Reyes Barbecue: Great meals at affordable prices

Ever since he was a teenager, Francisco Reyes had been working in the family’s food empire, the Aristocrat. But he always had the irresistible urge to put up his own food business—using the expertise and wealth of experience from working in the family business.

For 20 years, he studied what particular food business to get into and his gut feel was that if he could focus on just one item—improve on it and create a niche market—then that could make him different from the other players in the food industry.

Frank’s first personal business venture started in 1987. Together with some friends,they put up a small grill/bar called ‘The Hole’ at V.V. Soliven parking lot.

Simultaneously, he was asked by an aunt to run the franchised outlets of Aristocrat at the SM North and Shangrila Mall, but when the leases expired (and not renewed) in 2001, he had to think fast of a business to replace them.

Together with his wife, Inez, Reyes visualized in late 2003 the Reyes Barbecue with his original formulation and skewing style and registered the trademark at the Intellectual Property Office. He replaced the signages of the two food court stores with his brand name.

Inez—herself a veteran marketer having worked for giant food companies like San Miguel Corp., Coca Cola Export Corp and Jollibee Foods Corp.— set out to establish the positioning of the brand with a unique visual identity, original product formulations and presentation and singular vision of being barbecue-focused.

“We wanted to get into the barbecue dine-in business not in terms of price advantage but quality. We had to target the young working class—those from A, B and broad C—who put a premium to dining experience and gastronomic satisfaction as well,” explained Inez.

Reyes Barbecue is positioned for the urban Filipino who craves for the taste of great barbecue meals in a setting cozy enough for social gatherings. Its meals are generally portioned with the classic Java rice, peanut sauce and atchara at reasonable prices, making dining a highly satisfying experience.

“Our barbecue came from four generations of perfecting barbecue by a cooking clan whose past time is to discuss and create the best food preparations. The clan pioneered the best food combination majority of Manileños grew up with: the barbecue with Java rice served with the famous peanut sauce and atchara on the side,” said Frank.

Reyes Barbecue’s first outlet was put up in SM North (after the franchised brand of Aristocrat lapsed) in 2003 which was followed a year later by a new outlet in Shangrila Mall. The first franchised outlet was in Theater Mall, Greenhills.

Now, Reyes Barbecue has 40 outlets with 10 company owned and the rest franchised stores. “But we have lots of offers for franchising, which we are carefully studying,” said Inez.

By 2028, Reyes Barbecue aims to establish a network of 500 stores spread in urban centers of the country and get into the global market.

“Frank’s vision is for Reyes Barbecue to become a global brand which is why every decisions we make today in terms of menu offering and others are all based on our projection for going global,” said Inez.