Cristy Egamino and her family showed up for Jollibee’s grand re-opening at 7:45 p.m. The restaurant didn’t open until 9 a.m. the next day.
They had been prepared to come much earlier. At 6 p.m., when Egamino’s son, Darren, got off work, he stopped by to stake out the area, and reported back that there was no one in line yet.
Darren continued monitoring the situation from his car while the rest of the family ate dinner. At 7:45, Cristy, Darren, and two other family members began taking shifts, holding their space in line, before officially convening to wait collectively for the final four hours at 5 a.m. this morning.
“Jollibee means family,” Egamino said, minutes before the doors opened at 934 Market Street at Fifth.
As a reward for being first in line, Egamino won a punch card that could be used for one free six-piece Jollychicken bucket every month, for the next 12 months, and a Jollibee swag bag. Behind her, a line of over 100 people eagerly waited, many sitting on folding chairs they brought for the long wait. The company’s mascot, Jollibee himself, worked the line, posing for selfies and doing the occasional little dance in front of a poster that read “I heart Jollibee” and “Jollibee is here!” The 99-odd people behind Egamino got Jollychicken punch cards , an “I heart Jollibee SF” shirt, and inflatable cheering sticks.
At the ceremony, Jollibee officials hailed the new location as the first in San Francisco — though many people in line knew it wasn’t true.
“I went every weekend to the old one, I’m not sure why it closed,” said Perla Areanas, who was 48th in line. “I’m glad it’s closer to me now, I’m gonna go every day.”
Jollibee, which is the largest fast food chain brand in the Philippines, has 1,600 locations across the world. For over a decade, one of them — a Jollibee at 200 Fourth St., across from Moscone Center — was a hub of the Filipino community.
Egamino, who used to be a caregiver at Woolf House Apartments — where the former Jollibee was located, used to frequent the restaurant every day after work.
“She went there every day and brought Jollibee home to us,” Darren Egamino said. “Whenever she was tired from her shift, or just wanted a taste of comfort, Jollibee was there.”
When the Fourth Street Jollibee opened in the early 2000s, Filipino food was scarce in San Francisco. Like JT Restaurant (originally known as “New Pilipinas” when it opened in 1994) it was a destination for homesick residents.
In the case of Jollibee, home could take the form of “Jolly Spaghetti,” (classic Filipino spaghetti made with banana ketchup and chunks of hot dog), peach mango pie, and gravy (which can be eaten with everything, and is arguably the best thing on the menu). The first Jollibee in the United States had only opened a few years earlier, debuting on June 12, 1998 in Daly City — a city known for its heavy Filipino demographic.
The Moscone location — and the attached Red Ribbon bakery, the source of many local birthday cakes — quietly closed in 2011. But it lingered in the collective memory, appearing in, among other things, a walking tour of SoMa put together as part of Work in Progress, a show about the neighborhood’s history at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts..
Rumors of the return of Jollibee circulated for years after its demise. “I remember stories back in 2016 that the location was going to open,” Ervin Baccan, a Bay Area native and UC Berkeley graduate, said. “Ten years later and three degrees later, they’re just opening. I feel like this opening has been in the background of my life, just waiting to happen.”
In 2020, when news broke that Jollibee’s name was on a business permit filed for 934 Market, there was much rejoicing. But then the pandemic, and then multiple city permitting issues — including installing new utility lines, meeting noise requirements, and exterior changes — pushed the opening further and further into the future.
The new Market Street location is part of a 15-location Jollibee Northern California expansion that will take place over the next eight years, led by George Almeida, perhaps best known as the owner of the last Fuddruckers in California (it’s in Concord).
“The Bay Area is Jollibee heaven,” Almeida said, in a trade journal interview. “From the demographics, we have one of the largest Filipino communities in the country. Jollibee’s strongest asset is its reputation among the Filipino community in the U.S.”
After the doors officially opened, Darren Egamino was the first to order. His haul: two pieces of Chickenjoy, Jolly spaghetti, and a pineapple quencher. “Tastes like home,” he said, after the first bite. All around him, people took pictures with the Jollibee mascot, took videos, and recorded themselves eating.
“We love Jollibee,” Cristy Egamino said. “I’m happy I can finally bring my family here and we can all share this food together. Sarap Sarap (delicious, delicious)!”
