Jump for (Chicken)joy! Jollibee brings buzz with overnight campers, crowds in Oregon debut

Published 2:05 pm Friday, May 30, 2025

By Nick LaMora

At long last, Jollibee lands in Oregon.

After years of buzz, setbacks and false alarms, the beloved Filipino fast-food chain officially debuted its first Oregon location Friday, May 30, drawing a swarm of customers and a drive-thru line that wrapped through Hillsboro’s Tanasbourne Village.

Confetti rained down as the doors opened at 9 a.m., welcoming eager customers — even some who had camped out since the afternoon before. While fans have waited years for Jollibee’s arrival in the state, the true diehards came prepared — with lawn chairs, tents and even Mahjong tables — braving an overnight wait for a taste of crispy Chickenjoy, sweet spaghetti and flaky peach mango pie.

To celebrate the grand opening, the first 50 in-store customers and the first 50 drive-thru guests each walked away with commemorative T-shirts and vouchers for a year’s worth of Chickenjoy — one six-piece bucket per month.

Kris Asafo-Adjei claimed the first spot at the front of the line around 2:30 p.m. Thursday, but she’s been waiting much longer for the day the Hillsboro restaurant would finally open its doors.

“I’ve been lurking here — I feel like I live here,” she said, laughing. “We’re ready; Oregon has been ready.”

Asafo-Adjei, like many Jollibee lovers in Oregon, has spent the past decade making the trek to Washington to get her fix.

“We have to drive to Tukwila (Washington) to go get this food that we grew up with in the Philippines. My grandma would take my sister and I to Jollibee. And this is an incredible reminiscence of home, and to be able to share it with my seven-year-old and my two-year-old is a gift,” she said.

Other dedicated fans, like Hillsboro’s Christian Aniciete, called off work to ensure he snagged the first drive-thru spot after scouting the area all week.

“I actually brought my mom as well, and so it was me at the drive-thru and my mom right outside the restaurant having this awesome game plan,” Aniciete said. “I had two lawn chairs and my blanket in the car. And so when they told me I could start lining up, I placed my lawn chair right outside the restaurant, and then started lining up at the drive-thru.”

For Aniciete, Jollibee transcends comfort food with flavors that speak to culture and heritage.

“Jollibee is home,” he said. “I was born in Manila, and even though I came here to the states, I’ve always loved Jollibee. It’s all about family and memories and home.”

Like a family gathering, the opening celebration came alive with music blasting, performances from Liberty High School’s cheer team, and fans — decked out in branded T-shirts, bucket hats and totes — posing for photos with the chain’s oversized bee mascot.

“I enjoy the music and dancing and just keeping the vibes up,” OJ Ermita from Beaverton said. “A lot of Filipinos are like that actually, and that’s why it’s a nice community.”

When it came time to get food, customers definitely weren’t leaving empty handed.

Beaverton residents Kieran Tran and John Naval stocked up on all the fixings: multiple buckets of Chickenjoy, mashed potatoes, chicken sandwiches, spaghetti — and a total of seven peach mango pies. And you can’t forget the rice, they added.

“We gotta bring it home to the family who couldn’t make it,” Tran said.

“We were lined up since 6 p.m. yesterday,” Naval chimed in. “So honestly, we had to buy as much as we could here.”

The Hillsboro location won’t carry some fan favorites just yet; Yumburgers are expected to arrive soon, but ube pies and palabok (a traditional Filipino garlic noodle dish) will not be served at this location.

If you missed Friday’s giveaways, don’t worry — the celebration continues all weekend. Saturday brings free red-and-white tote bags for the first 50 in-store and drive-thru customers, while Sunday caps it off with a chance to grab Jollibee’s coveted red bucket hat.

The restaurant is open daily from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. for dine-in, takeout and drive-thru, with online ordering rolling out in the coming weeks.

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