Jollibee, which bills itself as the largest fast-food chain in the Philippines, intends to bring its fried chicken, burgers and noodles to Jacksonville at the Kernan Village shopping center.
Work is underway at a former drive-thru restaurant at 11884 Atlantic Blvd. at southwest Kernan and Atlantic boulevards.
Jollibee posted a job ad for a Jacksonville supervisor, while the city is reviewing a building permit application and one of the landlords has posted the store on its website site plan for Kernan Village.
A representative at Jollibee’s U.S. office in suburban Los Angeles has not returned telephone calls.
Its jollibeeusa.com site shows the main menu includes Chickenjoy fried chicken; Fiesta Noodles; burgers and burger steaks; sandwiches, such as corned beef, crunchy chicken and Spam; desserts; and breakfast.
The city is reviewing a permit application for a $215,000 build-out of a former Kentucky Fried Chicken and A&W Restaurants building.
Accelerated Contractors LLC, the project contractor, said Monday it hopes to complete the project by September.
The application shows a 3,192-square-foot space. The structure was built in 2003 for the KFC project, but has been closed for several years.
A timeline on Jollibee.com.ph says it opened its 1,000th restaurant last year in Dubai.
It started in 1975 as an ice cream parlor in the Philippines and opened its U.S. presence in a Los Angeles suburb. It began its U.S. expansion in 1998 and now has 32 stores, primarily in California but also in Hawaii, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Texas and Virginia.
Kernan Village is anchored by Walmart and Ross Dress For Less.
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