About

Icebergs

By Jar Concengco

Icebergs’ claim to fame is their Halo-Halo. They are the first to serve the traditional Filipino shaved ice dessert “flipped” – meaning instead of the ice being on top of the mixed ingredients of kaong, macapuno, pinipig, tapioca balls, sweetened jackfruit, and caramelized bananas among others, the ingredients get top billing and are featured on top of the ice. 

“When my mom, Juliet Young, was a kid, they had a restaurant established by my grandmother Wong Guat Ling in the 60’s in Cebu that served halo-halo flipped,” Juliet Young’s son and now President of Icebergs Chain of Restaurants Allan Young recounts. “When mom relocated to Manila after marriage, she opened her own restaurant, named it Icebergs and served the same flipped halo-halo.” 

In 1986, Juliet Wong wanted to be more than a housewife by becoming an entrepreneur. She opened up a tiny, 5-table restaurant along Timog Avenue in Quezon City that revolved around her mother’s halo-halo recipe. It was the first time for people in Quezon City to see the iconic dessert served this way and it was met with curiosity and pleasant surprise. Alongside the halo-halo, Juliet served other merienda type dishes such as pancit palabok, chilidog, spaghetti and clubhouse sandwiches. 

The 80’s was a time when television was the most popular mode of media. The Timog area in Quezon City lies right between two of the television network giants in the country, ABS-CBN and GMA-7. If your food was good, you were in the right spot to get the attention of celebrities. One of the most wildly popular TV shows on television at the time was Eye To Eye, a nightly showbiz-oriented talk show hosted by the late Inday Badiday. “We gained a following when Inday Badiday visited us every week. She would greet us on her show Eye To Eye so we gained a lot of customers. Robin Padilla also always ate at the restaurant,” says Allan. 

As word of mouth about Icebergs’ food spread, Allan had the vision of expanding his mother’s little eatery into a grander food chain, “My mother was happy with just one store. It was I who initiated the expansion.” In 1988, Icebergs opened their 2nd branch in SM North EDSA making Allan the youngest tenant at that time to sign a lease contract with SM. In 2004, Icebergs underwent their first rebranding and transitioned from being a food court staple into a casual dining restaurant chain. They introduced more food items to complement their now famous halo-halo. For those craving for Filipino dishes, there were Bistek Tagalog, Grilled Pork Liempo, Sisig and Boneless Bangus on the menu. They also expanded their pasta menu from just spaghetti to other pasta items such as Baked Penne, Pesto Penne with Grilled Chicken, and Shrimp and Mushroom Pomodoro. 

From the small eatery that his mother built around halo-halo and a few merienda items, Allan had to continuously add to the menu to satiate their customers’ requests. Icebergs’ merienda list got longer as it included Country Fries with Chili con Carne, Mexican Tacos, Buffalo Wings, and Homemade Barquillos. Aside from halo-halo, their dessert choices also grew with items like the Godzilla Grandslammer, which is 6 scoops of ice cream, almonds, peaches, mangoes, crushed pineapples, whipped cream, nuts, raisins, wafer sticks and a cherry on top; Banana splits; sundaes and the Kahlua Double Espresso that has 2 scoops of coffee ice cream, Kahlua, chocolate syrup, almonds, marshmallows, wafers, chocolate chips, whipped cream and a cherry on a top.

Doing business today is a lot different from doing business in the 80’s because of the advancements in technology, social media marketing, and apps such as Instagram dictating how restaurants should look. When he opened the 2nd branch of Icebergs, it seemed like he was still on top of things. Now, many things have changed. “We have a social media team to handle our pages and customer online queries. We sometimes hold promos that we promote online. Customers can use our hashtag #icebergsph so we can repost their photos. Icebergs is also available on food delivery apps like Food Panda,” says Allan.

Icebergs is over 30 years old now. It has stood the test of time with Allan’s leadership. They are currently going through their 2nd rebranding. “We are here to stay. Icebergs adapts to current trends and you will see that unfold when our new concept stores open this month in SM North Sky Garden and Eastwood City Walk. Instagrammable interiors and millennial relevant menu items are coming your way,” Allan elaborates.

Multiple branches in Metro Manila.