Like all great ideas, Dubby’s Ultimate Burgers started with a simple thought: “What if I prepared a meal for my wife?”
Two years later, that thought has blossomed into a labor of love that encourages inclusivity, provides jobs for persons with disability (PWDs) and ensures flavor-packed juiciness in every bite of its burgers.
Dubby’s owner John Paul “JP” Maunes is also the founder and chief executive officer of Philippine Accessible Disability Services Inc. (Pads). Pads is an organization that is dedicated to providing equal opportunities for all disabled Filipinos.
Ninety percent of the staff working at Dubby’s are PWDs, but JP doesn’t want customers to come to his restaurant for the sole purpose of seeing PWDs at work; he wants them to come for the food.
After all, that is what makes an inclusive society: To support the community regardless of who is behind the counter.
The food at Dubby’s truly makes it a place worth visiting. Before business started booming, they only had one item on the menu: A double cheeseburger. As more orders started rolling in, JP and his wife slowly started filling up their menu with more products.
The double cheeseburger was paired with an authentic Thai milk tea called “Cha Yen,” and customers following a vegan diet could still get the Dubby’s experience by ordering the mushroom burger.
One of the many things that makes a burger from Dubby’s worth having is its secret sauce; the restaurant doesn’t offer ketchup or mayonnaise! Instead, it gives customers the option to order more of the secret sauce, or—for spicy food aficionados—adjust the spice level on their order.
Another unique Dubby’s feature is its burger buns. When Dubby’s was just starting out, its baker only had torta molds. So JP decided to use the molds to bake the buns, fully intending to replace them with more appropriate molds once Dubby’s had more capital. But JP made the executive decision to keep using the torta molds because they gave the burger buns a wavy criss-cross that immediately made them recognizable as burgers from Dubby’s.
At present, Dubby’s offers at least 15 different burger variations, about 20 beverages including coffee and milk tea, and a handful of side dishes such as nachos, fries and sandwiches. It even offers rice meals for dine-in customers.
Dining in at Dubby’s is an inclusive learning experience for everyone. They provide tabletop placemats that contain sign language vocabulary, and provide tips on interacting with PWDs. A braille menu is also available upon request for blind customers.
And like all great ideas, you can start with something simple: What if you ordered from Dubby’s Ultimate Burgers?
Dubby’s is located on 245 Ouano Ave., Mandaue City, Cebu, but delivery is available via its Facebook and Instagram pages.