Information about Honesty Coffee Shop

Honesty Coffee Shop

The Honesty Coffee Shop situated near the port of Ivana, Batanes is a quaint self-service coffee shop and one of the most highly respected attractions in the province and in the world.

The coffee shop is owned by an Ivatan couple Jose and Elena Gabilo. Elena is a retired public school teacher at Ivana Elementary School and decided to open the store after her retirement. It was first named as Honesty Café in 1998, but locals mostly refer to it as Honesty Store.

Opened in 1995, the place is unmanned which means no one is looking out for it as the owners depend solely on the honesty of the locals and tourists alike. There are no waitress, manager, or cashier in the shop and everything is self-service, from making your own tea to paying the bill.

Everyone is welcome in the store and can get anything they want on display. There are mostly snacks and drinks sold in the store, but there are also some souvenir items. The items are all marked with their corresponding prices, and buyers will just have to write their purchases and their costs in a log book. The payment is then put inside a locked box in the counter.

How to get there

Honesty Coffee Shop is accessible by tricycle. You can also hire a tricycle for the South Batan Tour, which includes a stop at Honesty Coffee Shop.

Best time to visit

It is open daily, with the store running for 24 hours a day.