A wonderful spot for family and friends

Micafe’s Snack Corner is a great place to hang out whether it is with family or friends. (Bea Cabrera)

Known for their “Rice-in-a-Box’ series and delicious barbeque, Micafe’s Snack Corner located across Joeten Dan Dan offers a variety of food choices ranging from appetizers, noodles, and main dishes that are budget-friendly. Once you step inside, the décor immediately lends a relaxed atmosphere with a stay-here-for-a-while vibe.

Michaela Gatdula co-owns the café with her uncle Edwin Montoya and they wanted to build a modern/earthy vibe-inspired café with a lot of wood elements that is always a welcome sight on island. “During my high school years, I’ve always considered opening up a cafe but I’ve never really took it serious until my mom, Nenette Gatdula, and uncle, Edwin Montoya, took action and made my dream into a reality,” she said.

“We wanted to make sure that we serve high-quality food with an affordable price for everyone, especially during this pandemic… What makes Micafe’s Snack Corner unique from other cafes on island is how we want to promote environmental awareness, we wanted to make sure that the products we use are eco-friendly such as our reusable/recyclable bottles and cups, disposable paper bags, take-out box, and straws,” she added.

Micafe’s Snack Corner is a new place in Dan Dan across Joeten for good food, coffee, and specialty drinks that are budget-friendly. (Bea Cabrera)

Their main dishes include island favorites such as kare-kare (oxtail dish), garlic shrimp, beef finger steak, sirloin steak, and fried chicken. Their variety of fried rice includes kimchi fried rice, garlic fried rice, longanisa fried rice, and shrimp fried rice. Barbeque sticks of chicken, pork, and beef isaw coated with a special marinade are also available.

Gatdula said that their place and food offerings aim to keep everyone happy. “We also wanted to share God’s words by including them in our décor—as a way to bring comfort and positivity towards our community…We want every customer [who comes in our café] to step out with a smile on their face. A smile of satisfaction from our products and service and a smile of positivity from the encouraging words we try to share with them every time they come to visit.”

“We also wanted to make sure that we make everyone’s safety our No. 1 priority. We take serious precaution in the social-distancing rule and we make sure that we check and monitor their temperature before entering as well as sanitizing and making sure that all of the products we use are disinfected,” she added.

Micafe’s Snack Corners specialty drinks. (Contributed Photo)

Aside from giving people a fun spot to go to, Gatdula said that they added some entertainment too. “We have board games, cards, and books for people to disconnect and enjoy quality time. We made sure that it’s comfortable for people of any age. Overall, we wanted to create a space for people who can enjoy and relax while eating or drinking.”

This cafe/restaurant wouldn’t have been possible without the help of Nenette and Joseph Gatdula, Duncan Laxa, Edwin and Kolinta Montoya, Richard Solis, Jaysan Gatdula, and Nicole and Jerome Perez… My family and I really enjoy cooking so it’s really amazing to share to the community what we love doing,” she added.

Micafe’s Snack Corner is open from Monday to Friday, 7am-2pm (serves breakfast and main menu) and 5pm to 9pm (main menu) and Saturday and Sunday, 10am-2 pm (main menu) and 5pm-9pm (barbeque only). For more information, call (670) 235-6422 or follow them on Facebook: micafespn and Instagram @micafe.spn.