Inside QC’s Santo Domingo Church, a café that serves delicious food inspired by Catholic faith

Inside Santo Domingo Church on Quezon Avenue stands Café Inggo 1587, a restaurant that proudly wears its Catholic faith on its sleeve. Owner Vic Alcuaz and executive chef Willy Domingo, almost became priests, after all.

Named after Saint Dominic aka Santo Domingo, Dominican inspiration abounds inside Café inggo 1587. There is a restored painting of Saint Dominic from behind the counter, with Alcuaz’s personal collection of Eddie Sarmiento’s paintings of Dominican churches from around the Philippines and pen-and-ink church sketches by Alex Uy populating the walls.

Cafe Inggo will remain open on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday. 7am-10pm. Photo: Ching Dee/GMA News

The courteous staff, some of whom used to be tricycle drivers from the area, is dressed in uniforms inspired by the hooded clothing of Dominican brothers. The best part? They’re all permanent employees with full benefits. 

“Everything [here] is programmed to highlight the Church,” Alcuaz points out. “We exist first in service of the Church and second in service of the parishioners.”

When it opened in August 2017, Café Inggo had a lean menu of coffee and light snacks. Acknowledging its growing clientele, this year it launched a menu much more extensive than original. Café Inggo now serves Spanish-Filipino cuisines that are inspired by the Catholic faith. 

Chef Willy Dominco and owner Vic Alcuaz have known each other since the '90s, working together in international hotel chains here and abroad. Photo: Ching Dee/GMA News

“We wear our Catholic beliefs on our sleeves,” Café Inggo 1587 owner Vic Alcuaz tells GMA News Online. “We believe we are blessed because we are within [the church].”

Check out a few of our favorites below:

537 Quezon Ave corner Biak na Bato Street, Sta. Mesa Heights, Quezon City. +63915 8071017 | Maundy Thursday and Good Friday: 7am to 10pm.

— LA, GMA News