Jollibee — Restaurant in Wheaton

I thought of trying my luck again yesterday (Monday, 4/12) where a lot of people are currently at work and it’s been a few days since this location grand opened. I called around 7:40AM and was on queue #55. I then hung up after a few minutes later since I realized I won’t be able to pick up food then (I was assuming at least an hour of being on hold - then order - after order wait - waiting in line to pick up food).

So I called at 11:30am. #99 on queue this time. After around 1.5 hours, someone finally picked up the phone. I was ready to order what I had in mind (referencing from the menu online). Turns out that they do not have Burger Steak. Only chicken, burger and peach mango pie. Yes, I am aware they have a limited menu but nowhere says anything about the specifics. At the end of the day, I was totally fine not having the Burger Steak. After all, this is now a MD location. No more driving to NJ or NY (or sometimes fly to TX. Lol!) for a Jollibee. I can always easily go back once they fully offer their regular menu.

I am writing this to help anyone who was once looking and relying on reviews (like I was trying to do for a few days) to know what the current process is and expectations to see if it’s even worth driving down there.

Here’s my experience:

• Called the # posted and was on hold for about 1.5 hours

• After someone picked up the phone, I was able to order my food. The lady confirmed my order and I then paid for it. She asked for my card info for payment and gave me a # to tell to the staff on site when my order is ready for pick up. During the call, I was told that pick up is at 1:45pm. I asked if I could pick up by 2pm (because I live in Frederick and it takes an hour go arrive there) and was told no. (Although they said on the prompt that they’ll take orders 2hrs in advance) I still went my way... i know I’ll be late but I’ve already paid for it. Lol! I ordered at 1:10pm and arrived at the location at 2:09. There’s I believe 5 lanes that a staff will tell you where to stand. After being told to go to Lane 4, I was called within 1-2 minutes to enter the store since my food was ready.

• Went inside and one lady double checked my order with me and went on my way back home.

Here’s a few notes/tips:

• FOR MENU - If you look on the website, pick the NJ/NY or whatever is already open just so the menu would show up for your reference on what you can order. There’s a max of 12 pc chicken, 10 yum burgers or yum and 10 pies. But you can pick those bucket meals (ones that either comes with spaghetti, palabok or rice - all with peach mango pies). I ordered the Bucket Meal B and ordered additional family size pack of spaghetti (I didn’t really want it. Was just upset they didn’t had burger steak. Lol)

• BETTER CHANCE OF GETTING CALLS ANSWERED - (only applicable for the time being of course) Call when a lot of people are busy at work. 😬 Monday was good. And I just tried today Tuesday, 4/13 at 3:30pm. I was on queue #47. I know not a lot don’t have flexibility so only do it when you can. This weekend might be a hard one to get food from there again but still try if you can’t wait.

• FACT TO PONDER - We finally have a Jollibee in MD. ☺️ No more long trips just to get some Bee. Give these people a slack. Yes, the planning of operation to grand open would’ve been done and handled waaaay better. But c’mon! ❤️🐝

• THOUGHTS ON THE FOOD I GOT - Spaghetti was divine. Takes me back home (always does ☺️) Chicken was crispy outside BUT like one person said in a different review, behind the crispy skin still had raw flour mix in it. Oddly enough though, the meat was cooked inside. I just popped it in the oven with low temp and...

I usually don’t leave negative reviews until it’s something that is serious that needs to be addressed. I’m really not trying to be a “Karen” for real. LOL For some reason this is Maryland’s first Jollibee and it is exciting because you really have a lot of Filipinos in this state and non Filipinos who are eager to try this amazing fast food restaurant. Jollibee has been noticed and it’s upbringing through social media which is fantastic! More people want to experience the food that Jollibee offers!

I know this location has its issues and I really tried to give them the benefit of the doubt. I still continued to support this location because I just wanted too!

However, yesterday I came in with my boyfriend and I never received the type of customer service that this Jollibee location offers whereas no one seem to acknowledge me while I waited for my order. There was no, “Excuse me ma’am, how can I help you, we are still waiting for a specific food that is being made and etc. There had been orders placed after mine that were being called and it was super frustrating as I was standing there for a very long time while no one was helping me: I had to ask certain employees what’s the status and what’s going on. I saw that my food was being left alone and getting cold. Also on top of that I assured that everything is was in the bag until I felt how cold the Spicy Deluxe chicken! Really? So this is how Jollibee serves their food. The audacity! I had to tell them that it is cold! Meanwhile, while waiting and waiting. No one decided to give me an update on what’s happening. I was so furious I had to ask for a refund and walk out empty handed. This location is very unorganized and can’t seem to fulfill orders in the same order they placed them.I really think this business would really benefit from using a better queueing system. The manager on duty didn’t help at all, but the cashier assisted and was apologetic.

I’ve been to several Jollibee locations around the globe, especially in United States- New York, Virginia, Las Vegas, and several California locations. For some odd reason this location is terrible. Other locations from different states the employees are super nice especially in the Philippines too! I have observed most of these employees- I will say it- the Filipino employees tend to be snooty here and I’m Filipino. (Be humble and don’t forget where you came from, especially thank your elders who brought you here!) Employees who work here don’t seem to be “joyful” and don’t have great customer service that Jollibee’s reputation has. I am not leaving this negative feedback to trash this business, but instead I am leaving this feedback because I really do like this company. I want to see this location take the feedback and use it to improve. I genuinely want to give Wheaton Jollibee another chance but it’s gonna take a lot of improvements on customer service and better customer experience such as the food being HOT and getting my order on time. These are the things that will make me want to come back.Jollibee please take this review and use it to...

Most folks would probably give 2 stars for the experience I had, but the food was so good it more than made up for it. If it wasn't for the hiccups in service, it would easily be a 5 star review.

The GOOD: the Chickenjoy fried chicken bucket is among the best fried chickens out there, right up with Popeyes and significantly better than KFC and Roy Rogers. All dark meat drumstick and thighs for extra juiciness and all large pieces. The Peach Mango Pie was like the old fried McDonalds pies of yesteryear - super crunchy, delicious and decadent, but not too sweet. The French fries are also a throwback to the tasty, truly fried McD's version of the 1980s - crunchy and flavorful, not limp and soggy. The gravy for the chicken and potatoes is not just some bland flour/corn starch mix - they really get a rich flavor in there. The palabok is a vermicelli noodle dish with a pungent shrimp and garlic sauce which may not be to American tastes, but was a great flavor bomb to complement the chicken and potatoes.

The BAD: Beware of getting lunch from this place on Saturday, as I waited 45 minutes from ordering to walking out the door with my to-go order. And I even skipped the queue, ordering by mobile when I saw the line was going out the door. The online system said my wait would be 5 minutes, when it was actually 45 minutes. It's clear they aren't quite prepared for the rush.

Since I stood at the counter side for almost an hour, I got to see the workflow shortcomings. You're best off getting the fried chicken (and maybe steamed rice) on its own just to get out the door fast. The French fries were slow to come, with whole 10 minute intervals with no fries coming. This definitely held up my order. The palabok noodle preparation also seemed chaotic in the kitchen, so that was also a slowdown in the process. Also, the expediting of the food was error prone - my 80% complete order was sitting on the counter for 10 minutes with other fulfilled orders zooming past it. Only when I came up to say it had been 40 minutes waiting did a manager prioritize getting the rest of the order complete.

Despite bring frustrated by the service, and finally sitting down with the food to eat more than an hour after the chicken was placed in the bucket, it was delicious and worth it. The customer service is the easiest part to fix, and the staff was apologetic and responsive after being notified I had waited too long. I'm definitely coming...