The Filipino Dream: Baliwag Lechon Manok

In the Philippines today, Baliwag Lechon Manok is practically everywhere. There will always be a lone rotisserie stand near your home.

But in the middle of the 1980s, what is now regarded as a staple dish in Pinoy dining tables and drinking sessions was just seen as a culinary trend.

Setting Up The Stall

Dwight and Dolly Salcedo, a married couple from Quezon City, were among the people that capitalized on the lechon manok craze at the time. 

Together, with a combined capital of P5,000 that they pooled from their savings and another P5,000 that they borrowed from their parents, they opened the first Baliwag Lechon Manok kiosk in Project 8, Quezon City.

The name “Baliwag” was a nod to Mrs. Salcedo’s hometown of Baliwag/Baliuag in Bulacan. According to Sara, the location is significant to the family and what the brand represents. Dolly Samson and her siblings were born and raised there. So, even though Sara and her brother Ira grew up in Quezon City, they frequently visited their grandparents and relatives in Baliwag.

Sarabeth Salcedo, the eldest child of Dwight and Dolly, was only a toddler then. Today, she is the company’s VP for Operations. According to her, “they were running a Betamax rental business in Project 8, and there happened to be a vacant commercial spot in front of it.”

“Naisip nila na do’n ilagay ang lechon manok business, para hitting two birds with one stone,” she added. 

In the beginning, the Salcedo’s offered lechon manok and grilled liempo, with atchara as a side dish. Simple and direct. No wonder it became a centerpiece staple on Filipino tables.

The Longest Line for Chicken

During the past 15 years, the Salcedo couple has concentrated on growing their Baliwag Lechon Manok rotisserie business. 

Sarabeth joined the company after college as a natural progression given her upbringing in the industry. She targeted mallgoers by selling lechon manok and liempo in food courts. “We sell them in single servings as well as affordable combo meals to students and workers,” she explains. As of today, Baliwag Lechon Manok branched out to over 40 mall food courts.

The Baliwag Lechon Manok brand was also applied to stand-alone dining establishments that serve a wide variety of Filipino dishes. They recently went into ready-to-heat food packs to become more accessible to consumers, particularly during the pandemic. Dishes like pork binagoongan, beef steak, kare-kare, beef caldereta, lechon paksiw, dinuguan, lengua, callos, embotido, and laing are available in their kiosks and restaurants, or via food delivery apps like Grab and Food Panda. The dishes come in microwaveable packs and are suitable for 2-3 persons.

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E. Rodriguez is home to the first Baliwag Grill and Restaurant. But they now have branches in Visayas Avenue, Aguirre, Parañaque, Marikina, and Pasig. Moreover, they currently employ over 1,000 individuals and operate over 400 Baliwag Lechon Manok shops statewide.