The nearly six-year wait for Filipino fried-chicken favorite Jollibee to return to San Francisco is almost over, as the new Market Street location is scheduled to open its doors July 31.
After years of shifting timelines and a great deal of speculation, Jollibee has finally locked in an opening date for its long-awaited Market Street restaurant. As the Chronicle reports, the Filipino fast-food chain announced Tuesday that its new location at 934 Market Street, adjacent to Halidie Plaza and Powell BART, will open July 31. They will be serving customers daily from 9 am to 10 pm with dine-in, takeout, and online ordering.
As SFist reported previously, the Market Street outpost has been making its way through city approvals since 2020. Originally expected to open in 2023, the timeline got pushed to 2024 then 2025 as the project navigated historic preservation review, utility work, and coordination with multiple agencies because of its location above BART and Muni infrastructure and next to a dense residential corridor.
The restaurant was on the verge of opening, but the project hit yet another snag when newly installed rooftop equipment failed the city's noise compliance requirements, delaying the opening yet again.
According to the Chronicle, building and health officials cleared Jollibee to open earlier this month after it passed a third compliance test in late June.
San Francisco was previously blessed with its own Jollibee on the corner of Mission and Fourth streets back in the early 2000s until it closed in 2010.
The Chronicle notes that the opening coincides with yet another push by city leaders to revive the beleaguered stretch of Market Street where the restaurant sits, near the struggling Saluhall inside the Market Street IKEA and a block from the shuttered San Francisco Centre mall.
SFGate reports that Jollibee, which operates more than 1,700 locations worldwide, is also planning a Bay Area expansion through a partnership with restaurateur George Almeida to open 15 new locations over the next eight years.
Previously: Jollibee’s Market Street Debut Remains Stalled Amid Ongoing Hurdles With City
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