Meals 4 U now grills for you 

Meals 4 U and its barbecue stand is located in the former Ahbu Auto Repair Shop building at the corner of Hagoi Street and Texas Road in Susupe. (MARK RABAGO)

The new delicious smoky aroma near Texas Road in Susupe comes from none other than Meals 4 U’s new barbecue stand.

Co-owner Rodelyn Quimsing said Meals 4U recently expanded its offerings by opening a fully enclosed barbecue stand right next to the restaurant.

Aside from its bestselling crispy kare-kare, lechon kawali, dinuguan (fritada), and bopis, Meals 4 U now sells pork, chicken, pork isaw, pork ears, and chicken feet skewers.

And since they already have a barbecue stand, Meals 4 U also offers grilled fish, stuffed squid, pork liempo, and chicken inasal but requires advance orders.

Quimsing said they expanded Meals 4 U’s offerings because of the enormous popularity of barbecue on Saipan as no gathering is complete without skewers on the party table spread.

Adding a barbecue stand was the farthest from Quimising and his partners’ plans when they started Meals 4 U in Sept. 28, 2021

She said the main motivation behind the Filipino-Asian fusion restaurant was being jobless at that time.

“Without work, our brains never stopped thinking on how to survive during the pandemic. Personally, I thought of making puto with a twist and came up with different flavors like puto pao, puto ube, puto leche, puto banana, puto nutella, puto chocolate, pichi-pichi, and kuchinta which I first sold to friends.”

Master griller Butch Sublemente barbecues a fresh batch of pork skewers. (CONTRIBUTED PHOTO)

Meals 4 U’s crispy kare-kare. (CONTRIBUTED PHOTO)

The home business eventually grew and together with the success of one of the other owners of Meals 4 U selling Filipino food staples like lumpia, palabok, and laing, the idea of opening Meals 4 U was formed.

“So I asked my sister and my friend if they would be interested in putting up a business without even thinking of the risk we’re about to take. It’s the love for food and our eagerness to make  a difference during the difficult times that Meals 4 U was born,” said Quimsing.

Nearly two years after opening, Meals 4 U has elevated itself from the crowd of Filipino carinderias on island with its well-thought home-cooked meals with a menu changing every week.

“What we serve this week won’t be available for the next few weeks unless customers request it,” she said.

Meals 4 U does have daily favorites such as the aforementioned dinuguan every Monday, bopis every Tuesday, grilled stuffed jumbo squad every Wednesday, and crispy kare-kare every Thursday.

“That crispy lechon kawali on top of our creamy, peanut sauce and bagoong will definitely make you come back for more. Not to brag but it gets sold out in no time,” Quimsing said about the crispy kare-kare.

Aside from these certified chart-toppers, customers have also been coming back for Meals 4 U’s crispy eggplant, tofu sisig, buttered chicken, orange chicken, and Korean fried chicken.

Quimsing also encourages everyone to try their sinaing na galunggong, which is a famous savory, tangy, and fruity flavored dish from Batangas in the Philippines.

Meals 4 U is located in the former Ahbu Auto Repair Shop building at the corner of Hagoi Street and Texas Road in Susupe. It can comfortably seat 20 customers and is open from Monday to Friday, from 7:30am to 3pm (closed on holidays). For more information or for advance orders, call (670) 588-1886 or (670) 285-4811 or check out their Facebook page.