Do We Still Have An Appetite For Food Parks

The Sad Sight of Many Closed Establishments Seems to Say That the Craze Really Is Over. But Those Who Are Still in the Game Say That, While It’s Not Like It Was Before, Business Is Still Good.
 

- Ash Mahinay

Congressional Avenue Extension in Quezon City used to be a dim, underdeveloped, and unremarkable highway that was only good for a shortcut on the way further up north from C5 or, with an abundance of carwash joints, to get your car sorted out. But in late 2015 the strip became an unlikely hotspot for the food park craze. From early trendsetters Boxpark to the extravagantly racing themed Pitstop, Congressional became food park central, the majority of its stretch jam-packed with parked cars and loitering customers.

Today, several former food park husks dot the road, which is also now pretty much clear of traffic at night. Boxpark, one of the first in 2015, transformed into a carwash and joined the rest of Congressional’s original attractions. The highway now has a more sobering reputation as “that place na maraming nagsarang food park.” They’re not all gone, though: Open Kitchen–a relative latecomer that opened in September last year–still keeps the neon-lit foodie dream alive.

Is it too soon to call the food park totally dead–or is it only a matter of time?

“I would argue that it’s not dying down because although yes, there are a lot that have closed down, but there also many that are doing really well—sa may Maginhawa Street [UP Village], and also us here at Congressional still. So it’s just a bunch of different issues for food parks,” says Felise Aurelio, property manager and co-owner of Open Kitchen, which also has a slightly younger but much bigger branch along P. Tuazon, Cubao.

“What happened kasi here in Congressional, was many closed down for a variety of reasons. One closed down because of the government permits; another closed down because it turned into an inuman place and food stalls didn’t really earn much. Others didn’t have parking,” Aurelio says.