Jollibee Fast Food Chicken Eatery Opens In Pinellas Park

PINELLA PARK, FL — The fast-food restaurant chain, Jollibee, is adding to its U.S. store count with the addition of its first Tampa Bay restaurant.

The restaurant opened its doors at 9 a.m. Friday to a crowd of more than 180 eager customers at 4057 Park Boulevard North, Pinellas Park.

Angelo Honculada, a 21-year-old student, was the first customer and fell into line at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, marking a wait time of more than 16 hours before the store opened its doors to the public.

The new restaurant is part of the brand's plans to grow to 150 stores in the U.S. by 2023.

Jollibee Pinellas Park is the 40th restaurant to open in the U.S. The Filipino restaurant chain will also open an eatery on the Hawaiian island of Maui this month. Florida and Hawaii rank among the top 10 states with the highest concentration of Filipinos, noted the restaurant chain.

Jollibee is the largest fast-food chain brand in the Philippines, operating a network of more than 1,400 stores. Internationally, the Jollibee Foods Corp. operates in 35 countries.

Jollibee opened its first North American eatery in 1998 in Daly City, California. It now operates 48 restaurants in Arizona, California, Hawaii, Illinois, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Texas, Washington, Virginia and Florida's only other Jollibee in Jacksonville.

"We cannot wait to welcome Jollibee fans who have long waited their turn to finally have Jollibee in their area, in addition to welcoming new foodies intrigued by our unique menu, which we fondly describe as a joyous mash-up of Western comfort food and Asian flavors," said Beth Dela Cruz, president of Jollibee Foods Corp. North America, Philippine Brands Group.

Jollibee is known as the "Home of the Famous Chickenjoy," delicately hand-breaded chicken made with a secret marinade.

Also popular is the brand's Jolly Spaghetti with its signature sweet-style sauce loaded with chunky slices of savory ham and hot dog. Other favorite offerings include Peach Mango Pie made with real Philippine mangoes enclosed in a light, crispy crust and the U.S.-exclusive Chicken Sandwich made with a 100 percent hand-breaded chicken breast fillet on a brioche bun with garlic aioli sauce, lettuce and tomatoes.

Opening day hours at the Pinellas Park restaurant will be 7 a.m. to 11 p.m.