Pivoting During the COVID-19 Pandemic with Uncle Tito
From left to right: Randolph Cabrera, Vincent Dayao, Paolo Dayao, and Joseph Alcasabas.
From pop-ups at Undiscovered SF to opening their own commissary kitchen during the COVID-19 pandemic, Paolo and Vince Dayao, Joseph Alcasabas, and Randolph Cabrera are no strangers when it comes to thinking outside the box and making things happen in the face of adversity.
When we first talked to the band of brothers back in 2019, Straight Up Bar & Bites was a 4 year old venture started as a side hustle with the long-term goal of opening their own bar. An innovative food and beverage concept, Straight Up wove together Vince’s cooking techniques honed from his days at Namu and Randolph’s refreshing cocktail recipes.
“There was nothing Filipino about it. We were just creating our own specialty drink menus for events, weddings, parties, pop-ups and whatnot all to kinda chip away at reaching the goal. It wasn’t until early 2018, when Paolo’s brother, Vince, hit us up to make drinks for a Silog pop-up he had been wanting to try out that it really clicked: if we were to work together, we can really make something special.”
Straight Up at Undiscovered SF’s Season 3 opener.
It wasn’t until Straight Up debuted at Undiscovered SF’s Season 3 opener in 2019 with their best-selling, flavorful Milo-Coco mocktail that they started to tap into the potential of what Straight Up Bar & Bites would become. As one of the permanent residents in Republika, the future Filipino American artisan marketplace in SOMA Pilipinas, the group of determined entrepreneurs and innovators was gaining traction and visibility.
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, small businesses suffered - and Straight Up was no exception. Operating on an event-based schedule, the shelter-in-place order in the Bay Area stalled future projects for the group. Despite this setback, the group took the time to pause, reflect, and pivot, utilizing their contacts to create opportunities for their burgeoning pop-up.
They partnered with Undiscovered Sunday Streets to pop-up alongside other Folsom Street vendors and restaurants, strengthening and growing their base at the outdoor markets. Utilizing their network of connections, they worked with Namu Gaji at their newest location on 9th and Mission Street, a Cali-Korean Restaurant where Vince had worked as a tenured sous chef for years.
Uncle Tito at Sunday Streets alongside Folsom Street businesses.
To adapt to the changing dining styles of the pandemic era, Namu Gaji had created Sunset Squares Pizza, a Detroit Style artisan pizzeria with fun and creative toppings like Beef Bulgogi and Mapo Tofu. They wanted to partner with the Straight Up crew to work out of a shared commissary kitchen in the heart of SOMA Pilipinas, serving the community.
“Ultimately, we always really looked up to the Namu guys. Ran and owned by a set of brothers, just like ourselves. To see what they built with Namu over the years and now Sunset Squares has been incredible to watch and be a part of. Like I said, the love and respect is there, and we know they have our best interest in mind. We knew we would learn and grow just from watching them work, so that’s a blessing in and of itself during the pandemic.”
While creating opportunities to continue growing their base of support in the cultural district, the team has been reflecting on their journey as entrepreneurs, Filipino Americans, and as a brand. The team underwent a rebranding process that was challenging, but necessary, to reflect the evolution of their mission to build a Filipino American bar moving forward.
The SEED Accelerator created a new website for Uncle Tito to match their evolution as a Filipino food concept and bar.
“We came across Kultivate Labs and built connections with the SOMA Pilipinas and Undiscovered Team that really just gave us a platform to shine on. And the more and more we were building a Filipino identity of our own, the more I knew that we needed to rebrand towards something that reflected that.”
We didn’t all agree with the whole rebrand at first. The Dayao’s wanted to keep the Straight Up name and brand but all the exercises that the SEED Accelerator put us through got us all on the same page with coming up with something new, fresh and Filipino-forward. They really gave us a good “outside-looking-in” perspective and feedback that helped us every step of the way into creating how Uncle Tito appears today.
Keeping their original goal in mind of opening their own bar, their mission became deeply personal as they worked to use their platform to showcase the way they were crafting a unique understanding and perspective of their shared histories and Filipino-American identity through food and drink pairings.
“We evolved as entrepreneurs, and even as brothers. From the initial disagreements, the difficult discussions and brainstorming sessions, to ultimately committing to the Uncle Tito name and brand. It was all growth for us individually, as a team, and honestly, growth in connection to our Filipino roots which we feel so honored to be able to highlight.”
Now known as Uncle Tito, this inspiring group of driven and ambitious brothers and friends hope to attract new customers with their fun and flavorful dining experiences tailored to pandemic dining.
“Our main focus was being able to provide a fun dining experience that people can enjoy at home. We knew we wanted to really incorporate how Uncle Tito is THAT Uncle at the party - the life of the party. You know when you go to a family party, the first thing they’ll do is tell you to eat, then tell you to eat more, and when you’re about to leave, you’ll be sent off with a plate to ‘baon,’ right? Well, we really gravitated towards providing that experience for our audience - fun, family style, baon boxes.
We still kept fan favorites from the Undiscovered markets, like the Laing Wontons and Lechon Kawali, but we also rallied around the idea of trying to familiarize our audience with different Filipino food terms that they may not have heard of otherwise.
#MeriendaAndChill has become our mantra, and our neck-and-neck top selling Baon Boxes have been our Pulutan Party Box, a mix of all your favorite Happy Hour Snacks including the Laing Wontons, Lechon, housemade chicharon, and crispy wings with KareKare sauce and the Silog Special, a box filled with a selection of different Silog combinations all in one - beet-cured tocino, crispy bangus and longanisa java rice, topped with a fried double egg and crispy garlic everywhere.
The Mango Chili-mansi and Ube Cha Cha are now bottled for pickup and food delivery.
We’ve also bottled our drinks! Our Mango Chili-mansi and Ube Cha Cha are now pre-packaged and available to order along with our Baon Boxes. We started with making drinks as Straight Up, and keeping that in our arsenal was pretty important to us as it aligns with our mission to open up that Filipino-American bar one day.”
Support local businesses like Uncle Tito by ordering on Tock and soon to be available on DoorDash.
You can pickup your order in person to meet the crew at their commissary kitchen located at 59 9th St. & Mission St. in the heart of SOMA Pilipinas.
Check out the Uncle Tito website to view their menu and follow them on Instagram to be the first to hear about their new specials!
Written by Cat Jimenez.