Celebrating AAPI Month: Filipino women bring taste of home to Savannah

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) - As we celebrate Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month, we recognize the countless contributions of Asian Americans to our community.

We’re introducing you to two friends, now business partners, who decided to bring their heritage to the Hostess City.

Maycee Labares and Maebelle Alolong met in Savannah through mutual friends a few years ago. As two Filipino women, they both love Savannah, but always noticed a void.

“When I got here four years ago, there’s a lot of Asian restaurants but none are close to home, like Filipino food. Ask every Filipino here, they go to Jacksonville.”

“We were tired of driving hours to the nearest Filipino restaurant, so we thought with having experience in food industry and we love to cook, so we thought why not build our own here.”

So, they decided to open Narra Tree, a Filipino restaurant on Savannah’s southside.

After just a few weeks, they’ve been blown away by the reaction.

“We filled this whole place up especially on the first week and everybody loved the food loved the atmosphere the service that’s what we aimed for.”

“We ran out of stuff bc we had a lot of people coming in, were overwhelmed by the support we’re given.”

And for anyone who hasn’t tried Filipino cuisine, these women hope to share their rich culture with entire community.

“Filipino flavors are very diverse we have a lot of influence from Spain, French and Americas. If you want to try something new, something more adventurous, all kinds of flavor, try Filipino food.”

“There’s not a lot of Filipino restaurants, when someone thinks Asian they think sushi, Korean BBQ, I don’t really hear a lot of Filipino, so I want to spread the word because I am proud of where I’m from!”

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