Jollibee Expanding to 300 Stores in North America

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Alpha8472
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Jollibee Expanding to 300 Stores in North America

Post by Alpha8472 »

The Filipino fast food fried chicken chain is expanding to 300 restaurants in North America. I only tried this place in the past couple of years. The fried chicken was good and they seem to emphasize gravy. The Halo-Halo dessert was unlike anything I have had before. (Purple ice cream).
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Re: Jollibee Expanding to 300 Stores in North America

Post by klkla »

They're on practically every corner in the Philippines. I didn't think their food was that great but have never been to one of their U.S. restaurants.
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Re: Jollibee Expanding to 300 Stores in North America

Post by storewanderer »

They probably need to make some changes in the US. Jollibee in the Philippines controls a number of brands- Burger King, Panda Express, I think some others too. They also own US Smashburger.

The first time I went to one which was about 12 years ago in Newark, I ordered chicken strips, which seem to have come and gone multiple times from the menu. The strips weren't bad but not memorable in any way.

I've tried at about five different CA locations to order a chicken breast. They always quote a 20-30 minute wait time. They have legs and thighs readily available at all times. Their chicken sandwich looked great but didn't taste memorable in any way.

They do not have any brewed iced tea, only the stuff out of the soda machine that is sweetened. The pineapple juice tastes fake. The fried pies are very good but one is enough (really heavy). The side items are acceptable quality (mashed potato, french fries).

They also run in the US the Chow King and Red Ribbon Bakery brands. Chow King is... interesting- overpriced for what they give you. Red Ribbon is also interesting. They have had some places where they closed locations and abandoned entirely- like Stockton where they first closed the Red Ribbon then more recently closed the Jollibee. The location wasn't bad... maybe Popeye's (and even Church's) was too much competition.

Frankly, with Popeyes as competition, which is a far superior product, I don't know how they will do beyond places where they are somewhat of a novelty.
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Re: Jollibee Expanding to 300 Stores in North America

Post by buckguy »

I wonder if they can really breakout and get beyond places with sizable Fillipino communities, which seems to have been their strategy for many years. Their food was forgettable when I had it in the Philippines which is interesting because US franchises like McDonalds often have better quality in Asia than in the US. Given the saturation of the field, you need "cult status" to successfully expand.

Smashburger had ups and owns (big in both directions) before Jollibee and now seems to be trying for am comeback, but it seems a little late for that, given the fall of the burger fad.
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Re: Jollibee Expanding to 300 Stores in North America

Post by arizonaguy »

I actually thought that their chicken was better than Popeyes but it might have had to do with their gravy (which was very good).

They have a location in Chandler, Arizona (opened recently) and I believe it does good business.

Popeyes and Church's are much better than KFC however.
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Re: Jollibee Expanding to 300 Stores in North America

Post by DFWRetaileWatcher »

I went to their location in Plano and it was just *OK.* Not good enough for me to go back.

Essentially, the chicken doesn't look like it was cleaned and, IMO, it was lacking in seasoning

But of course, I'm a picky eater too. Either way, I wish them success with their ambitious plans.
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Re: Jollibee Expanding to 300 Stores in North America

Post by Brian Lutz »

There has been a combination Jollibee/Chow King/ Red Ribbon store at Southcenter Mall in Tukwila located next to a Seafood City (Filipino grocery) store for a number of years now, but I've never tried it because there are other places in the mall I prefer on the rare occasions I'm down there. Those restaurants do seem to do reasonably good business when I'm there though.
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Re: Jollibee Expanding to 300 Stores in North America

Post by SamSpade »

arizonaguy wrote: July 7th, 2021, 6:10 am I actually thought that their chicken was better than Popeyes but it might have had to do with their gravy (which was very good).

They have a location in Chandler, Arizona (opened recently) and I believe it does good business.

Popeyes and Church's are much better than KFC however.
As someone with an east Asian spouse, they have been itching to return to Southcenter Mall to have Jollibee again. So maybe there is something there. :)

I'm not as big a fan of fried chicken, but really enjoyed the piece I tasted. I didn't realize Jollibee was running all the "food court" vendors outside the Filipino-oriented Seafood City supermarket.
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Re: Jollibee Expanding to 300 Stores in North America

Post by Alpha8472 »

There is a Seafood City near me with a huge food court with Jollibee, Chow King, and Red Ribbon. I had no idea they owned all of those brands.

The building was originally a gigantic Circuit City. Then it was converted into an indoor mini-mall with a food court and a Seafood City supermarket. The Food Court has many other stores and restaurants too. There are beauty salons, insurance agents, jewelry stores, cell phone stores, a Vietnamese restaurant, etc. There even was a Subway sandwich store until a couple of years ago. Seafood City seems more like a mall operator.
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Re: Jollibee Expanding to 300 Stores in North America

Post by mjhale »

I have a friend who is Filipino. He has taken me to the Jollibee in Virginia Beach, VA and in Queens NYC. I really liked the spicy fried chicken that they serve. The burgers were very average for fast food. I have not yet visited the Jollibee that opened earlier this year in Wheaton, MD. This is currently the closest location to my house. Jollibee is also opening a store on the west side of Alexandria, VA in The Plaza at Landmark (Little River Turnpike and Beauregard Street) at some point in the near future.

I think that the challenge that Jollibee is going to face is whether or not they can attract a steady group of non-Filipinos to their stores. The food, of course, is Filipno style so pineapple on the burgers, hot dogs and sweet sauce on the spaghetti for instance. The fried chicken was the only thing that I tried that was directly comparable to something in a US fast food chain. In my area with KFC, Popeyes and Bojangles all serving American style friend chicken and the usual suspects having a regular hamburger or cheeseburger will Jollibee attract a broad enough audience to be viable? Looking at the Jollibee locations in the northeast, they are in diverse neighborhoods, of course with plenty of Filipinos nearby, where people wouldn't be regularly looking for purely American style food all the time. Jollibee should keep on this path and get the buzz to attract the curious folks looking for something different.
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