“If I just want a quick meal, normally I go with Japanese foods, for example, ramen, sushi and tendon. If I am in the mood of dressing smart and enjoying fine dining, I will go to the restaurants I am familiar with, for example, Al Dente and The President, to enjoy good foods, good service and good atmosphere. One more thing, I do not why, I often want to eat Korean Kalbi barbecue on weekends.

In addition to good coffee, the coffee shops I like must have a cozy space or a nice view. Normally I stop by The Point at Sheraton Laguna Guam Resort and The Lobby at Hyatt Regency Guam. I recently found the lobby cafe of Dusit Thani and the newly renovated Caffe Cino of Hilton Guam Resort & Spa are both very nice. It is also worth it to try Figaro, next to Pizza Hut in Tamuning, which is a franchise cafe from the Philippines.

I seldom do takeout, but I do order gold wings from Von’s Chicken, okonomiyaki from Sakura’s Kitchen and chicken teriyaki from Kitchen Arigato at Micronesia Mall Food Court.

My percentage of dining out is around 50%.”

— Ping-Yuan “Edward” Lu
Chief nutritionist, GNC Guam

“I often eat out for lunch but usually only eat out for dinner about once a week. It’s important to us to have family time at the dinner table every night, and my wife is a great cook so everyone is happy.”

— Jay B. Jones
Senior vice president, Triple J Enterprises Inc

“I eat at the same places a lot because I’m not very adventurous. I hardly ever order takeout because I like my food to be hot, which is probably why I hardly ever eat sandwiches or salads. I almost never go to coffee shops because I like to make my coffee at home to have on the road with me when I head to work and I generally only have one cup a day.

The percentage [of how often I eat out] is too high: maybe 80%. My husband [Proa restaurant owner and manager Christopher F. Bejado] and I are never home, running two businesses and me still holding down my day job. However, we almost never eat at Proa because it will make my husband want to work.”

— Cora Yanger Bejado
Owner, Sirena Soul Guam
Managing director for retail and channel sales, GTA

“My family and I love to prepare meals at home but rarely do. We mostly find ourselves ordering out or dining at a variety of Guam’s restaurants and coffee shops — I would say 80% [or more].

As a distributor of fine wines, beers and spirits, it is necessary that I regularly review beverage menus, observe restaurant staff and study the positioning of our products in the market. I try to show support for new establishments and reciprocate by eating at restaurants that do a great job selling my various beverage products.”

— Edward John “E.J.” Calvo
General manager, Mid Pacific Distributors Inc.

“I dine out mostly everyday for lunch. 80% of my meals are either take-out or dine-in at restaurants.”

— Yuka Oguma
Assistant general manager,
Guahan Insurance Services, Inc.

Yuka’s tips for dining out:

At restaurants:
Depending on the meal, I like to switch out dressings or add vegetables to my meal. I create my own meal by ordering the meal and requesting to swap the starch with veggies. I also opt for vinaigrette-based dressings instead of cream- or mayo-based dressings to cut a few calories. Have you been to a restaurant and you fell in love with their special sauce? I love condiments and sauces, so I always order a side of that “special” sauce to add more flavors to my meal.

For takeout:
Ask for additional containers to separate your meals. The last thing you want by the time you open your meal is everything all mixed because they put everything in one to-go box. When ordering takeout meals, I always request they separate the saucy items from my starches or vegetables to keep them from becoming one blob.

In coffee shops:
For years I had been drinking iced Americano with an extra shot, until I asked my barista for something extra strong and came across the “Red Eye.” It’s dripped coffee with an extra shot, instead of the usual Americano, which is espresso diluted with water, so the flavors are stronger, and most importantly, there is no need to order that extra shot for which most places charge you extra.