Jollibee: History, Key Facts and Reviews

1975-1980: from a Cubao ice cream parlour to Jollibee

Jollibee started as a Magnolia ice cream parlour that Tony Tan Caktiong and his family opened in Cubao, Quezon City, in 1975 (Wikipedia). Customers soon ordered the hot meals and sandwiches more than the ice cream, so in 1978 the family turned the parlour into a hamburger restaurant. The first name was “Jolibe” before it became Jollibee, and Jollibee Foods Corporation was incorporated in January 1978. Seven branches were open in Metro Manila by the end of that year. The first franchised outlet followed in Santa Cruz, Manila, in 1979, and the bee mascot in a red blazer and chef’s hat appeared in 1980.

1981-1998: holding off McDonald’s and the first stores abroad

Jollibee held its ground when McDonald’s entered the Philippines in 1981 by cooking for Filipino taste instead of copying American fast food. The Yumburger, a beef patty topped with mayonnaise, was one of the first products on the menu. Chickenjoy fried chicken arrived in the 1980s and became its flagship product, alongside a sweet Jolly Spaghetti with hot dog and ham. The first store abroad opened in 1985 at the Katong Shopping Centre in Singapore and closed after a year. Brunei, where a store opened on August 28, 1987, became the first lasting foreign market. The group went public on the Philippine Stock Exchange in 1993 (Jollibee Group), and the first US restaurant opened in Daly City, California, in 1998.

2018-2025: Europe, Vietnam and North America

Jollibee’s expansion abroad gathered pace in the last decade. Its first European restaurant opened in Milan in 2018, and the group’s brand page now lists 15 country websites, from the United Kingdom and Spain to Saudi Arabia, Malaysia and Canada. Vietnam is the largest foreign market: the network grew 15% in 2025 to 245 stores, where the chain competes head-on with Lotteria, as our Lotteria guide to Da Nang shows. In Singapore, Jollibee had 29 stores at the end of 2025 (Jollibee Group).

2025: 1,877 restaurants and a lead at home

At home, Jollibee is still the market leader and the core of its parent group. It opened its 1,300th Philippine store in Abulug, Cagayan, its northernmost branch, and ended 2025 with 1,341 restaurants in the Philippines and 536 abroad, 1,877 in total (JFC Q4 2025 earnings deck). The brand brings in about 62% of the group’s system-wide sales in the Philippines (Jollibee Group). Manila’s burger scene has moved beyond it, though, as our review of Savage by Josh Boutwood shows.

Key dates

• 1975: the Tan Caktiong family opens an ice cream parlour in Cubao, Quezon City.
• 1978: the parlour becomes Jollibee; seven Metro Manila branches by year-end.
• 1979: first franchised outlet, in Santa Cruz, Manila.
• 1981: McDonald’s enters the Philippines.
• 1987: Brunei becomes the first lasting foreign market.
• 1998: first US restaurant, in Daly City, California.
• 2018: first European restaurant, in Milan.
• 2025: 1,877 restaurants at year-end, 1,341 of them in the Philippines.