CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – Two new restaurants under one roof – Tita Boba and Arapaap delicatessen – are bringing new flavors to downtown’s food scene.
Both restaurants were opened Dec. 8 at 100 Main St. by a pair of friends, Debby Guillermo and Kathreen Saballa. Tita Boba serves boba tea in various flavors, while Arapaap is an Okazuya-style delicatessen specializing in small plates rooted in Hawaiian, Japanese and Filipino cuisine.
Tita Boba
Before opening downtown, Tita Boba began out of Nora’s Filipino Market, owned by Saballa’s mom. She said many of the regulars call her mom “Tita,” meaning “aunt” in Tagalog, which is where Tita Boba got its name.
Tita still operates at Nora’s, where they have plans to move to a larger counter.
Saballa said her favorite menu item is the ube milk tea, containing sweet taro, tapioca and leche flan.
Arapaap
Guillermo and Chef David Dela Cruz opened Arapaap alongside Tita Boba.
Dela Cruz told Clarksville Now that the restaurant uses an Okazuya concept, referring to their small, ala carte menu, which draws from a wide range of culinary traditions. They have rotating specials each day.
“It’s pretty much like a delicatessen. It’s kind of unique to Hawaii, where it developed through the plantation era, having all these different cultures bring their cuisine. That’s what makes up the Okazuya we know in Hawaii,” Dela Cruz said.
Dela Cruz said it has long been his dream to own a restaurant, where he can cook his own food, and that time off during the COVID-19 pandemic inspired him to take the plunge.
On his wrist he has tattooed the word “arapaap,” meaning “to dream,” which is where he got the name for the restaurant.
“The fun thing about owning your own shop is that you get to make whatever you want. I do a fusion of different things.” He said he is particularly interested in Japanese food, and is proud of his adobo as well as his ube bread pudding.
Tita Boba and Arapaap are located at 100 Main St. and are open Tuesday-Saturday from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m.