Jollibee - Philippines #1 Fast Food - Now ours to enjoy!

Last Sunday, I finally got the nerve to get into line for this Fast Food Sensation from the Philippines. My friend Helen grew up there, but had never experienced Jollibee. It wasn't around when she left. When she visits, her relatives either serve food at home or take her to their favorite restaurants. Perhaps it is generational, nobody thought to bring her to Jollibee.

Yet she was aware of Jollibee. When Louisa Chu went to the Philippines a few years ago, she thought it was something to try. Helen's sister in California had visited the outposts there and highly recommended the chicken.

We had attempted to visit earlier, that is the Monday after they opened. At 10 pm, there was at least a two-hour line, which had been cut off. Drive bys at various times, there was always a double line under the tent.

Jollibee is certainly prepared for this level of almost endless enthusiasm. They have at least one, at the beginning certainly two, refrigerated 40-foot truck boxes in the parking lot for supplies.

Last Sunday morning, we got into a relatively short line beginning at 10:35 am. We had our food by 11:25 am, which was impressively short by Jollibee standards.

We stood in line with a couple who this was their second, possibly third visit, involving a six hour drive from home. The wife is a Filippina and the husband an American, who really enjoys his food. They offered recommendations on what to order. Information was exchanged on how to make the best spaghetti a la Philippines. In addition to ground meat and hot dogs, the wife suggested adding a can of crema. They also offered a bit of gossip: the manager for the Jollibee is from Hawaii, who is living here temporarily until this site is established. On their first day of operations, they served 5000 customers.

When you finally enter the restaurant, we were greeted, shown a plastic encased menu and asked for our order. This wasn't really placing your order, it was really there to help you define what you want. It is noted on the door, you have one chance to order and cannot return to counter for an additional order. You have to use you one opportunity wisely!

Based on the enthusiastic suggestions of our line-friends, we ordered chicken bucket B: eight-pieces of chicken, family size spaghetti and three-peach-mango pies plus gravy, which comes with every bucket, Burger steak (two patty option) with rice, though you could have had fries or mashed potatoes, and Halo-Halo.

We sat down, then had a moment of "where do we begin?" Eat the chicken while it is hot and before steam corrupts the crust? Eat your Burger steak before it cools and who knows how the gravy may react?

Instead, we began almost in a frenzy. I went for a chicken leg to get that initial crisp bite. Helen divided the Burger steak, then took a bite. Her first thought was, "Isn't this Salisbury steak?" Took a bite, to affirm this is Salisbury steak.

The fried chicken was good, though it was not the greatest chicken I ever experienced in my whole life. It was good and certainly one I would enjoy in the future. Certainly, I wanted it to be the greatest chicken I ever experienced in my whole life, because some people did assure us it would be.

We then inspected the spaghetti, which everyone assured us would be sweet. Guaranteed not anything any American would likely enjoy. I have in my cabinet several containers of Philippine Spaghetti sauce purchased at Continental Sales initially for 99 cents and later even cheaper. I wanted to try the authentic Jollibee version before I cracked them open.

Looking closely at the Jollibee spaghetti, I saw small dice of meat cubes, which may be Spam or a knock-off. I saw hot dogs, too. I finally took a moment to taste the spaghetti, it reminded me of a better version of Chef Boy-Ar-Dee. Better in the spaghetti had not been pressure canned. This spaghetti was not al dente, it was more cooked than that. Add the sauce to spaghetti, minus hot dogs and cubes of Spam, it was a visit to my childhood lunch from a can.

The mango-peach pie was very much like a fry pie. Was it fried or baked, like McDonald's. I don't really know. I thought it was a terrific combo and one I will want to enjoy into the future.

The Halo-Halo, which means mix-mix, is a dessert of finely chopped ice with balls of ice cream, beans and probably there was sweetened condensed milk. By the time we reached for it, the ingredients were commingling by simply melting. There was one bean never seen before in prior Halo-Halos, garbanzo beans. I would never have noticed, because any bean in a dessert is always odd. I just cannot get over the thought of beans as dessert. It was Helen who was commenting on the bean mixture. What was missing from this dessert is shaved ice instead of this ground ice, which was pretty gritty.

When we left just before noon, the line was more than doubled what we encountered at 10:35 am. For obvious reasons, the drive-thru is not activated yet. Their breakfast offerings are not yet offered, though you can get fried chicken!

Nearby there are no signicant lines at M Burger, Halal Guys and a number of other fast food offerings. If you go to Jollibee and cannot deal with the lines, plan B is a stone throw away.

There is a second Jollibee already in works for Seafood City store to open on Elston. Already it is known there is not enough parking in this complex, which is expected to be as enthusiastically embraced by the Filippino community.

Regards,
Cathy2

Jollibee
3534 W Touhy Ave, Skokie, IL 60076
Phone: (847) 674-3900
Hours: 7AM–10PM

I'm very curious about Jollibee, but your description of waiting in line for an hour for what sounds like average chicken and Chef Boy-Ar-Dee-like spaghetti makes me less curious.

Were many of the patrons of Asian heritage? I'm kind of wondering if Jollibee is somewhat of a Mickie Dee's of The Phillipines? So, if I were living in a land with no McDonalds, and no real approximation of a McDonalds for several years, if one opened, I might stand in line for a McChicken, a Big Mac, and a couple of those apple pies.

seebee wrote:Were many of the patrons of Asian heritage? I'm kind of wondering if Jollibee is somewhat of a Mickie Dee's of The Phillipines? So, if I were living in a land with no McDonalds, and no real approximation of a McDonalds for several years, if one opened, I might stand in line for a McChicken, a Big Mac, and a couple of those apple pies.

I was in Moscow when the first McDonald's opened. People waited three hours or more for a Big Mac. This location was able to process 700 people an hour.

Almost all the people were Filippinos. I saw only one couple who were not Asian. A few people like me, who tagged along with friend from the region.

I remember vividly a first-class train ride to Minsk arriving early in the morning. My cabin cohabitant spent most of this trip drinking vodka. It was not easy to go to a deep sleep. Everything was grey except for a McDonald's. Clean bathrooms and food I knew, it was a blessing.

I do understand the desire to get that piece of home. Frankly, it was food recognizable to us as well. I've lived the ex-pat life and understand the attraction of Jollibee.

Regards,
CAthy

Cathy2 wrote:I was in Moscow when the first McDonald's opened. People waited three hours or more for a Big Mac.

I listened to a story on NPR about a person that worked at that McDonald's, as a Russian, he made the comment it wasn't just about the Big Mac, it was about the fact that the employees were asked to smile, be polite, care about the customer and ask them to return. As this Russian put it, typical servers in Russian restaurants did none of the above, there was appeal besides the food.

I echo stevez's comment above, thanks for waiting in line & reporting back. I'll go eventually but only after the craze subsides.

seebee wrote:Were many of the patrons of Asian heritage? I'm kind of wondering if Jollibee is somewhat of a Mickie Dee's of The Phillipines? So, if I were living in a land with no McDonalds, and no real approximation of a McDonalds for several years, if one opened, I might stand in line for a McChicken, a Big Mac, and a couple of those apple pies.

That's pretty much it. I used to hit either of the Honolulu Jollibees occasionally, but really only for a change of pace from other lunch options in the area. I never had anything there compelling enough to make me eager to make a return trip, let alone to wait in a line like people are enduring for this one.

That said, nostalgia is a powerful force and I can totally understand the desire to get back to a piece of the past, especially if it was from somewhere many thousands of miles away. Without that pull of nostalgia though, there's no way I'd go to Jollibee here until the lines have completely died down. Even then you should go in knowing that you're trying it for novelty's sake, rather than with the expectation/hope of food good enough to justify these crazy lines.

I have been at both Jollibees in Las Vegas. I believe that eating at Jollibees is more of a cultural thing. I liked the fried chicken and the hamburgers were all right. I am familiar with Philippine style spaghetti with the sweet sauce and the hot dogs and always pass.

Generally, next to a Jollibees is a Chowking restaurant which serves Filipino-Chinese food. Neither my wife or I liked that place.

Red Ribbon is also usually located next to a Jollibees. That is probably the best of the three and is very similar to the Bini Bakery in H-Mart or the Hippo Bakery at Mitsuwa

As some of you know, I used to manage a staff of 10-15 people in Manila. I had one employee who would cook me lunch every day (until I requested that it stop). I really like the pork and chicken adobos and teh pancit. It is a shame that Jollibees has neither.

jlawrence01 wrote:
Generally, next to a Jollibees is a Chowking restaurant which serves Filipino-Chinese food. Neither my wife or I liked that place.

Red Ribbon is also usually located next to a Jollibees. That is probably the best of the three and is very similar to the Bini Bakery in H-Mart or the Hippo Bakery at Mitsuwa

I'll bet that most, if not all, of those places will be part of Seafood City once it opens. Construction is moving along at a good clip. That place will be at least as large as H-Mart.

Jollibee does actually serve a version of pancit: pancit palabok, though it has a different name. I will pass on the Chowking, but at the Seafood City in Vegas, the Grill City puts out top notch Filipino BBQ, and the fried place is tasty, too.

Cathy2 wrote:I do understand the desire to get that piece of home. Frankly, it was food recognizable to us as well. I've lived the ex-pat life and understand the attraction of Jollibee.

Regards,
CAthy

I had a Filipino friend who hit this place up. The 90 minutes in line gave her a chance to speak to others in line. People had come in from Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan to eat there, that's how much they wanted a familiar piece of home.

took a look at the line saturday after a halal guys trip and liked that they had a tent area setup for the people waiting.

does anyone know how the lines are on weekdays?

Drover wrote:

Cathy2 wrote:I do understand the desire to get that piece of home. Frankly, it was food recognizable to us as well. I've lived the ex-pat life and understand the attraction of Jollibee.

Regards,
CAthy

I had a Filipino friend who hit this place up. The 90 minutes in line gave her a chance to speak to others in line. People had come in from Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan to eat there, that's how much they wanted a familiar piece of home.

I'd probably do the same, if I was in their shoes.

As for lines, one or two of my drivebys were on weekday afternoons, where I saw lines outside both times. After my visit, I knew at a glance it was at least an hour at 2:45 pm on Monday. If there were no lines, I wanted to get my Mom a pineapple drink. Line was long enough to not bother.

If anyone has passed at 7 am, it would be interesting to know what the wait may be.

Regards,
Cathy2

When I drove by today at 1:30, there were only about 25 people in the line outside. How much longer to you generally wait once you get inside?

stevez wrote:

jlawrence01 wrote:
Generally, next to a Jollibees is a Chowking restaurant which serves Filipino-Chinese food. Neither my wife or I liked that place.

Red Ribbon is also usually located next to a Jollibees. That is probably the best of the three and is very similar to the Bini Bakery in H-Mart or the Hippo Bakery at Mitsuwa

I'll bet that most, if not all, of those places will be part of Seafood City once it opens. Construction is moving along at a good clip. That place will be at least as large as H-Mart.

I have been to the Seafood City in Las Vegas. They have a greater variety of seafood than H-Mart BUT I do not think that the quality is as good. I would wager that the Seafood City will probably by more Filipino than general Asian and that the store will be more similar to what you would find in Manila that the traditional US Asian market.

Cinnamon Girl wrote:When I drove by today at 1:30, there were only about 25 people in the line outside. How much longer to you generally wait once you get inside?

From the line, you are allowed into the vestibule. I waited there about five minutes. Note I was at the front of the line allowed into the vestibule.

At small trickles, they allowed people into the pre-food ordering line. This is where someone came with the plastic menu inquiring what you may be ordering. She wrote it on a piece of paper that she gave to you. It is not your final order.

We were then allowed to the ordering line. At the counter, we made our final order, which changed as we read the menu boards while waiting.

It all may sound ponderous, though it ran rather smoothly. The people eating were not impacted by the lines.

If there were 25 people in line, there may be 20 ahead in the vestibule and final ordering lines.

Regards,
Cathy2

Cathy2 wrote:

Cinnamon Girl wrote:When I drove by today at 1:30, there were only about 25 people in the line outside. How much longer to you generally wait once you get inside?

From the line, you are allowed into the vestibule. I waited there about five minutes. Note I was at the front of the line allowed into the vestibule.

At small trickles, they allowed people into the pre-food ordering line. This is where someone came with the plastic menu inquiring what you may be ordering. She wrote it on a piece of paper that she gave to you. It is not your final order.

We were then allowed to the ordering line. At the counter, we made our final order, which changed as we read the menu boards while waiting.

It all may sound ponderous, though it ran rather smoothly. The people eating were not impacted by the lines.

If there were 25 people in line, there may be 20 ahead in the vestibule and final ordering lines.

Regards,
Cathy2

I'm curious to know what you thought about the food.

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:

Cathy2 wrote:

Cinnamon Girl wrote:When I drove by today at 1:30, there were only about 25 people in the line outside. How much longer to you generally wait once you get inside?

From the line, you are allowed into the vestibule. I waited there about five minutes. Note I was at the front of the line allowed into the vestibule.

At small trickles, they allowed people into the pre-food ordering line. This is where someone came with the plastic menu inquiring what you may be ordering. She wrote it on a piece of paper that she gave to you. It is not your final order.

We were then allowed to the ordering line. At the counter, we made our final order, which changed as we read the menu boards while waiting.

It all may sound ponderous, though it ran rather smoothly. The people eating were not impacted by the lines.

If there were 25 people in line, there may be 20 ahead in the vestibule and final ordering lines.

Regards,
Cathy2

I'm curious to know what you thought about the food.

=R=

Food comments were in the first post of this thread from Cathy.

Dlongs wrote:Food comments were in the first post of this thread from Cathy.

Haha, got it, thanks. I'd forgotten that was her post!

=R=

Cathy2 wrote:

Drover wrote:

Cathy2 wrote:I do understand the desire to get that piece of home. Frankly, it was food recognizable to us as well. I've lived the ex-pat life and understand the attraction of Jollibee.

Regards,
CAthy

I had a Filipino friend who hit this place up. The 90 minutes in line gave her a chance to speak to others in line. People had come in from Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan to eat there, that's how much they wanted a familiar piece of home.

I'd probably do the same, if I was in their shoes. . .

I just don't know if I could see myself doing that for, say, McDonald's or Wendy's.

Culver's or Portillo's on the other hand...

Drover wrote:I just don't know if I could see myself doing that for, say, McDonald's or Wendy's.

Culver's or Portillo's on the other hand...

If you lived far away from your cultural touchstones, you just might or at least I know I have.

"Bir Big Mac, buyuk fries."

(Me in Istanbul, years ago but still remembered.)

HI,

On this dark and stormy night, there was no line at Jollibee. The tent has been removed, because they plan to open the drive through.

Ordered a combination of a piece of Chickenjoy, Fiesta noodles and drink, plus a peach- mango fry pie.

Fiesta Noodles aka Pancit noodles are thin rice noodles in a garlic sauce with pork cracklings, sauteed pork, shrimp, parsley flakes and slices of egg. My friend Helen and I liked this a lot. She felt her homemade was better, which is no surprise, though we did enjoy this version, too.

Chickenjoy fried chicken leg came with a small cup of gravy. I barely used the gravy, I may take a pass next time.

Just loved the peach-mango fried pie. You could see the bubbles on the crust. Wish McDonald's would return to frying their pies.

As I was leaving, I ordered the Pineapple Float for the home crowd. It is ice cubes with chunky bits of fruit pineapple juice poured over, then a large dollop of soft serve ice cream on top. The ice cream melted into the float by the time I arrived home. I selected a wide straw suitable for tapioca pearls and very convenient to suck up pineapple chunks. My Mom thought it was divine.

Warning signs advise people to park in Jollibee's parking lot only or risk a tow.

It was fun to breeze in this time.

Regards,
CAthy2

Thanks for the reports about what Jollibee's food is like. I might give them a try, once the long lines die down in a few months. Had never been to one, so am a little curious what they're like myself. I'm also wary about the spaghetti like another LTHer said, based on the description of it and will probably try something else whenever I go there!

No lines early Tuesday afternoon, restaurant 80% full, drive-thru open.

Dug the fried chicken, light crackly flour crust, noticeable but not overpowering salt, juicy flesh, evocative of South side Chicago soul food restaurant fried chicken such as Izola's or Pearl's Place.

Quality of chicken better than expected, not to mean poulet de Bresse or even air chilled but eons above the mushy fleshed dreck kfc is currently passing as poultry.

Rice and corn sides serviceable commissary kitchen fodder.

Would I go back for Jollibee fried chicken, yes, absolutely. With the drive-thru in play and relative proximity to my house it might actually be tempting on a once every few month basis.



One word of caution, the place is LOUD, rambunctious children, horrid acoustics and a toddler seemingly inches from my table with a piercingly shrill wail that put an early warning weather siren to shame.

G Wiv wrote:One word of caution, the place is LOUD, rambunctious children, horrid acoustics and a toddler seemingly inches from my table with a piercingly shrill wail that put an early warning weather siren to shame.

Jollibee is the "happy place to be" to most Filipino children. I have NEVER been to one where the sound has not been overwhelming. You are better off to carry-out or head over to the other restaurant in the store where there is less noise.

Most of the Manila locations include a party room.

jlawrence01 wrote:You are better off to carry-out or head over to the other restaurant in the store where there is less noise.

Thanks, but I was at the free standing Jollibee on Touhy, not Seafood City where there are other options. Plus, I wanted to try the fried chicken.

Jollibee Is Open In Chicago, Chickenjoy Now Being Served

https://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/2016122 ... ing-served

Was driving down Elston this morning and decided to stop in and check out Seafood City. I was starving and saw Jollibee was open so I decided to see what all the hype was about. Apparently today was the first day it was opened. There wasn't much of a line when I arrived, had to wait about 5 minutes to order and about 15 minutes for my food. I tried the spaghetti and chicken finger combo and a mango peach pie. The spaghetti, as described above, was sweet and had some cutup mystery meat in it, it was kind of tasty in a kid's meal kind of way. The chicken fingers were dry and flavorless. There were three sauces available (gravy, honey mustard and ranch), I went with the gravy, it tasted like standard gravy. The mango peach pie was hot and delicious. Overall, I don't think I would wait in a long line for this place, but I'd try the fiesta noodles if I do get back. Seafood City had a few other food stations within and a bakery, I will give those places a try on my next visit.

raydle wrote:Apparently today was the first day it was opened.

Unless I'm misunderstanding you, I don't think so. I had lunch there many weeks ago. I can't say I loved it but there so many offerings, another visit could yield completely different results.

=R=

The Seafood City location opened today, I saw the signs noting the 12/22 date when I was there earlier this week.