On July 16, a grand opening was held for Jollibee's fourth point of sale in New Jersey at the American Dream Mall in East Rutherford. The dining room is closed indefinitely due to the coronavirus pandemic, but take-out service is available. There is no self-service service at this location. The menu includes informal Filipino dishes, such as fried chicken coined as “chickenjoy”, Filipino-style spaghetti, hamburgers, and mango and peach pie.
Jollibee, the multinational Philippine fast-food chain with 1,300 stores around the world, is rapidly expanding its presence in northern Jersey, much to the delight and pride of local fans, many of whom come from the Philippines (or their parents do). As soon as customers arrive, a masked Jollibee employee drives straight to their car and hands them a paper menu as they download their order via iPad. The company's website also states that two more restaurants will be opened in New Jersey. The 43-year-old company was originally called Jolibe, a made-up word, but its nickname was changed to Jollibee for marketing reasons and to give it a mascot, a human-sized bee dressed in a red blazer, a shirt and a chef's hat.
The new Edison location is the first Jollibee store in Jersey City with drive-thru service and is the 69th store in North America. Both Edinburgh and Glasgow have a strong student presence and an active youth community, making them the perfect cities for Jollibee, which has been a big hit with young people looking for new gastronomic experiences. The chain's first New Jersey branch in Jersey City opened more than seven years ago, according to ROI-NJ, and before the pandemic, Jollibee expected to open 150 more restaurants in the United States in the next five years. The mall has a lot to offer aside from retail stores, it also has theme parks and many dining options, including Jollibee, said Merle Caleon, area director for Jollibee.
Jollibee specializes in casual Filipino food and is best known for Chickenjoy, which is hand breaded crispy fried chicken. In addition to fried chicken and spaghetti, Jollibee serves burgers; palabok, a traditional Filipino noodle dish topped with garlic sauce, shrimp and crushed pork rind; and mango pie, a hand candy that looks a bit like a Chinese egg roll. With the expected crowds, customers can enjoy dishes like the Word Fiesta noodles with garlic sauce, shrimp, pork crackling and egg and the Yumburger, Jollibee's version of the typical fast-food burger.
