Jollibee — Restaurant in National City

Picture, if you will, a facility the size of your average McDonald's, setup in a similar way, but with a line that was so long that it went through the door. Surely this place must be fantastic then, right?

NOPE, Just incompetent. The order counter at Jollibee is pure entropy. This was probably the most disorganized fast food restaurant I've ever seen in my life. More of a chaotic scrum than a queue, I felt an "every man for himself" primal instinct take over me, as I puffed my chest and broadened my shoulders. No one else was going to cut me, damn it!

Rather than take an order, and give each patron a number, the cashiers tried to fulfill each order fully or partially before moving on to someone else in the mosh pit in front of them. Each order devolved into what seemed like 5 minutes of back-and-forth bickering between the cashier and the customer. There was a lack of certainty about anything going on, with employees literally running into each other as they grabbed various items to put on each tray.

Frustrated after waiting 25 minutes in a line that any McDonald's would have dealt with in 3 minutes, I declared to my friend who dragged me here, "These people desperately need Six Sigma," ignoring for a moment how far-fetched such a suggestion actually was when you're out in the wild like we were.

Anyway, I ordered both the "spicy" and "regular" variations of the fried chicken, which Jollibee brands as "Chickenjoy." The chicken had a thin, crispy batter comprised of fried flour and salt. The chicken inside was interesting in that it was "chemically" tender and soft in a "fall-off-the-bone" way that chicken is not supposed to be. Was it marinated in hydrochloric acid perhaps? Some other cocktail of stabilizers, salts, and flavor enhancers? Who knows. It is a mystery that could probably stump Feran Adria. The spicy chicken is the same as the regular chicken, but coated with spicy powder that is actually VERY hot, but otherwise flavorless.

For sides, we had both the fries and mashed potatoes with gravy. The fries were McDonald's style in appearance, but far off in everything else -- they were under-seasoned, floppy, and terrible. The instant-style mashed potatoes were gelatinous, as was the gravy, thickened obviously by a cornstarch slurry rather than a roux. The gravy didn't taste of meat, but rather celery salt and soy sauce.

For the thrill of it, I ordered a "Yum Burger with Cheese" that I planned to split with my friend. Unfortunately, once I lifted the top bun off of the burger, revealing a thick, goopy, disgusting-looking sauce, I couldn't convince my compadre to have any of it, even in the name of science. Wise man, he was. I don't know what the sauce is, but imagine a fruity, overly-sweet Miracle Whip and you're starting to get warm. It was smeared upon a mealy burger patty that tasted mostly of soy filler and fake charcoal flavor. Those who follow my reviews know that I occasionally indulge myself in crappy fast food, but this was utterly inedible rubbish.

If you frequent this restaurant, I'm sorry. I don't mean to insult anyone who likes this place. I just...

If there's a ZERO star, I will select it. Very bad service!!!!! I have been battling to Jollibee website for over an hour, but still not working. So I decided to call the restaurant seeking for help. Unfortunately, I spoke with 2 associates both of them hang up on me. The last male person I spoke to, he's insisting to use door dash app. When I said I don't want to use door dash because of my previous experienced with them, he said I can't help then hang up on me. So, after they rudely hang up the phone on me, I called numerous times and finally one of the supervisor answer the phone and told her about what I experienced over the phone. She apologized and said she will talk to the associate. She advised me to go in the restaurant instead and that's what we did. They have a promotional going on, but it's online only. When we said that the website was not working properly and I already spoke to the supervisor regarding this. Do you think they will make an exception??? NO!!!! THEY DIDN'T.. they completely ignoring us. It seems that nobody standing in the front of the register.. It's not about we are crying for a few bucks of discount, we are looking for the good service after the terrible phone call we experienced from them. What's up with that??? I normally recommended this location to my coworker but after this, NEVER!!!! We are really disappointed the way they treated us....

Every Filipino seems to like this place, so I figured I would give it a try. Now I know why! I ordered the combination 1 pc chicken with sweet spaghetti (it comes with gravy). My son ordered the deluxe chicken.

I will say the chicken to me is better than the crunch of KFC. Not overly salty' and not greesy. The sweet spaghetti is just the Filipino taste but not as fancy as Lola would make. It's filling and delicious. As an American, you might think, where's the mashed potatoes for the gravy? Well' dip the chicken in the gravy and enjoy the seasoning together. It's a delight!😋😋😋

My son enjoyed the chicken sandwich and topped it above all 🏆 the other fast food chain chicken sandwiches he's eaten thus far! 😋 He said there's chicken sandwiches, and there's this chicken sandwich! Plus, the fries were great, too!

The pineapple juice was very delicious as well as the mango pie. Perfectly crispy, crunchy, and hot! Yes, the old, old way McDonald's used to do their apple pie!

Inside, the air conditioning is too cold for my taste to sit. I'm sure it's to keep all the workers cool from all the cooking. But the outdoor patio was a delight! Everything seems modern and clean.

The drive thru was backed up with cars, and there was rarely someone not in line to get the food. I hope everyone tries this delicious food. There were Americans...