(Updated, Feb. 23; 12:08 p.m.) Questions about a churros shop’s operations surfaced after patrons noticed store closures and the lack of updates on its social media pages almost two years into the COVID-19 pandemic.
A Reddit user on Sunday asked fellow Redditors on r/Philippines about La Lola Churreria, a local shop known for selling Spanish churros with dark chocolate dips.
r/Philippines is an online community for Filipinos and all things about the country on Reddit.
“Isn’t it weird that La Lola Churreria just vanished?” the Redditor asked in a post.
“So during 2020-2021, I was out shopping and I suddenly remembered I wanted churros and where else to get the best Churros? But ofc (of course) I went looking for La Lola in SM Aura, then I find out it’s closed due to the pandemic,” the user added.
“(Then) they never really re-opened. No IG (Instagram) posts, updates, FB (Facebook) posts. Like a whisper in the wind. Left without saying goodbye. Kelan kaya sila babalik????” the Redditor asked, adding emojis to the post.
The post has received 11 upvotes and eight comments as of writing, with some claiming that churros “were already going out of fashion before the pandemic.”
“Final nail na lang ‘yung mga lockdown nung may pandemic na,” a Reddit user commented.
“It was a fad. Granted it was a tasty fad, but yeah, you knew from the outset that it wasn’t going to stay around long,” another Redditor claimed.
“Meron dating Don’s Churro sa malapit na SM sa’min, nawala na lang din bigla. Masarap pa naman ang churros nila. A friend of mine sells ‘yung frozen pa kaso nakakatamad naman mag-deep fry pa nun. Mas maigi na ‘yung luto na,” a different Filipino likewise shared.
A look at the dessert shop’s Facebook page shows that its latest post was a graphic greeting its patrons a “Happy Father’s Day” on June 21, 2020.
Its Instagram page has the same post during the same day as well.
The page has a linked website but it only directs to a page that says “404 Not Found.”
A year after La Lola shared its Father’s Day post, a patron dropped a comment that was left unanswered.
“Hi, do you still have a branch in MOA?” the Facebook user asked in June 2021. MOA stands for SM Mall of Asia.
Another patron on May 2021 also left a comment on the churros shop’s page. Similar to the others, it was also unanswered.
“After a year, any updates sa store operations niyo?” the Filipino asked.
On March 15, 2020, La Lola released an advisory about its operations.
It was the same date when the government placed Metro Manila under enhanced community quarantine, a strict restriction on movements, due to the threat of the coronavirus.
“Hola, amigos! Starting March 16, the store operations of the following #LaLolaPH branches will be temporarily suspended until further notice: SM Aura, Megamall, MOA, North Edsa, Rockwell and Uptown. Stay safe!” the dessert shop announced.
It said that it was “now implementing measures to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 by adhering to the guidelines set by the government on community quarantine.”
“With this in mind, we will temporary suspend our store operations until further notice,” it added.
La Lola also said that it was looking forward “to serving you again in the near future.”
The page did not post other updates about its operations, except occasional greetings which had its last post on Father’s Day almost two years ago.
In January 2020, the dessert shop announced that it had opened its second branch in Singapore at the Changi Airport.
Reports note that La Lola was “in expansion mode” and was “currently scouting locations for more branches to open in 2020.”
The popular churros shop established its first branch in the Philippines in Rockwell’s Power Plant Mall, Makati City.
