Goodbye, Merco: A Salute To Davao Comfort Food

Merco has become part of the typical Dabawenyo’s choice destinations when it comes to Davao comfort food. Apart from its bakeshop and ice cream station, what made Merco an indelible part of the Davao food culture is its restaurant. Compared with the current roster of restaurants in the city, there’s really nothing ultra-fancy or uber-unique about the dishes at Merco. But somehow, its homey atmosphere makes people return to one of Davao’s food treasures.

Merco Bolton (from flavoursofdavao.blogspot.com)
Merco Bolton (from flavoursofdavao.blogspot.com)

Ever since we shared the information that the beloved Davao restaurant has just closed shop, many of our friends on Facebook have expressed surprise and sudden nostalgia. That is why we decided to share some pictures of the dishes and desserts that have made Merco so memorable to Dabawenyos and visitors alike (Some of the pictures come from other bloggers who have shared their dining experiences at Merco).

The Merco takeout counters for cakes and ice cream are still open. Only the dining restaurants were closed.

Goodbye, Merco. Thanks for the memories! 🙂

Banana Split
Banana Split
Watermelon Basket
Watermelon Basket
Pancit Luglug
Pancit Luglug
Mais Con Hielo
Mais Con Hielo
Spanish Sardines Pizza (from Shawn Garcia at foodspotting.com)
Spanish Sardines Pizza (from Shawn Garcia at foodspotting.com)
Four Seasons Pizza (from davaocityguy.me)
Four Seasons Pizza (from davaocityguy.me)
Egg Sandwich  (from lakawero.com)
Egg Sandwich (from lakawero.com)
Chocolate Shake (from lakawero.com)
Chocolate Shake (from lakawero.com)
Chocolate Parfait (from davaofoodguide.blogspot.com)
Chocolate Parfait (from davaofoodguide.blogspot.com)
halo-halo
Halo-halo

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35 comments

  1. Hala! Ka-sad oi!
    Wala nay buy one take one na banana split, watermelon basket, etc… 🙁

    Why man?

  2. Merco’s Hambutgers are the BEST! Theirs is my reference for a good burger…

  3. Thanks for including my picture!

    Indeed, I miss Merco now.. 🙁

  4. What?! Close na lahat ng Merco? Kailan lang?

  5. Pano kasi poor marketing strategy sila… tapos marami ng mga new product na pumapasok d2 sa davao, hindi sila nag develope ng kanilang mga benebenta… Hindi sila Competitive with others…. Dapat mag innovate sila into something attractable to the consumers…

  6. Spent a good portion of my childhood eating at Mercorner. My grandmum used to take me here about twice a week. We were regulars who usally ordered the same things especially their watermelon basket (which in all honesty, their watermelon basket in the 90s was bigger and tasted much better). This is just sad. I wished to dine there again with my grandmum when I return. Sadly, it’s no longer possible. Please tell me that Chickies & Patties is still in operations. :C

  7. Maintaining a traditional product may sound good but there’s a BIG BUT… it should be competitive to the present trend, i.e., Merco should have been creative/imaginative in making/adding “perks” to the existing products – kungbaga creating a customers’ niche”. And research and development should always become in handy….. because learning is a continuing process…. But if Merco made a close-shop a right decision for the interest of all stakeholders.. then it’s okay… Good luck in other future endeavors…!

    • Actually, it’s interesting to note how long Merco has survived with the onslaught of fastfood chains. In other provinces, local beloved fast food places closed just a year or so after the first few Jollibee’s and McDonalds opened.

  8. So very sad…Merco had been with us since we were kids, their first store was in San Pedro St… I can still remember my favorites – flattened cheese bread, chocolait, and jumbo hotdog…can they, at least, retain their four seasons pizza? Maybe they can still sell these at their take out counters. I will also miss their ham and egg sandwich, halo-halo, chocolate and strawberry parfait and water melon basket..

  9. No more buy-1-take-1 halo-halo! 🙁

  10. 🙁 jan kami nag de date ng mister ko nuon bf/gf pa kami.
    and tambayan namin ng pinsan ko after class, then order kaagad ng banana split and mais con yelo.
    pinaka paborito ko jan na palaging pasalubong ng ex bf turned husband ko is “cheeseburger” nothing compares sa flavor ng burgers nila. hays, maka sad.

  11. goodbye, merco! daghang salamat ug parte na jud sa davao’s resto history.

  12. Well. Mamimiss natin sila. But we all contributed to their loss. Most of us remember Mercorner during our childhood days. What about these past few years? Diba dinadaan daanan nalang natin? If we really valued them, we should have patronized them all these times. I am guilty of just ignoring and just passing by Mercorner.

  13. sayanga!!… diha nako ginadala mga kids , the only resto that has playground for little ones…wa naman ang jollibee ug mcdo… hinaut naa pa ang playground….

  14. Sad to hear that…….Merco-Bolton has been part of happy memories of my younger. Treats of my Tatay for us always meant the delicious cakes, pastries, pastas, halo-halo and fruit salad of Merco. My elementary and high school graduations and of my kuyas were celebrated there. Even on days after seeing our dentist, treats for ice cream or halo-halo follows at Merco. Its a trademark that will forever remain in thoughts for it holds happy memories of my childhood with Tatay and my kuyas.

  15. every week since the early sixties to the nineties, me and my grandma, aunt, mom, pop and siblings comes to merco bolton after some pasyal or sine at the weekend and till college in the eighties with my girlfriend and barkadas eats and dine here and one of its owners son is my basketball bud in cyo before sadly ningsara na such a pity it is one of the most sought after place on weddings,, b-days etc. . The Ferrazini family has created and contributed to davao city’s progress my hats off and will miss it much..allan beltran, coke village matina

  16. I dont know if keeping with the trend and coming up with new products/ strategies to keep up with the new competition is the right way to go. Look what happened to pancake house. Too many items on the menu might have led to lower quality and higher operating cost. Maybe all they needed to do was re decorate or make the place look cleaner and more cheerful. Maybe partly the consumers or customers were to blame also. But that is the trend elsewhere and the same goes for other old establishments that are being replaced by newer more upbeat ones and also the malls. Hopefully if we the consumers can be more thoughtful and careful in choosing which establishments and products we patronize and in doing so keep these place alive.

  17. So sad! Merco has always been a part of my family’s tradition. My grandma and grandpa used to take us for a treat of banana split and chocolate parfait after our Sunday mass at San Pedro Cathedral. So heaven! I will missed you Merco!

  18. the best authentic cheeseburger is by Merco…..

  19. My Nanay Prosing is one of the Merco halu-halo fanatics, and my late Tatay Deyong used to buy us jelly roll whenever he collected payment from our rewinding shop customers. Merco had been part of our childhood, especially the San Pedro branch near Lyric and Crest theaters.

  20. Good bye Merco, My husband and i been dating here before.. Love much there halo-halo. You are part of life our Merco.. Good bye 🙁

  21. Sad, but I new it would happen eventually. The last thing I ate from their restaurant near Davao Doc was Fish Fillets. It was dry and stale! I stopped eating immediately after I realized that I was merely forcing myself to eat it.Sure, I spent a lot of times here as a kid eating ice cream and such, but if my last experience was any indication, maybe closing the restaurant down was an act of mercy, like putting a suffering dog to sleep.

  22. I remember in early 70’s my grandma and auntie used to go there for a snacks my fav is always hamburger n ice cream…in san pedro…until now still hamburger is one of my yummy treats it was in merco that i know tomato catsup,pickles and mustard….i always brought these condiments because of merco…so sad they alreadu close..still there are in my memories…and in bolton we celebrated our civil wedding there with a pizza..lol..so long merco you are now only in my memory….

  23. Thank you DavaoBase.Com for sharing these pictures. Do allow me to share these pics to give a short thank you to Merco.

  24. Ano na ang papalit dun sa space ng Merco beside DDH? 🙂

    • Leah | DavaoBase.com

      We heard it’s going to be Jollibee or any of its sister restaurants. 🙂

    • I think it’s “Tapa King” or “Tapa House”, seems from the name – could be like that of TAPS…. beef jerky/garlic rice/sunny side up/2 additional cups of extra rice… yummy

  25. Awww. Merco will surely be missed by people!

  26. The competition in the food industry here in Davao is very tight. Many restaurants are mushrooming even in the not-so-busy parts of the city. Kulang ata sila sa innovation. They failed to take advantage of their location and popularity among the dabawenyos. So sad not to be able to eat their luglug anymore which, so far, is one of the best luglugs in the city!

  27. no more buy 1 take 1 ice cream on araw ng dabaw. 🙁

  28. Chocolate parfait and banana split were my favorites. Will be missed.

  29. To Merco, thank you for the wonderful years of dining in your restaurant, I missed the spaghetti and hotdog meal. I used to eat there 3 to 4 times a week.

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