Jollibee Milan Europe’s First Filipino Fast Food – Road Trip Naples to Milan

Finally, after about a year of waiting, I was able to taste again the most awaited ChickenJoy. Jollibee Foods Corporation, an entirely Filipino-owned multinational chain of fast food restaurants. It has opened its first branch in Milan, Italy last March of 2018.

Jollibee features “alternative Western-inspired quick-service restaurant with superior-tasting, value-for-money products,” as well as Filipino’s favorite picked ChickenJoy, Jolly Spaghetti, and Yumburger.

As of December 2016, Jollibee operates 1,100 stores, 950 of which are in the Philippines, and 150 are situated in foreign countries. Jollibee’s first foreign franchise is in North America then expanded to Canada one in Toronto and one in Mississauga.

Jollibee first entered the European market in 2018 with the opening of a branch in Milan. London, United Kingdom became the second location in Europe opened last October 2018.

Read our experience in Jollibee branch in Cebu, the Queen City of South.

Road trip from Naples to Milan

The day has come to depart from Naples and proceed to the next destination. As we planned, it’s going to be Milan and the sole objective? To get to eat some Chicken Joy in Milan’s Jollibee.

Since I was a kid, I love to eat Jollibee’s food. Like Jolly Hotdog, Yumburger, Burger Steak, Palabok, Chocolate Sundae, and many more.

We left Europeo Hotel early in the morning to get to Milan in the afternoon. It’s an 8-hour road trip from Naples, so we’ve figured out to leave as early as 7:00 am.

In the morning, we didn’t ask for breakfast from the hotel. We simply checked out and took the car from the parking area. We paid 50 euros for 3 days of parking. It was supposedly 60 euros, but we had a discount from the hotel we stayed, so we only paid 50 euros. Still, it was expensive though.

The parking area was Parking Quick Porta di Massa, it was not bad for a parking space because the staff is kind. Although they don’t speak English well, they are kind and helpful.

If you’re going for a short trip to Naples, it’s one of the best places to leave your car and keep it safe. It’ll be cheaper if you keep your car here for some hours only. 4€/hours and it’s near the center of Naples.

A Glimpse of Cinque Terre

The road to Milan would be very long, the first thing to do is to gas up. We also thought of passing through La Spezia to reach Cinque Terre.

In the beginning, I was hesitant to go, the road to reach Cinque Terre would be very stiff and narrow. It’s ideal to go there on a train according to some travel bloggers.

However, we didn’t have a lot of choices. We drove near Vernazza and saw some stunning landscape of Cinque Terre.

Corniglia

We arrived first in a small town near Corniglia. Corniglia is not directly adjacent to the sea Unlike the other localities of the Cinque Terre. Instead, it is on the top of a foreland about 100 meters high.

To reach Corniglia, it is necessary to climb the Lardarina, a long brick flight of steps composed of 33 flights with 382 steps or, otherwise follow a vehicular road from the station.

The town is surrounded on three sides by vineyards and terraces, the fourth side descends steeply to the sea. It took us 2 hours more to get there just by following the steep and narrow roads.

But because of our hotel reservation, we thought of getting back on the road as soon as possible. Before leaving that place, we’ve seen one of the beautiful features of Cinque Terre.

I was really surprised by how magical this place is. Though it’s doesn’t have the same features as other Cinque Terre towns Cognilia looks really wonderful. The houses are lower set, and only more recently higher, similar to those of the villages of the hinterland.

Corniglia is mentioned in a famous novella of Giovanni Boccaccio’s Decameron and Chiesa di san Bernardino which gives a great panoramic view of the coast.

Milan, here we come!

Finally, after the long road trip, we arrived late but safely at Milan and checked-in our hotel. It’s our second time that we are staying here, the first one was way back 2-3 years ago, when we went to Switzerland.

The weather was nice, very warm, and not so windy. It was approximately 7:00 pm when we checked in and directly drive to Piazza Diaz to see Jollibee.

The hotel was 25 minutes away from there, we have checked the GPS to find a parking area. We found one named Autosilo Diaz, located right in front of the Jollibee building.

Jollibee 

Despite arriving late in Milan, we were very lucky to arrive at Jollibee before its closing time. Around 8:00 pm, we arrived in the center, parked our car, and went inside the fast food building.

I’ve heard from the news that the Jollibee in Milan has tons of clients every day that there’s even a queue all day long. Entering the restaurant, there weren’t a lot of people. What a relief. We first choose our table, and I went to order our food.

I choose two menus for us, one with the Chicken Joy/Fried Chicken (my fave) and rice for me, and for Hubby, a Yumburger, one with Patty burger with mushroom and coleslaw. Accompanied by special Jollibee gravy and Pepsi Max.

Being here at Europe’s first Jollibee, was one of the memorable moments of my life. It’s been almost a year since I last tasted my favorite Chicken Joy.

The taste of Friend chicken here is really different from other fast food restaurants. I would say it’s the best compared to others!

Now it’s time for my solo photo with Mr. Jollibee himself. Jollibee’s mascot is super famous in the Philippines. You can see him in every franchise store. He looks like a giant Bee with a big smile on his face. It was a great experience, and I’m Hoping to come back again here in Milan to eat my favorite Filipino food.

After our late dinner, we went back to our hotel, spent the night to rest. Tomorrow would be the day to drive back to Brussels. So don’t forget to check the next post about our road trip back home.

You’ll surely enjoy the views on the road!

Jollibee Milan Europe’s First Filipino Fast Food