Jollibee — Restaurant in Bloomingdale

3 years ago, I drove all the way from Bloomingdale to Albany Park to try the Jollibee at Seafood City. Tried Chickenjoy, palabok, and halo-halo and loved it all. So when I found out Jollibee would finally open a location in my neighborhood, I was excited!

Fast forward through several months of waiting patiently, and the Jollibee is now open. I had to move away from Bloomingdale, but still managed to come here to check it out, and unfortunately, I'm disappointed overall. This location doesn't have like half the things that make Jollibee unique! They have fried chicken, chicken sandwiches, spaghetti, and a few sides/desserts. That's it. No burgers, no palabok, and no halo-halo, period. They're not even on the menu! :( To add insult to injury, they have signs and packaging advertising the burgers and palabok everywhere in here!

Even worse, many items that they DID have on the menu, like the peach mango pie, adobo rice, and pineapple quencher, were sold out. Also the place didn't have enough seating to handle demand, at least at the time. I wanted to eat in, but there wasn't a single seat/table available in the entire restaurant.

On the plus side, the chicken DID live up to the Jollibee reputation, so I will give it a couple stars for that. Crispy on the outside, juicy on the inside, with that awesome spice blend in the breading and that delicious gravy for dipping. But considering it doesn't have anything else that I loved about Jollibee, I can't rate it any higher than that. I don't understand why, either. I know that area has at least a decent-sized Filipino population. I'm sure people would order those if they offered them!

Will I be back? Honestly, I don't know. If they at least added palabok or halo-halo back to the menu, that would convince me to give it another chance. As it is, though? Tough call, especially now that the Popeye's across the street has re-opened. It's possible that at least some of the downsides were new restaurant growing pains, so maybe. I'd have to see if I can find out if the menu's changed before I try...

I had high hopes that this Jollibee outlet would bring back fond memories of the authentic flavors I enjoyed in the Philippines. Unfortunately, my experience fell short in several ways.

To begin with, despite placing my order for 10:30 a.m., it wasn't even started by 10:25 a.m. When questioned, a staff member explained that they only begin preparing orders at the designated time. This contradicted the confirmation I received stating my order would be ready by 10:30 a.m.

After a 20-minute delay past the scheduled pickup time, I finally received my order, only to find that the chicken pieces were all original flavor despite my request for a mix of original and spicy. It's disappointing that their online menu wasn't updated to reflect the unavailability of spicy chicken.

The taste of the chicken itself left much to be desired. It lacked the distinct flavor of Jollibee's signature marinade, and even the gravy seemed watered down. Overall, the meal failed to deliver the joyous experience I associate with Jollibee.

This was my first time trying this location, and I must admit, I was left feeling disappointed. For fellow chicken lovers, I suggest exploring other options. A local Filipino restaurant called "Fry N' Wings" on Army Trail Rd. offers superior chicken at a comparable price point.

Given the fierce competition in the fried chicken market in this area, it's crucial for Jollibee to uphold the standards of taste and service that customers expect.

The only good thing I can say about this place are their Ube and Peach Mango pies which were decent.

I sincerely hope they take steps to improve their offerings to truly capture the essence of Jollibee from the...

I got the 2 pcs chicken with spaghetti, 2 pcs burger steak with rice and mango peach pie. Took about 10+ minutes to get my food.

2 pcs burger steak - it was decent, not something I would get again, but you gotta try it at least once.

The spaghetti, which sweet, bit too sweet for my taste, however I see why folks love it.... its like a drug....your forks keeps going back for more.

The chicken was awesome, fried perfectly, juicy and moist - definitely chicken is where it's at. However I was disappointed as they gave me two drum, expected one drum and 1 thigh. I guess it's up to the individuals staff on what you get, unless by default you get 2 drums for 2 pcs chicken orders.

Disappointments of this location: super dried biscuit, be careful you can knock out your teeth super slow service, took average of 10-15 minutes for foods to be packaged and your buzzer called limited dining area, during my visit it was all occupied. Pepsi - yeah, not a fan of Pepsi products.

The major disappointment, was told this location does not offer spicy chicken. However reading other reviews, it seems like they do, but the staff member specifically told me they did not offer spicy chicken at this location. Very odd that they would tell this to a customer, because I know I'll never come back to this location knowing they don't offer spicy chickens.

Overall, chicken was good, no spicy chicken offered at this location - per the staff during my visit and dried out biscuit. As much as I wanted to give 2 or 3 stars, ended up giving 1 because of limited chicken offering at...