Shirley’s officially opens branch in Chalan Kanoa

Customers have been lining up at the new outlet of Shirley’s Coffee Shop in Chalan Kanoa, prompting its management to finally open the restaurant even before an official grand opening can be scheduled.

The restaurant opened its doors to patrons beginning Thursday, serving more than a hundred customers on its first day even though there was no prior announcement of the opening.

“Many people are coming here and I always tell them that Shirley’s Chalan Kanoa will open soon. So, we just opened the restaurant on Thursday,” said the restaurant’s Susan Macario.

Motorists who saw the “now open” banner at the corner of Beach Road easily filled the restaurant’s seats, making the management upbeat about the positive business potential of its new investment. Even yesterday, customers kept on coming in—some of them dining in, while others, simply making take-out orders.

Shirley’s goes high tech

Shirley’s invested several hundreds of thousands to make the restaurant one of the coziest place to hang out, with its elegant U.S.-made furniture and modern lighting system that could create varying ambiance. The restaurant is wireless networking-friendly, and each booth has power outlets where customers can plug in their laptops.

Even its glass windows have V-cool tint, which blocks over 90 percent of the sun’s ultraviolet rays, according to Macario.

The Chalan Kanoa outlet has smoking and non-smoking areas. Its restrooms are equipped with “touchless” soap dispensers, paper towel dispensers, and trash bins.

Dynamic Core Group, Inc., the company behind the Shirley’s restaurants on Saipan, conceived the idea of putting up the new branch due to public demand. Already operating two outlets—one at the Century Hotel in Garapan and another on Middle Road, Chalan Laulau—the company decided to put up the Chalan Kanoa branch for the convenience of patrons from southern Saipan.

Construction of the facility began sometime in October 2004, according to Macario, and was completed in December that year. Before construction began, she attended a trade show in Los Angeles sometime in August to get updates on the trends and new technology in the industry.

The restaurant stands on a 3,500-square-foot commercial space and has one of the biggest and most modern kitchen in the CNMI.

New items to try out

There are several new items that have been added to the popular Shirley’s menu, besides its famous fried rice and omelet, among other meals.

Shirley’s now offers an array of desserts that will accompany filling meals, such as pastries and ice cream. Its crepes—crepe wrappers filled with ice cream and topped with slices of Mandarin orange, almonds, whip cream, and chocolate syrup.

Now available at Shirley’s are refreshing “smoothies.” The cappuccino and mocha blasts are blended with crushed ice and milk and filled with boba, a new craze in some American restaurants.

Other smoothies include the “snow bubble” flavors: strawberry, green apple, and tangerine. Filled with boba, those flavors are mixed with crushed ice and cream.

Soon, the restaurant’s patrons will get to enjoy the delectable pansit Malabon, a Philippine-style pasta, and refreshing halo-halo. Shirley’s also plans to introduce meals for kids.

The restaurant’s wide space makes it suitable for functions for any occasion. “Even before we opened the Chalan Kanoa branch, we already received requests for reservation,” Macario said.