Bacolod Chicken House…the local legend
August 29, 2008 by Negros Occidental
Bacolod Chicken House…the local legend
by lloydtronco
If ever there was any reason why Bacolod chicken inasal became the legendary Bacolod delicacy it is now known to be, it can all be traced back to Architect Joe Cajili’s Chicken House. Currently known as Bacolod Chicken House, the real Chicken House started as a hole-in-the-wall at San Sebastian Street, catering to everyday passers-by. Later on, it opened as a small restaurant just across Colegio de San Agustin along North Drive (B.S. Aquino Drive today).
It’s humble beginnings as a restaurant included an al fresco (back in the days it was just called “open-air”) section which one was able to access through the sidewalk and that small street leading to the back of the Redemptorist Church. Long before there was a Manokan country at Bacolod’s reclamation area, Chicken House had already set up shop. Joe Cajili’s initial patrons were also his golfing buddies at the nearby Marapara club (Negros Occ. Golf and Country Club)
Bacolod Chicken House, East Block (Photo courtesy of Tony Manso)
Chicken House’s next branches were located at the downtown area along San Juan street (across the current location of Sylvia Manor) and at Mandalagan where it still serves its mouth watering roasted delights to this day. In the days when Chicken House was at San Juan, which was around the mid 1980s, I would only have to cross the Bacolod Public Plaza with my classmates from La Consolacion College to get to the little haven of chicken barbecue. There, we would while away some time before catching up with one last class at 6:30 p.m.
Many other chicken houses or “inasalans” have followed the path led by Joe Cajili’s local legend of a resto. One thing is sure though. One cannot claim to have been in Bacolod if he or she hasn’t eaten at the real and only Bacolod Chicken House.
Bacolod Chicken House South, Singcang
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hi..jut want to know if you have a mission and vision statement?=>
Thanks for dropping by Anne. Do you mean this blog? Nope, I don’t have a mission and vision statement right now. I have yet to see a blog that has one. But now that you’ve mentioned it maybe I should. It’s just that this blog is like a work in progress. I learn along the way from comments and suggestions.
hi,
i think you should do a little research before you post such information. Just to let you know Chicken House was originally owned by my mother, Elisa Velez Garrucho. It was in San Sebastian because that was near where we used to live. As it was, the business was gaining popularity but she had to sell the business to Mr Cajili when my father was sick as she couldnt attend to it. If you ask the original employees they would tell you. When my father passed away, she then opened Chicken Queen just in our house in Taculing. It was the first backyard business in Bacolod. I remember our house was open to visitors and our stalls were always full. The Velezes (of which most from Manokan country are) are the ones who brought inasal to Bacolod. My mother was the first one to introduce restaurant style serving of inasal. Her mother was Sabel Velez, known as Sabel who was the one who popularized the inasal. Her patrons and “suki” included the matrons and patriarchs of well off families in Bacolod. Her little stall was located near the cathedral. Also, the one who was most popular and probably the biggest in Manokan country was her sister, Nena (Nena’s) where she later on had her branch along San Juan, etc. If you ask and walk along Manokan country you would see some of her children taking over her business (Nena’s Beth, the biggest as of now; Nena’s Rose). And if you further ask the owners and people who work there, they are mostly relatives from the Velez line (from Iloilo).
But even before Chicken House, there used to be the inasal alley, the informal manokan country which used to be at Cuadra street. All of the vendors were offered to transferred to what we now know as Manokan country when the stalls got so many and attracted a lot of people (as the whole street almost close when afternoon comes around). The vendors and stall owners from the time of my grandmother were the ones who popularized inasal in Bacolod as they would get visitors from near and far.
i hope we give credit where credit is due. you can email me if you want to know more info.
Thanks
Okay… this answers my question on the other thread.. I remember my Dad always buying at Chicken Queen..
@Marie Garrucho – As it is, the post was contributed to this website by Lloyd Tronco. As much as we strive to give readers with most accurate information, we are hindered by the fact that this is still a website that works on the efforts of individuals who receive no compensation from me as the administrator. Every article posted here are by me or contributed by those who want to promote Bacolod and Negros. Please pardon our shortcomings. I trust the judgment of the readers in discerning the information provided here.
Anyway, thank you for that piece of history. For somebody not originally from Bacolod like me, that’s very enlightening.