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Filipino fast-food giant Jollibee is opening at Times Square in New York City on 18 August.
Over the weekend, Jollibee USA’s Facebook page (https://fb.watch/eUnRinDIGs/) posted a teaser of the food brand’s Chickenwich line, and then went into detail:
“Come try out our world-famous Chickenjoy beloved by people all over the 🌎. This August 18th, we’re bringing our delicious joy and other 🐝🍗 faves to the big stage – Times Square! Fly solo or bond with family and friends over our delicious food, including new menu items we can’t wait for you to try! A Jollibee opening is like nothing you’ve ever experienced. So come join us at 1500 Broadway St. New York NY 10036 and discover a taste you’ll be happy you didn’t miss!”
One year’s supply of Chickenjoy
Adding more excitement was the announcement: One year’s supply of Chickenjoy to the first 60 customers on Jollibee Times Square’s 18 August opening day.
It didn’t mention, however, if the Chickenjoy supplies will come with its brown gravy and packets of banana ketchup.
Jollibee Times Square will be its New York flagship store and will open from 9 a.m. to midnight for dine-in and to-go.
Freebies like Jollibee tote bags will be given to all customers with a purchase of $25 or more in the first three days.
Fourth outlet
Jollibee Times Square restaurant—spacious at 7,000 sqm—is actually its fourth outlet in New York.
The first three are at Woodside in Queens, Port Authority in Manhattan, and Jamaica Avenue in Queens.
Customers are not just Filipino immigrants.
Joy Galvez, a Filipino who now resides in New York, posted on her Facebook in 2019 a photo of a white man toting a bag of Chickenjoy boxes in the subway.
Galvez told Daily Tribune the man drew her attention when she caught the distinct, familiar smell of Chickenjoy, which wafted in the air throughout the ride.
Though she is well-traveled and has tasted world-renowned cuisines in many countries, Galvez admitted she always grabs a Jollibee meal when she’s home in New York.
“Chickenjoy and Jolly spaghetti are my favorites coz it’s really like a birthday party,” she said. “It always tastes like a birthday party even when you’re alone.
“Chickenjoy is just so good. I feel proud that various races and ethnicities are loving Chickenjoy.”
Anthony Bourdain said much about Jollibee on his TV show “Parts Unknown.”
Visiting a Jollibee outlet in California, Bourdain described the Aloha Burger as “a very tasty burger” that has “a nice char.” He also described Jollibee as “the wackiest, jolliest place on earth.”
His second visit to Jollibee was in the Philippines where he ate Jolly Spaghetti and noted, “That spaghetti’s deranged…yet strangely alluring.”
Some good things never change, indeed—and Jollibee, for all its reinvented Filipino-style recipes of American classic dishes like burger, fried chicken, the Italian spaghetti in its sweetened reincarnation, and Pinoy treats like banana ketchup (condiment) and halo-halo (dessert) —is proof to the world that Filipino food is now the big thing.