First time at Jollibee! (3.8/5)
There was a hype rush a few months ago in 2022 when Jollibee first opened its doors in Vancouver. People waited for three hours in line and had a maximum spending limit of $75, but I did not participate.
Location - Cambie & Broadway, second floor. Paid street parking is available, and there is easy access to transit (Broadway Canada line and busses out front). Currently, there is construction outside Jollibee, but clear signage is present to guide you to their door.
Line - There were a few people waiting for their food before us, but no one was ordering. There was no one in line at 4 pm on Friday. Clear dividers and signage on lining up are present to guide customers if it gets hectic. This is probably because of post-hype.
Seating - There were lots of people in the dining room. When we arrived, only a few seats were available, but there were people coming and going. We chose to dine in at the restaurant.
Service - The staff was patient as we were deciding what to order. Customers who ordered received a buzzer. The buzzer vibrated when our order was ready to pick up. This way, we could take a seat and not block the lineup/ordering area. The preparation was 10/10.
Menu - There were a lot of combos to choose from! There were too many for my liking, and most seemed like a mix of chicken, sides, pies, and/or drinks.
FOOD -----
3 piece chicken with gravy and fries as a side for $13.79 - We chose the regular size. It came with two legs and one thigh. The chicken was moist and delicious. Chicken 10/10.
The fries, on the other hand, were underwhelming. They were very skinny and pale. I've never seen fries prepared like that. They were also soggy, and we ate in, so we didn't have to wait too long before eating. The gravy was in a separate container. I don't think ketchup is used for fries at Jollibee because we were not provided with any, nor did we see any ketchup dispenser present. We used the gravy for the fries, and that worked! Fries 2/10 with no gravy, 3/10 with gravy.
Spaghetti for $7.49 - It had a sweet red sauce that is common in Asian countries. It's probably not everyone's thing, but it's good to try at least once. It's pretty rich if you eat the whole thing. It's good to share with someone. Spaghetti 6.5/10.
Two burger steaks with mashed potatoes as a side for $10.49 - The burger steaks were basically very soft burger patties drenched in gravy and mushrooms. It's the first item I tried, and I didn't eat lunch, so this was pretty good. It was a little small but packed with flavor! Burger steaks 7/10.
Mashed potato side - I definitely enjoyed this one! I would have liked more gravy with it. We had extra gravy from our chicken to use for this! Mash 10/10.
Peach Mango Pie for $3.99 - It was quite small compared to the other pies at other fast food restaurants. You can barely rip the pie in half from the middle as the filling will gush out. There is definitely a liquid filling in there. You have to be careful when eating as one wrong bite, and it is all over you. We could also tell it was deep-fried from the flavor. Pie 7.5/10.
INTERESTING THINGS
Gravy - It came with the chicken, and there was a lot of gravy to go around! We used 1/3 of the container and used it with the chicken, fries, mashed potato, and burger steaks we ordered. The table next to us had a 2-piece chicken combo, and they used 1/10 of their gravy. They threw it away after their dine-in experience. Personally, I think Jollibee should have a gravy self-service pump by the drinks. People can pump their own gravy for their meal to prevent waste.
Packaging - We were asked to dine in or take out. We dined in. I felt that if we dined in, the food should be on plates that could be reused, like at restaurants, to prevent waste. There were just a lot of boxes and containers after we finished our meal. I did not feel great seeing that much waste. It is something I will think about if I want to choose Jollibee in the future. PS. I'm aware Jollibee is a fast-food restaurant, and things should be quick and easy, and disposable boxes/containers are cheaper than hiring a dishwasher. If having boxes and containers is a better cost option, then I suggest the size of boxes for food. The burger steaks definitely did not need such a big box. It was the same size as the 3-piece chicken! See images for reference.
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