Home 
CEBU CITY, Philippines - Former international flight steward and multi-national company executive Jose Maria G. Villarreal weaved his dream of building a successful restaurant after failing in managing one.
“I had a Spanish restaurant around 1991 named Original Joes’ in Mango Avenue but it was not successful. Cebu has a different atmosphere then. People would rather go home and eat there,” Villarreal said.
But Cebu has changed ever since. Most of them have adapted and followed Manila’s growing urban culture of dining out.
International and local tourists have also increased in number and become a potent force in the growth of a majority of restaurants here.
With these developments along came Hola España Bodega de Vino y Deli, the brainchild of Michel Lhuillier and Villarreal.
Both are “old friends” way back from college at De La Salle University (DLSU) in Manila.
Lhuillier owns 80 percent of the restaurant. Villarreal owns 20 percent and serves as the restaurant’s general manager.
The name was conceptualized to “bring out the Spanish air of welcoming guests.”
Established in December 2006, Hola España is located in Maria Luisa Road in Barangay (village) Banilad, Cebu City.
Less than a year after, it opened a branch across Shangri-La's Mactan Resort and Spa in Lapu-Lapu City.
Another branch in Davao City also opened within the same year.
Most of the products such as ham, wine and tomato sauce used in the dishes are imported from Spain.
“Like any other story, it all started with a dream. I wanted to have another restaurant, a Spanish restaurant still. I am not a chef per se but I have talent for taste. I can tell if the food is good or not only by the looks of it,” said Villarreal.
It was a challenging comeback for Villarreal after more than a decade of not running a restaurant.
He also used to own shares of a family-run restaurant called Mario’s in Manila but sold his shares to carry out other ventures.
“We first wanted to just have a take-out counter and cook eight dishes that include paella and lengua but when this location (in Banilad) was vacated Michel opened the possibility of putting up a restaurant,” he told Cebu Daily News.
“I don’t want to do it because of my sad experience before but I don’t know somehow things fell into place and we ended where we are right now,” he said.
Villarreal, whose roots come from Villadolid and Madrid, Spain, said he met a friend from Madrid who helped them find the right person to handle the restaurant’s kitchen matters.
“He told me that they once had a woman from Bacolod who worked for his family for 30 years. ‘Maybe she can help you with the dishes.’ So I decided to fly to Bacolod and meet her,” he said.
The woman accepted Villarreal’s offer and proceeded to teach the other chefs they hired how to cook Spanish dishes.
With good food and authentic Spanish ambiance offered by the restaurant, Hola España grew and people, both local and foreign, started coming in.
Before they even realized it, the country’s prominent and influential people have taken notice of the restaurant.
Today, 80 percent of their customers are foreigners mostly Japanese and Koreans. The remaining 20 percent comes from the local market — mostly Filipino-Chinese families.
The 300-square meter Banilad branch, currently undergoing renovations, is frequented by locals.
Being a tourist destination, the Mactan branch’s clients are mostly tourists, students and teachers of the nearby International Academy of Film and Television and guests of several hotels.
Currently, they are renovating the Banilad branch, which now covers 300 square meters of floor area and has a seating capacity of more than 80 people.
The two-floor Mactan branch can seat about a hundred diners.
The Banilad and Mactan branches have a total of 40 employees who work in two shifts. The restaurants also have eight chefs.
Villarreal said future plans include opening a branch inside a mall and reaching out to more places such as Manila, Cagayan de Oro City and Boracay Island in Aklan.
He said he appreciates talking to other restaurant owners to share thoughts and ideas on how to improve the business.
Teamwork is the “main theme” that made the two-year old restaurants click, said Villarreal.
“Teamwork has to start from the bottom up (from employees to bosses). That’s the culture we’re trying to inculcate among our employees.”
“We treat them well and work together in building our strengths. We don’t shout at them. That’s the golden rule,” he said.
