Jollibee, a Filipino chicken chain with a smiling bee for a mascot, wants to open a restaurant in Fresno.

The restaurant, which the New York Times called “the McDonald’s of the Philippines,” has filed an application for a conditional-use permit to open a location at 515 E. Shaw Ave.

That’s the former Bank of the West building in front of Fashion Fair mall, just east of Burger King.

The building has already been demolished to make way for new construction.

Jollibee representatives have declined to be interviewed about the project, and neither Jollibee nor the mall responded to The Bee’s most recent request for information.

But the permit application shows that Jollibee wants to build a 2,559-square-foot restaurant with a drive-thru.

The permit has yet to be approved, according to city records, and construction hasn’t started yet.

The food on the menu

So what exactly is a Jollibee?

The star of its menu is its chicken, dubbed “Chickenjoy.” It also has some dishes you won’t typically find at American fast food restaurants: spaghetti, palabok fiesta and its signature peach-mango pie.

Chickenjoy is its version of fried chicken. Like KFC, it comes in buckets or individual dishes, with mashed potatoes or french fries as a side.

But the similarities end there, and other sides include steamed rice and adobo rice, which is a dish made with spiced rice marinated in meat juices that stems from the Philippines.

There are also chicken sandwiches and tenders, and “yumburgers” on the menu.

As for the spaghetti, the pasta is topped with a sweet sauce and chunks of ham and hot dog.

And that palabok fiesta?

It’s a traditional Filipino dish of thin noodles topped with garlic sauce, sauteed pork, shrimp and a hard-boiled egg.

Jollibee has more than 1,000 restaurants worldwide. Many of them are in Southern California, along with a location in Sacramento and one that opened recently in Delano.

This story was originally published June 22, 2021 at 10:49 AM.

Bethany Clough

The Fresno Bee

(559) 441-6431

Bethany Clough covers restaurants and retail for The Fresno Bee. A reporter for more than 20 years, she now works to answer readers’ questions about business openings, closings and other business news. She has a degree in journalism from Syracuse University and her last name is pronounced Cluff.