The expanded Yabu flagship branch at Power Plant Mall in Makati. Handout 

Standard Hospitality Group (SHG) has indeed come a long way since 2011, when it opened its first Yabu branch at SM Megamall. 

Today, the company has a total of 45 stores featuring not just the beloved pork cutlet restaurant, but also other brands like Japan's ramen chain Ippudo, the food hall-turned-master kitchen concept Kiwami, and Hong Kong's Elephant Grounds.

Just recently, SHG unveiled its expanded flagship Yabu store at Power Plant Mall in Makati. The brand's 21st location is now 50% larger and boasts of upgraded kitchen facilities and contemporary design elements. 

Currently, it's the only store that offers Yabu's newest menu item -- the Crispy Katsudon, a fresh take on one of its bestsellers.

"We opened this branch in 2014 or 11 years ago. It wasn't a very big location, but we had to get Rockwell. [When we opened] the lines were crazy," recalled SHG CEO John Concepcion. 

"When the opportunity came in to open a bigger store, we grabbed it." 

SHG CEO John Concepcion (left) and Yabu's new Crispy Katsudon. Handout 

Concepcion is now focusing on SHG since retiring from his "first love," the ice cream brand Selecta. He calls the company his "Selecta 2.0" and considers it his passion project.

"I entered the restaurant business because of my passion for food and I saw a huge opportunity in the casual dining segment," he noted. "True enough, the middle class grew, the economy grew, and everybody started eating out. It's a crazy industry right now." 

He went on to compare Selecta and SHG, saying: "Here [with SHG] it's more engaging -- the customer will tell you whether you like the product or not. With ice cream, you have to sell it to a distributor, who will sell it to the trade. So by the time you get feedback, it's a long time. It's so hard to talk to the customers."

"Here, right away they'll tell you on social media... So it's quick and experiential," he added. "But at the end of the day it's all about food, and food brings people together."

SHG is eyeing even more growth as it plans to hit the 100-location mark in 5 years. This 2025, the company is launching not just more branches of its existing restaurants but also two new Japanese concepts.

One is a homegrown brand that will tap into the expertise of an Australia-based chef; while the other is a popular franchise.

"The franchise is getting big in social media, it's already in 4 countries," Concepcion hinted. "It's a single-dish concept and it's going to be in Uptown (Bonifacio Global City), opening sometime in August."

"We're trying to find unique concepts that add value to the market," added the entrepreneur, who shared that their new homegrown concept will likely be launched in the fourth quarter of the year.