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Cafes, Food
BoNa Coffee - The cafe that feels like home
Move over Starbucks and Corporate Coffee. There’s a new player in the café market, and it’s become a fast favorite.
BoNa Coffee is a small café just off Elizalde Avenue. It’s located beside Cardinal Ceramics in the Banco Filipino Building. The interior of the café itself has around five or six tables (with some couches, naturally), but their outdoor seating stretches around the building porch, so there’s always somewhere to sit here.
Don’t be misled by its impressive branding (I first thought it was an Australian franchise): BoNa Coffee is locally owned. The owners, Luis Gonzales and Candace Schmidt, are a hip, well traveled couple, looking to spread some love and come up with a unique offering in the increasingly saturated industry.
True enough, BoNa Coffee is different: the most obvious thing is that their food is healthy! Their food is low fat and low cal, they have protein shakes, they have smoothies made with tofu, and their sandwiches are made with fish and veggies (which is good, since the sandwiches are really quite large, and if they were filled with unhealthy things, you’d probably end up feeling guilty after you had one).
They also serve freshly baked muffins every day: the obvious healthy choice would be the bran muffin, but they also have yummy sourdough coffee and other varieties.
BoNa Coffee is also home to a thriving community. The first time I was here, I watched people come and go, greeting each other like family. Thanks to Carl the friendly barista, I was introduced to Betty Romero, a friend of the owners’ and who is, (among a host of other things) the principal of school next door and BoNa’s official PR person. Betty (yes, I know it’s really weird; I sound like I’m talking about myself in the third person) regaled me with stories about their activities and causes: some days the café plays host to certain themed events, like Pet Day and Bike Day. In any case, she made me feel so at home that now I enter Bona and feel like part of the community.
One more thing encourages long stays: they offer free wireless internet with your coffee! You can plug in at one of the small tables by the window and work the day away. Unfortunately, the café doesn’t have its own restroom, but there’s one in the building, and it has water (which is strange in BF), and is generally kept clean (again, you’ve got to count on the community spirit here, and once you use the bathroom, you’re partly responsible for it too ;)).
So, as the BoNa people like to say, this is indeed a “place to meet people, make new friends, argue politics, discuss fashion and even fall in love.” Step a little off the beaten path and you’ll find it. From Elizalde, take the turn at Elsie Gaches Street (hang a left if you’re coming from President’s Avenue and take a right if you’re coming from the Elizalde Gate) and turn right at the next corner, T.M. Kalaw Street. They’ve got a big sign at the corner of the building, and are in front of Jeek’s. Parking is available in front or on the street. Like me, you’ll discover BoNa Coffee’s “little piece of something wonderful.”
BoNa Coffee Company
772-0428; 772-0429 (fax)
bonacoffeecompany@yahoo.com
BF Citimall Building (with Banco Filipino),
Elizalde corner Elsie Gatches St.,
BF Homes Paranaque
Read about BoNa’s Westgate branch:
BoNa Coffee and Bohemian Nation Trading Co. Open Their Doors in Westgate
Discussion
26 comments for “BoNa Coffee - The cafe that feels like home”
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I would love to visit this cafe. I’m sure others who will read this would like to check out this place, too. It will be good to know the addres of the cafe for those who are not familiar with the streets of BF. It will be better if there is a map :)
I would want to visit BoNa very soon. Can you send the address (and map if available) through email?
Hi Tintin!
As requested, we’ve appended the address and the map to BoNa to the post. We’ve also sent you an email, so go check your inbox!
To all the other readers who are looking for maps on the site, bear with us! We’re trying to figure out the best way to do this. In the meantime, do write us to let us know if you need more detailed directions to any place, or to let us know what else you’d like to see on Southbound. :)
[…] us in the South, there’s also an outlet store in BF near Elizalde (right next to BoNa Coffee). I dropped by the day after we visited the Makati store and was warmly greeted by Nella, the […]
Hi Ü I just discovered your site and am in the process of going over all your posts. Just like to say that BoNa is indeed a very cozy cafe; my friend and I have been more than a handful of times maybe and we like it as compared to the busy (and sometimes noisy) crowd at Starbucks. And the location is perfect, tucked inside the many side streets of BF which makes it really quiet. My friend and I both love the Ginger Tea - especially now that the rainy season is here again. I’ve tried their Turkey Sandwich, Peanut Butter frappe/cold drink, hot chocolate (a tad too sweet for me) & espresso with liquor that I forgot Ü All in all, BoNa is really highly recommended.
hi caryl!
glad you found us! maybe i’ll run into you at bona one of these days, hehe. :) which is not really a strange and creepy thing, if you think about it–i’ve met a lot of new people at bona… something about that place is just so conducive to unexpected conversations with friendly strangers and soon-to-be-friends! :)
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My husband and I like this very quaint coffeeshop. The drinks and the muffins are delicious.
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i tried the maple muffin and it was great, i was full the whole morning and when lunchtime came i didn’t feel hungry yet….hope that calorie count is for real :)
luis and candace, the hip owners! why dont you tell them who you are? there is so much to say about this couple’s passion for almost anything, including passion to accumulate what they do not have.
can we know if there is any truth to the story that south salon is not going to open after all in westgate? what ever happened to that plan?
the owners of south salon have gone t to candace and luis’ church for the last 15 years - and now are out. are candace and luis pastors or business men - or both. if businessmen, what happened to south salon? if pastors, why are the owners out of your church? will you go after your sheep? because these sheep seem to be wounded…. were they wounded by their shepherd? this would be too sad.
hi yatz,
hmmm… i don’t think we’re in a position to answer this particular question, so you may want to redirect your queries to candace and luis through the bona website at http://www.bonacoffeecompany.com/
.
manilamom,
yeah, the muffins are truly filling!
abby,
yes, candace and luis are truly a fascinating and inspiring couple!
betty,
please go ahead and post my questions to candace and luis. you have my email address. in fact, their answers should be posted for all to see - as there are so many people waiting for south salon to open. and they would like to know why they are not…
i think that if you want to be blessed, you need to be honest and truthful about all business transactions. especially because candace and luis lead a church…
or don’t they anymore?
yatz
hi there! i have tried to send through email my resume coz i want to work with you guys!But i recieved sending failure instead…bonacoffeecompany@yahoo.com is that your email add? I saw it outside the Bonaa coffe at Mall of Asia. looking forward for the reply guys…thanks… more power and God bless us all!
hi aries,
you can check out the official bona website at http://bonacoffeecompany.com/ they have a link titled “job opportunities” which you can click on to find out more about applying for work with them. or you can email hr@bonacoffeecompany.com. :) good luck!
Is your e-mail address is still activated?thanks!
@uniss
I think you better call them.
BoNa Coffee Company
772-0427, 772-0428; 772-0429 (fax)
[…] Southbound Features: BoNa Coffee – The café that feels like home / BoNa Coffee and Bohemian Nation Trading Co. Open Their Doors in […]
I’ve just moderated a couple of comments by an “Awaken” and I’d like to explain, for Awaken’s benefit, why I didn’t let his / her comments through.
First of all, these comments were only tangentially related to the topic of this post: we are writing about a business and not someone’s personal life, and comments related to the latter have no place here.
Second, the comments were obviously hostile and trying to incite anger or some other violent response, which we do not tolerate on Southbound. We accept opposing views, but we have to draw the line somewhere.
Third, we are not a venue for airing personal gripes and issues. Our focus is on businesses and events within our community, and the discussions we allow should be within this area. We won’t allow our site to be a venue for grandstanding or hate messages.
Finally, Awaken, we are not a message board. If you have something to say to someone, please be man / woman enough to say it to their faces instead of using a third party site and hiding behind an anonymous comment.
Kindly refrain from trying to post similar comments. We hope you understand our stand and will no longer put us in a compromising position.
Thank you for refusing to participate with mudslinging and gossip and keeping Sothbound’s forums decent and on the level.
It never fails to astonish us that there are people who make it their business to meddle with other people’s affairs. However we keep our serenity, as karma and dharma are only real. :)
We appreciate Southbound’s integrity and professionalism in this matter. Thanks, Betty.