Jollibee, Filipino Fast Food Favorite, Opening First Manhattan Location in Midtown

Popular Filipino fast food chain Jollibee will be bringing its pineapple burger and sweet spaghetti to Manhattan for the first time this fall. The Commercial Observer reports that the chain, which is ubiquitous in the Philippines, signed a lease for a more than 2,700-square-foot space at 609 Eighth Ave., near Port Authority Bus Terminal. It will be the third location in the New York area, where the company only has locations in Woodside, Queens and Jersey City.

Jollibee is as ubiquitous as McDonald’s in the Philippines, and when the first east coast location opened in Queens in 2009, people waited in long lines in order to get a taste. The menu features a slew of burgers, but items like a sweet spaghetti with hot dogs and Chickenjoy, fried chicken with gravy and rice, is more unique to the chain. Many Filipinos in New York say it’s a taste of home, and that’s part of the reason why the first Manhattan outpost will be near Port Authority, retail broker Harrison Abramowitz tells the Observer. A big Filipino population lives in New Jersey and commutes into New York. "This will be a tremendous help in introducing the chain to Manhattan," he says.