Chowking

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Filipino fast food restaurant chain specializing in Chinese-Filipino cuisine

title: "Chowking" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["jollibee-group-brands", "fast-food-franchises", "fast-food-chains-of-the-philippines", "regional-restaurant-chains-in-the-united-states", "restaurants-established-in-1985", "philippine-brands", "1985-establishments-in-the-philippines", "chinese-restaurants-outside-china", "2000-mergers-and-acquisitions", "jollibee-group-subsidiaries", "filipino-restaurants"] description: "Filipino fast food restaurant chain specializing in Chinese-Filipino cuisine" topic_path: "technology/web" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chowking" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Filipino fast food restaurant chain specializing in Chinese-Filipino cuisine ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox brand"]

Field	Value
name	Chowking
logo	Chowking logo.svg
logo_size	150px
logo_alt	The Chinese script 超群 /pinyin: chāoqún/ means "outstanding"
producttype	Filipino Chinese fast food chain
country	Philippines
introduced
related
currentowner	Fresh N' Famous Foods
(Jollibee Group)
previousowners	Chowking Food Corporation
website

| module = | module1 = Chowking () is a Filipino fast food restaurant chain that serves Filipino Chinese cuisine. Founded in 1985, Chowking was acquired by Jollibee Group in 2000. It is widely considered the country's most popular restaurant of Chinese-Filipino food and was once the second-largest Filipino fast food chain. There are over 600 locations of the restaurant worldwide.

History

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/92/Chowking_restaurant.jpg" caption="A Chowking restaurant in 2007"] ::

Beginnings (1985{{Endash}}1999)

Hailing from a Chinese-Filipino family, Robert Kuan graduated with an MBA degree in 1975. He became the CEO of Ling Nam, a Chinese restaurant in Binondo, Manila, partially owned by his family, and successfully expanded it into a small restaurant chain. Ling Nam, however, was plagued by family conflict. Kuan learned that the shareholders were planning to remove him from his position. Taking the advice of his friend Henry Sy, Kuan resigned in October 1984.

Kuan had plans to start his own Chinese restaurant, another piece of advice from Sy. He wanted to adopt the fast food format, providing an alternative to the leading Western-style fast food chains such as Jollibee and McDonald's.

Chowking Food Corporation was incorporated on February 19, 1985. The principal investors were Kuan, Jollibee founder Tony Tan Caktiong and Wilson Chu. After two years, Kuan and Caktiong bought Chu's shares, so they each owned 50% of the company. The name "Chowking" comes from the Chinese word meaning "outstanding".

The first Chowking opened on March 18, 1985, on the ground floor of Rotary Arcade (now the site of SM Makati) in Makati Commercial Center, Makati. In 1989, Chowking started a franchise system which enabled them to enter new markets with limited resources. Its first franchise opened in the provincial town of Meycauayan, Bulacan. That year, Chowking had expanded to ten locations. It required to start a new Chowking franchise.

Chowking's 1992 expansion program led to the opening of the first two stores outside Luzon: at Limketkai Center in Cagayan de Oro, Mindanao and at Era Mall in Bacolod, Visayas. A U.S. government report believed that Chowking was likely to succeed because Filipinos enjoyed Chinese cuisine and had a "newly-found concern for the clean, well-lit and quick service they provide." At the end of 1992, there were 21 Chowking locations. In 1996, Chowking opened its hundredth location.

In his book on Fast Food Globalization in the Provincial Philippines (2017), Ty Matejowsky found that Chowking's largest competitors are not other fast food chains but local, family-owned Chinese restaurants. Its biggest competitors in 1994 included Ling Nam. When Chowking expanded to San Fernando, Pampanga, in 1997, many restaurants had to adjust their menus; for example, they now add sugar to their siopao to resemble Chowking's.

In late 1999, Kuan agreed to sell his 50% controlling share of Chowking Food Corporation to Caktiong, chairman of Jollibee Group, for . In November, Chowking had 162 branches, including four in the United States and three in Dubai. The Wall Street Journal called it the Philippines' most successful Chinese food chain. In a televised interview, Kuan said that he sold Chowking to Jollibee because "the offer was good and it was time to let go".

In the 1990s, Chowking held the naming rights to Chowking Fastfood Kings, a Philippine Basketball League (PBL) team. The team gave Leo Austria his big break as a coach in 1998, and included notable players such as Roger Yap and Chris Calaguio. After Jollibee acquired Chowking, the team was sold to Shark Energy Drink ahead of the 2000–01 PBL season.

Jollibee (2000{{Endash}}present)

In 2011, Jollibee acquired control over the franchised operations of Chowking USA, later on giving the full ownership to JFC. They also gave 25% ownership to JFC Ayco Inc.

Chowking has also expanded to the Middle East. In February 2014, Chowking had 19 stores in the UAE, five in Qatar, and two in Oman. Tradeline LLC's Ahmed Lafir opened the UAE's first Chowking in April 2003. The country's locations are far more spacious. Since they cater mostly to expatriate Filipinos, Chowking UAE soon added more "Filipino home-style dishes" such as bulalo and kare-kare to its menu.

Products

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cb/Braised_beef1.jpg" caption="braised beef"] ::

Chowking offers Filipino Chinese cuisine, a departure from typical fast food fare. Matejowsky notes that Chowking sells dishes which consumers cannot purchase at larger chains such as McDonald's or Jollibee. Its diverse menu includes chicken and beef dishes served with rice; Filipino dishes such as mami and "sweet-tasting" siopao; and desserts such as the Filipino halo-halo, which Matejowsky described as "one of Chowking's most popular offerings".

Notes

References

Bibliography

References

"Fresh N' Famous Foods Inc Company Profile".
(1996). "Management Control in Chinese-Filipino Business Enterprises". [[University of the Philippines Press]].
Lopez, Tony. (May 31, 2011). "For Robert Kuan, "everything is vision"".
https://benable.com/ixia234567/chowking-c4
Marbella, Winston A.. (September 8, 2012). "Giant leap from fast food to health care sector". [[Philippine Daily Inquirer]].
Dakudao, Michael Ebro. (February 2, 2020). "Cultural Potpourri {{!}} The Modern Chowking Quimpo Shell Drive-Thru".
"Our Story".
Manikan, Isagani Eliezer. (2012). "The Visionary Leader". [[Asian Institute of Management]].
Alonso, Nestor II. (January 23, 2007). "Chowking Redemptorist Cebu".
(December 1992). "ASSESSMENT OF PROSPECTS FOR U.S.-BASED FRANCHISES IN THE PHILIPPINES (PHASE II)". [[United States Agency for International Development]].
Lopez, Edu. (October 18, 1994). "Chowking mulls IPO, junks merger". [[Manila Standard]].
(November 9, 1999). "Jollibee To Acquire Chinese-Filipino Fast Food Chain".
Jao-Grey, Margaret. (May 9, 2001). "What's eating Chowking".
(November 9, 1999). "Burger Chain Jollibee Agrees to Buy Chinese Fast-Food Group Chowking".
Avila, Bobit S.. (October 31, 2005). "We must preserve our regional languages!".
U. Eroa, Dennis. (February 23, 2000). "Shark Energy Drink joins PBL". [[Philippine Daily Inquirer]].
(March 9, 2000). "Shark to attack in PBL".
Ramos, Gerry. (September 18, 2018). "Austria pays final tribute to Chowking founder who gave him big break".
Cigaral, Ian Nicolas. (July 24, 2019). "List: Brands operated by Jollibee Foods Corp.".
Paras-Sison, Carla. (July 31, 2006). "Chowking is king".
Peña, Zinnia B. Dela. (November 11, 2006). "Jollibee merges Chowking, Greenwich, Delifrance".
(November 28, 2008). "Chowking completes two-year modernization program".
(September 3, 2010). "A taste of success".
Llemit, Ralph Lawrence G.. (December 1, 2023). "Dole-Davao to probe fast food chain; Labor Union offers support to female crew".
Legaspi, Zeus. (November 26, 2023). "Chowking issues response to viral video of staff 'wanting to meet quota'". [[Philippine Daily Inquirer]].
Kahanap, Patricia. (November 27, 2023). "Sales over safety? Netizens slam Chowking over out-of-store order taking".
Hookway, James. (October 4, 2002). "Chowking Spices Up Market For Fast Food in Philippines". [[The Wall Street Journal]].
(March 26, 1998). "Philippine Food Chain To Expand In U.S., Europe".
(June 26, 2023). "Chowking Menu Prices Philippines 2023".
Manila Bulletin (posted by Rex Crisostomo). (March 26, 2006). "Chowking steps up global forays". Manila Bulletin.
Doris C., Dumlao. (May 20, 2011). "Jollibee taking over US franchise of Chowking".
(February 26, 2014). "Jollibee putting up shop in UAE". [[Philippine Daily Inquirer]].
(June 8, 2009). "Chowking UAE franchise owner eyes more stores".
Kuan, Robert. (2000). "Asian Business Wisdom: Lessons from the Region's Best and Brightest Business Leaders". [[Wiley (publisher).

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