Jollibee US will open its first fast-food restaurant in Florida on March 18, to be followed by more outlets in the city.

A former A&W Restaurants and Kentucky Fried Chicken building covering nearly 3500 sqft (325 sqm) in Jacksonville has been renovated by the Philippines-based chain. It is next to The Potter’s House Soul Food Bistro in Keman Village shopping centre.

Starting as an ice cream parlor in the Philippines in 1975, Jollibee expanded into the US in 1998, opening in Daly City, near San Francisco, to cater to Filipino and Filipino-American families. The Jacksonville metro area also has a Filipino community of about 17,200 people, according to the US Census Bureau.

Jollibee says the Jacksonville move is the forerunner of further expansion in the US, where it already has 35 locations, nearly half of them in California. The group has 1111 stores worldwide.