Isabella and her husband Mikaele Maiava have come a long since their days at Bella’s Food Trailer at Sogi.

When the business couple first started their venture in February last year, they were located at Sogi with their locally-made cuisine gaining popularity amongst Apia residents.

The last time the popular eatery made the pages of the Samoa Observer, it was Mrs Maiava’s signature dish of stir fry noodles that instantly created a following for the “mumpreneur”.

But those days are gone and the couple have relocated to the SSAB car park, which she now sees as a strategic location, due to its immediate impact on their business.

“The first establishment was our food trailer, we open our food trailer around February 2018 where we were located at Sogi before we relocated to our long term position at SSAB car park,” she said.

She said their new location is deal for them as they started to get a lot of customers and they have now decided to move into a restaurant.

“Our customer base was expanding really fast so that was the whole idea why we decide to do where we are now,” she said.

And Samoa’s hosting of the 2019 XVI Pacific Games was the time to make a move, according to the 28-year-old. Looking back at how they initially started their eatery, they realised that a lot of their customers enjoyed their meals in their comfort of their cars, due to the lack of seats. This compelled the couple consider setting up a restaurant to cater for the increasing demand. 

“The whole reason why we got into a restaurant is because we want our customers to have somewhere to sit down and have a meal with their families,” she added.

Mr Maiava also supported the idea of running a restaurant as it enabled them to get customer feedback on the quality of their service, she said.

“That way we can get their feedback at the same time while they are having their meals and not them sitting in their cars.”

Putting herself in their customers’ shoes, Mrs Maiva said their clients wanted a place that provided affordable and good quality food and is safe for their families. 

“Sometimes people want to go out with their families and have an affordable meals, with Bella’s we can offer that to them at affordable prices and satisfying meals ,” she said.

For more information on Bella’s Kitchen, check out their Facebook page or contact the telephone number 7720972.