Ayala Center Cebu and SM City Cebu by the first quarter of next year.

They are also eyeing to expand outside Cebu soon.

It was last February 11 of this year when Hikay Lutong Pinoy officially opened its first branch at Calyx Center in Cebu IT Park. /JOB (FREEMAN)