George Almeida remembers exactly when it happened. He was drinking coffee on the morning of March 30, 2025, in the kitchen of his home on a 1,300-acre cattle ranch in El Dorado County.
As he flipped through the pages of Multi-Unit Franchisee magazine, his eyes landed on a full page ad that would change the course of his life — and the appetites of Bay Area residents — forever. Jollibee, the popular and nostalgic Filipino fast food chain, was looking to franchise in Northern California for the first time.
Almeida, a Richmond High School graduate and veteran franchisee who once owned multiple Fuddruckers and Dave’s Hot Chicken restaurants, called a longtime friend in the business who happened to grow up on Jollibee to see what she thought about him going for it…