Ocho

Welcome to Taberna Ocho’s blog.

First, why “OCHO?”

Call it corny. Call it uninspired. But we call it apt for that particular moment when the bar was conceptualized. There were eight of us, and eight was lucky as far as the Chinese are concerned. A billion people can’t be wrong about that, don’t you think?

So we had a billion reasons to set up a small bar, a “mini-bar” as it were. But we didn’t have a billion pesos to set it up. What you’ll see at Ocho is a unique balance of simplicity and functionality within a budget one would not think possible to start up a business.

Alex, Brian, Edil, Erwin, Jay, Joel, Leo and Sid (in alphabetical order, okay guys?) broke their respective piggy banks, and thus was born Ocho.

It started at a drinking session on January 10, 2007 when Jay mentioned that one of the places we used to frequent on Visayas Avenue had closed shop. And then the idea was thrown onto the wall: Why don’t we just take over the place and run it ourselves? We always hang out with each other anyway, so why not hang out in our own “mini-bar” then spend and earn our beer money there instead?

The next few days went blindingly fast. A day after the idea of setting up a “mini-bar” was aired, Edil and Leo had identified four places for rent in the UP Village, Teacher’s Village and Sikatuna Areas. They took video and still pictures of the candidate sites, talked to the landlords and then discussed the options that same night.

By Friday, January 12, they had chosen the best among the candidates, and it was at 162 Maginhawa Street in Sikatuna Village. Target opening day was one month from then.

Days of determining capital and operating expenses and making projections went by, then the eight started canvassing for workers, materials, preparing the menu and everything else necessary to set up their own drinking hole. Group text and e-mail messages in an e-group flew through the communication lines, and everything was proceeding smoothly. That was, until the impossibly idiotic online business registration system of the DTI slowed their momentum.

But that’s all behind them now. Ocho had been set up. They had their gimmicks prepared. They could now settle down in their own watering hole, and now wish to share the experience with their friends.

We have a lot of fun at Ocho. We enjoy the food, the drinks and especially the music where we invite patrons to plug in their iPods into the sound system and enjoy their own playlists. We spend great moments at Ocho, and now we wish to share those moments with you when you come visit us.

Taberna Ocho, 162 Maginhawa Street, Sikatuna Village, Quezon City.

• 0921.6743476
• 0922.8185114

Oh, and by the way, don’t be surprised to see the following eight extraterrestrials hanging out at Ocho:

• Edil – GM (General Manager daw, pero Great Masahista talaga yan)
• Alex – On a never-ending quest to find a girlfriend, still available
• Brian – Marketing Genius Brianitus, magaling mamalengke
• Erwin – Feeling John Mayer, kamukha ni Alicia Mayer
• Jay – Utol na walang bigote
• Joel – Utol na may bigote
• Leo – G-Meister (Gimik Meister daw, pero G-String and hanap)
• Sid – CFO (Cheap and Frugal Officer)