a holly jolly jollibee
Crispy Filipino fried chicken restaurant sizzles with new Houston outpost
Houstonians ready for a crispy, crunchy, and addictive fried chicken fix are in luck. Wildly popular Filipino fast food chain, Jollibee, has announced its newest Greater Houston store, delivering what it dubs “Chickenjoy” to the area in cool red tubs.
The new outpost will be nestled in Houston’s Westside at 13347 Westheimer Rd. and will open “before year’s end,” the company promises in a press release. This new outpost will be Jollibee’s third Houston-area location, following the opening of a bustling store in Missouri City earlier this year. The new Westheimer store, located in a major retail area, is a key part of Jollibee’s expanding footprint in Texas, per a company statement.
That means locals can look forward to buzzy menu items, including:
- Chickenjoy: Jollibee’s signature fried chicken is delicately hand-breaded to be crispy and crunchy, with a special marinade to make it extra juicy. Sides include rice and gravy.
- Jolly Spaghetti: The chain’s offering boasts a much-ballyhooed sauce made with banana ketchup for a subtle sweetness. It’s topped with chunks of savory ham and hotdog and topped with cheese.
- Peach Mango Pie: A great dessert for car-bound Houstonians, this fried pie is smartly served in a hand-held sleeve and features mangoes and a light and crispy crust.
For safety during COVID, the new dining room area will remain closed until further notice. The Westheimer store instead will offer call-ahead pick-up, walk-in take-out, and drive-thru services. Plans also include home delivery via Doordash.
As CultureMap food editor Eric Sandler reported, the Filipino fast food giant made a splash when it opened its first Houston restaurant in 2013. At that time, the spot was serving some 1,500 people per day; fans were willing to wait an hour or more to get their fix.
Jollibee is the largest fast food chain brand in the Philippines, CultureMap’s Teresa Gubbins notes, with more than 1,400 stores in its home country, and more than 240 international branches including in the United States, Canada, Hong Kong, Macau, Brunei, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, Italy, and in the United Kingdom.
The first U.S. store opened in 1998 in Daly City, California.