After the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis and a brokerage loss, DJ Jose swore off the stock market—and co-founded a gourmet burger brand instead.
In the wake of the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis, DJ Jose found himself in a tough spot. Working as a stockbroker, he got caught in the storm of plummeting markets and unpaid debts. “Nagkautang ako nun. Yung client ko nalugi, hindi nagbayad, sinalba ako ng tatay ko sa brokerage firm ko… Sabi nila wag ka nang bumalik sa market,” he recalls.
With both DJ’s finance career and his brother Martin’s real estate business hit hard, the family looked for a fresh start. That opportunity came from their third brother, Quito, a chef who had been cooking at their grandmother’s restaurant, Minggoy’s, along Meralco Avenue.
“We had this small 50-square-meter space beside Minggoy’s,” DJ says. “We thought, let’s turn it into a burger place. We all studied in the U.S., we loved burgers, and we remembered how different the experience was when you grilled them during summer with friends.”
What started as a simple concept—bringing backyard-style grilled burgers to the Philippines—soon evolved into something unique. Inspired by Quito’s time working at Neiman Marcus’ Epicure Department in the U.S., the brothers began experimenting with gourmet toppings like blue cheese, cream cheese, and bacon.
At the time, gourmet burgers were unheard of in the local food scene, especially in a fast-casual format. The trio had no clue if it would work. Their makeshift commissary was their grandmother’s house. Their friends served as taste-testers. But the concept slowly gained traction.
Their first customers came from a nearby college, CRC. One student asked what they’d do if he brought his whole block to the store. DJ responded, “We will give you a Brothers Pounder”—a massive burger with two half-pound patties. The student followed through, brought his classmates, and word-of-mouth did the rest.
Soon, lines formed outside their small burger joint. “We were open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., but because of the crowd, we stayed open until the last customer. Traffic built up on Meralco Avenue—we were causing it,” DJ shares with a laugh.
A month later, a TV feature supercharged their visibility. “Triple parking on Meralco Avenue, it became one lane,” he says. “We were like, ‘Wow.’ From worrying about how many burgers we needed to sell, it became super successful overnight.”
Today, Brothers Burger is a household name in the Philippine burger scene. And it all began with a setback that forced DJ Jose to pivot—and flip something far more satisfying than stocks.
This article includes quotes from an interview originally published by Esquire Philippines, authored by Henry Ong.
