Guieb family take their popular ube mascarpone pancakes and Fruity Pebbles French toast to the Ninth Island

Family-owned and -operated Guieb Café — pronounced “Geb” — is often recognized for its vibrant, purple ube mascarpone pancakes, affordable 10-ounce prime rib — it’s less than $25 — and adobo fried rice omelet. The idea for the business, according to general manager Precious Guieb, were “honestly just a thought.”

“We all had our nine-to-five jobs — my parents and myself; my brother was still in college at the time,” she recalls. “I think we were tired of working in that corporate life. We decided to check out more spaces to open up a café.”

They weren’t strangers to world of cooking. Precious’s dad, Ernesto P. Guieb Jr., had his own catering business that was established in 2006, and the family built its café on that idea. In February 2020, the family got the keys to what would be the original Guieb Café location in Kalihi, and not even one month later, they, along with the rest of the world, got shut down.

“We were so excited,” Guieb remembers. “We still decided to come in and beautify everything inside of the restaurant as much as we could; we still couldn’t really go anywhere unless it was essential. We weren’t open at all until June.”

Even before they officially opened their doors, the Guieb family was about serving their community. Precious remembers how Hawaiʻi businesses got the green light from then-governor Ige to offer takeout only, but prior to that, the business decided to do a give-back event to help the community.

“We had a lot of produce, frozen items and bread that we couldn’t use if we couldn’t operate,” she says. “We did a cold food distribution and the community of Kalihi showed up. We gave out bread, eggs, frozen chicken breast and things like that. Everyone was so grateful. That was a blessing in disguise because when we did open, the entire community showed up for us.

“We weren’t even established; no one knew who we were yet,” she adds. “We started at Z and needed to work our way back to A. Once we got the keys, we had the time to think of the concept we were going to do, the kind of food we were going to serve.”

That concept, as it turned out, was breakfast and lunch fare — local-style comfort food and homestyle meals. Breakfast options run the gamut from the aforementioned ube mascarpone pancakes ($17) — topped with the eatery’s signature ube mascarpone sauce and fresh berries — and golden fried chicken and waffles ($16) to ube haupia French toast ($16) and prime rib loco mocos ($24). Prime rib is a staple at the café, which has offered its 10-ounce prime rib plate ($24) since day one, according to Guieb.

“My dad, the chef and mastermind behind the menu, tries to do ‘fine, simple food’ — that’s the slogan for the catering,” she says. “He loves fine dining cuisine, but wants to make sure it’s simple and attainable enough for the community to enjoy themselves — they don’t have to go anywhere far or fancy to get a good slice of prime rib or garlic shrimp. He just wanted to make sure everyone is well fed.

The menu is a combination of dishes the family loves cooking at home, as well as what they love getting at other eateries and adding their own twist on it.

“That’s the nice part about a fusion type of concept; you can do anything with it,” Guieb says. “The Fruity Pebbles French toast was something we created in our kitchen at home, not knowing that everybody else would love it, too.

“Fried chicken is surprisingly popular here,” she adds. “Everybody always gets their meal and a piece of fried chicken on the side, just to accompany it. The menu is the same in all four stores.”

Yes, you read that right — four stores in the last five years. Following the Kahili store in June 2020 came Wahiawa in spring 2021, ‘Aiea in fall 2022, and, most recently, Las Vegas, which opened this past March.

When it came to Wahiawa — which opened not even a full year after the café’s first location did — Guieb says they weren’t looking for anything yet, but their family’s realtor told them it would be a good opportunity. A similar scenario followed for the ‘Aiea location, which opened the next year.

“Again, we were not looking for anything, but we loved (the idea of) a central Oʻahu location,” Guieb says. “We weren’t too fond of the size; that’s our smallest store, but surprisingly enough, it’s our busiest one as well.”

Opening a store in Las Vegas was something Ernesto had always talked about, Guieb says.

“That was something my dad always talked about; we were like, ‘Yeah, you’re crazy,’” she says. “We’re so blessed to have the kind of community support that we do have to keep growing and provide work opportunities for local families especially. Wahiawa is our biggest store; Las Vegas is bigger than our Kalihi one, but smaller than Wahiawa. It’s still very inviting and homey with island vibes.”

This month marked the café’s five-year anniversary, but “time flies when you’re having fun,” according to Guieb. To celebrate, the business offered anniversary specials, including $11 meat jun plates and $12 firecracker chicken karaage plates.

“We consider ourselves blessed because not everyone can make it out, just within the first six months,” Guieb says.

In terms of their business’s next chapter, Guieb says they’re hoping to launch catering at the Las Vegas restaurant, and possibly open during dinner there as well. At the time of our interview, she’s busy overseeing all front-of-house operations for the café’s four locations. Her brother, Ean, is the business’ back-of-house manager, and is currently in Las Vegas with her parents.

“Everyone’s been friendly and the establishments surrounding us (in Las Vegas) visit us all the time; we think it’s so awesome,” says Guieb, who says they go to the Nevada store once or twice a month.

When asked about the highlights of their journey so far, Guieb is quick to mention the memories their family has been able to create together.

“With the family dynamic that we have, we cohesively work well together,” she says. “Of course, there are times when we butt heads and ideas clash, but at the end of the day, we are still able to come up with ideas that are actually working out. That’s the beauty of it — as long as you have people in your corner that have the same mission or goal, it makes the process of opening your own restaurant or business all the better.”

CONTACT
Guieb Café
Various locations
guiebcafe.com
Instagram: @guiebcafe

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta can be reached at kelli@alohastatedaily.com.