Cowboy Grill Celebrates It's 24th Anniversary

This Filipino restaurant bar continues to thrive by retaining its classic live bands roots with new innovations 

Cowboy Grill, the beloved restaurant and bar known for its live bands and good food, celebrates its 24th anniversary with new innovations and new product concepts.

Established by its founding chairman Leopoldo L. Prieto, who brought the first Shakey's Pizza restaurant in the Philippines, the first Cowboy Grill started when Shakey's decided to shift to a family-oriented restaurant from a food outlet with live entertainment. To retain the live band concept, the owners decided to establish Cowboy Grill, right next to Shakey's.

Through the years, Cowboy Grill has evolved and became the best place where the party starts, with live bands, great food and unique experience.

To this day, its guests enjoy freshly prepared items such as its famous Sisig dishes, Crispy Pata, Buffalo Wings, and Nachos. Though they still serve their bestsellers, Cowboy Grill has adapted with the times and now served pasta and chicken meals, as well as pizza choices such as Cowboy Especiale, Nachos Pizza, All-Meat Pizza, Seafood Pizza, Sisig Supreme and Manila Pizza, to cater to much wider taste preferences of its customers.

“For the past 24 years, we remain steadfast in providing our valued guests with high quality entertainment and premium products that are reasonably priced and served promptly by our friendly employees. We are so thankful to our loyal guests who have continued to support and patronize us. We are celebrating a milestone with a renewed passion and a vision for the future,” said Mr. Solomon Caasi, Jr., Cowboy Grill’s chief operating officer. 

This year, Cowboy Grill is gearing towards introducing its daytime operation. For the past years, Cowboy Grill operates from 6 p.m. to 5 a.m., opening its doors to dinner and party crowd. The company plans to shift to a more family-oriented concept, tapping the lunch crowd.

“We are planning to adapt a family-oriented restaurant concept, while retaining the live band concept. We want to create a good balance between the two concept. The live bands remains our biggest draw, our biggest competitive edge. But we also want to welcome other market segment which we have yet to tap,” he continued.

As part of the ongoing improvements, Cowboy Grill will experiment with a more contemporary design which will influence the look of the brand as a whole.

“Right now, our interiors has that bar look - with black chairs and tabletops, dimly lit interiors, strobe lights, among others. In the next months, we will undergo some renovations to balance the look - it needs to have that cozy, comfortable ambiance of a family restaurant, yet it has to still be edgy and contemporary that suits the party vibe,” according to Mr. Erickson Caper, marketing manager.

Aside from this expansion, Cowboy Grill kick started the change with the introduction of the Hot & Ready take-out counter. Starting 9 a.m., the take-out counter opens its patrons to enjoy Cowboy Grill bestsellers on its off-hours. The company has also introduced its catering services, as well as delivery functions.

“We are a one-stop shop for your dining needs. People think that Cowboy Grill is just a bar, no kids allowed. We want to change that perception. This year, we are working on re-introducing Cowboy Grill as a restaurant and bar. We are shifting from entertainment to family-oriented dining concept, extending our operation hours from 6p.m. to 5a.m. to 10a.m. to 5a..m., Mr. Caasi continued. “Aside from the main dining and live bands, we will focus on catering and function services, as well as delivery and takeout.”

But its loyal customers who always come to Cowboy Grill because of its live bands need not worry. The restaurant will retain the live band aspect of the business. Today, Cowboy Grill has a roster of approximately 30 bands performing different music genres. The bands have already gained their strong following among the customers.

“Cowboy Grill has always been synonymous with live bands. We will keep that concept. We are still looking at how to integrate the two concepts. Who knows we might even introduce acoustic performances with slow, chill music during the daytime, while they'll be a full-set up for live bands at night. This year's expansions and changes are just the turning points, leading to our 25th anniversary next year.”

Through the years, Cowboy Grill manages to maintain its growing business, anchored on good food, good service and quality entertainment.

“We are past that stage where we need to differentiate ourselves from the competition. What we are focusing now is how to keep our share of the market pie, while leveraging on our strengths.”