Jollibee's Opens in Plano Next Week!

[Chung Tran]

https://dallas.eater.com/2020/7/27/2...-fried-chicken

damn, I just learned about this.. I have been familiar with Jollibee's for 20 years! great, popular chain from the Philippines. apparently they have 2 other Texas locations, and about 10 in California.. didn't know that.

Plano is a bit far for me, but I'm sure I can combine several reasons to make it worth the drive.. they will be packed the first day, probably for a couple of weeks!

[Last Ride]

So how good is it?

Agree Plano is a long haul from the Arlington area.

[Chung Tran]

Originally Posted by Last Ride

So how good is it?

Agree Plano is a long haul from the Arlington area.

really good. wait until I report back, though, it has been a few years since I sampled them, not to mention thousands of miles, LOL

hopefully Plano will be just as good.

[The_Waco_Kid]

Originally Posted by Chung Tran

really good. wait until I report back, though, it has been a few years since I sampled them, not to mention thousands of miles, LOL

hopefully Plano will be just as good.

this location as stated on Preston Rd is 10 minutes from my house. being a fan of fried chicken i'll check it out once it opens. i hear they have an unusual way to make and spice up spaghetti too.

[Aoi]

Never heard of it, but I'm always happy to see businesses sacking up and opening their doors in the middle of this "pandemic."

[friendly fred]

I looked at their menu and it looks very similar to KFC, except with hamburgers and spaghetti added.

The nutritional values are awful with heavy amounts of saturated fat.

What is the attraction? Is the food refrigerated and never frozen? Are the ingredients fresh and cooked on demand? Do they have people who love what they are doing?

[texassapper]

scantily clad LBFMs serving?

I lost my virginity to a Philippine girl... I shall always have a fond spot for anything Philippines related...

[friendly fred]

Originally Posted by texassapper

scantily clad LBFMs serving?

I lost my virginity to a Philippine girl... I shall always have a fond spot for anything Philippines related...

That would make me go - like Cafe Lu except greasy fried chicken!

[Chung Tran]

well guys.. I don't have a verdict yet. Jollibee did open this morning, but..

I made a run to Luxury Spa to see Spa girl "Black Pink".. figured I would start with dessert first. she was tasty! from there I headed to Jollibee.. thought I was getting there at a good (non-busy) time, shortly after 4:00 p.m... fuck, the line of cars stretched for 2 blocks! I tried calling in an order.. forget it.

I bailed.. may try again Sunday. fuck, a year ago we couldn't get that Popeye's chicken sandwich, remember? demand was outrageous, it took 6 weeks before I scored one. that was pre-CO-VID, now fast food lines are regularly packed, even boring spots.. getting Jollibee will be a challenge!

[bobnftworth]

place is over rated, they need more training as the restaurant crew is a wreck, operations from the Philippines is hard to match

[CG2014]

I read the YELP reviews. 3-5 hours sitting in a hot car running on idle wasting gas to get a box of chicken and a couple of unfortunate customers got undercooked chicken or order with missing item and there is no way to get it right.


You can't walk in and say hey my order is wrong or my order is missing something and calling them don't do any good because everyone is trying to call them to place an order ahead, you will have to go back in the long line of cars to wait your turn to get up to the window to tell them your order is wrong or undercooked.


Also some mention you can't order at the drive thru, you have to call ahead and place the order on the phone and then again, go wait in the long line of cars and then when you get up to the window hours later, tell them the name your order is under.


So by the time you get up there after 3-5 hours, no telling how long your order was already prepared and sitting around, with chicken and any food that is a major food safety issue.


Also did you see the prices? Too high. A bucket of chicken with sides, family size, is like $24-36.


https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/jollibee-plano?tab=menu


How much gas does a vehicle burn up sitting idling for 3-5 hours. You are not going to turn it off, it will be 140 degrees inside the vehicle in no time. Then I also been told many times over the years that sitting in park and running a car on idle for hours is not good for the engine.


In some States, you can even get a ticket for it and Texas is one of them, anti-idling laws.


Not worth it!


One of the Yelp review says no public restrooms (again, you can't go into the restaurant, it's locked) so if you are in the car for hours in the line of cars that are snaking around the parking lot and into the street for so long that Plano Police had to be called in to direct traffic, and you need to go, what are you going to do? Leave the car unattended and walk somewhere? What if the line moves while you are gone, the way they have it set up with METAL GRATING between ROW OF CARS, the cars behind you CANNOT go around you.


https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/joll...no?tab=outside

[The_Waco_Kid]

Originally Posted by CG2014

I read the YELP reviews. 3-5 hours sitting in a hot car running on idle wasting gas to get a box of chicken and a couple of unfortunate customers got undercooked chicken or order with missing item and there is no way to get it right.


You can't walk in and say hey my order is wrong or my order is missing something and calling them don't do any good because everyone is trying to call them to place an order ahead, you will have to go back in the long line of cars to wait your turn to get up to the window to tell them your order is wrong or undercooked.


Also some mention you can't order at the drive thru, you have to call ahead and place the order on the phone and then again, go wait in the long line of cars and then when you get up to the window hours later, tell them the name your order is under.


So by the time you get up there after 3-5 hours, no telling how long your order was already prepared and sitting around, with chicken and any food that is a major food safety issue.


Also did you see the prices? Too high. A bucket of chicken with sides, family size, is like $24-36.


https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/jollibee-plano?tab=menu


How much gas does a vehicle burn up sitting idling for 3-5 hours. You are not going to turn it off, it will be 140 degrees inside the vehicle in no time. Then I also been told many times over the years that sitting in park and running a car on idle for hours is not good for the engine.


In some States, you can even get a ticket for it and Texas is one of them, anti-idling laws.


Not worth it!


One of the Yelp review says no public restrooms (again, you can't go into the restaurant, it's locked) so if you are in the car for hours in the line of cars that are snaking around the parking lot and into the street for so long that Plano Police had to be called in to direct traffic, and you need to go, what are you going to do? Leave the car unattended and walk somewhere? What if the line moves while you are gone, the way they have it set up with METAL GRATING between ROW OF CARS, the cars behind you CANNOT go around you.


https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/joll...no?tab=outside

not a big surprise for a new location. most chain restaurants bring in experienced managers but the crew is local and newly trained. same thing happened when In-N-Out burger came to Texas. perhaps less problems with the food prep but certainly people lined up around the block. In-N-Out is ok, better than most. i find their so-called secret menu a laugh. Animal style. extra sauce. whatever.

this place will settle down, probably. if not it won't last long. there was a Wendy's at Ohio and Park that closed and some outfit called Wholesome Grub took the building over so i stopped in. had what they call a Bison burger and veggie medley. i've had bison steak before, this didn't taste like bison. and whatever that steamed mess of crap that they claimed were veggies .. well if they say so. lol. the manager came over and asked about the food. i told him bluntly it wasn't very good. he got a bit defensive. you shoulda seen the look on his face when i told him this place won't last two years tops before it closes. it closed and now there is some specialty Tea place there. we'll see how long that place lasts.


as for Jollibee's i'll give it some time to settle down before trying it.

[funkychunkymonkey]

most chain restaurants bring in experienced managers but the crew is local and newly trained. same thing happened when In-N-Out burger came to Texas.

And this I think is the problem. Speaking as someone who travels to California regularly (pre-COVID anyway), In-N-Out in Texas is just plain terrible, and it has been ever since they opened here. The quality has *never* been as good as it is in California, which is probably why nobody here is impressed with it, myself included. Could also be an issue with their Texas supply chain as well, but I think staffing is probably just as much of the problem too.

This has in my experience been a similar issue with many other restaurant chains that have come to Texas from other locations, be it chains from California, other U.S. states, or from outside the country completely; the quality and/or service, or both, is way less impressive than the original locations where they're popular. Don't know if it's "low pay / low food cost" mentality of Texas businesses, local staff mentalities, or some other type of thing, but there's plenty of chains that do very well in other places that just don't seem to replicate their success as well here in Texas.

Whether Jollibee will be able to make it work remains to be seen. In-And-Out is still around and seems to have business (probably all the homesick California transplants), but plenty of other chains have just gone belly up here.

Remember Carls Jr? Baja Fresh? Charro Chicken? They tried and failed here in Dallas completely.

[dallasfan]

My friend in california kept bragging about the in and out in California. I tried it here and it was like Wendy’s to me. I took one bite and threw it out.

What is good at this place?

[The_Waco_Kid]

Originally Posted by funkychunkymonkey

And this I think is the problem. Speaking as someone who travels to California regularly (pre-COVID anyway), In-N-Out in Texas is just plain terrible, and it has been ever since they opened here. The quality has *never* been as good as it is in California, which is probably why nobody here is impressed with it, myself included. Could also be an issue with their Texas supply chain as well, but I think staffing is probably just as much of the problem too.

This has in my experience been a similar issue with many other restaurant chains that have come to Texas from other locations, be it chains from California, other U.S. states, or from outside the country completely; the quality and/or service, or both, is way less impressive than the original locations where they're popular. Don't know if it's "low pay / low food cost" mentality of Texas businesses, local staff mentalities, or some other type of thing, but there's plenty of chains that do very well in other places that just don't seem to replicate their success as well here in Texas.

Whether Jollibee will be able to make it work remains to be seen. In-And-Out is still around and seems to have business (probably all the homesick California transplants), but plenty of other chains have just gone belly up here.

Remember Carls Jr? Baja Fresh? Charro Chicken? They tried and failed here in Dallas completely.

I'm not going to CA just to try an In-N-Out burger. maybe some other reason someday I might. however I don't think there is any major difference once you have an established store. right now they are trying to throw product out the door as fast as they can at this new Jollibee location. of course the quality is going to suffer and it wouldn't really matter if they brought in a crew from the PI to man it. not with this kind of initial volume.

I bet if I had a In-N-Out burger from CA vs. one from TX you couldn't tell the difference. from the very beginning of so-called fast food .. the process has been the focus. the process so that the product is exactly the same at every location. two early advocates of this were Ray Kroc .. McDonald's .. and Harlan Sanders .. KFC. they were known to go to a store at random to check the food to ensure it was being prepared the same and were known to be none too happy if it wasn't. including forcing out franchisees who couldn't follow the process.

Dallas as it turns out is a testbed site for many chains. one chain out of Denver who came to Dallas to test early on in their history is SmashBurger. SmashBurger is great. I'd like to see one closer to my house but the nearest is at Park and NDT. right in that same area are two places l also like .. Jersey Mike's and Torchy's Taco's. so some times I make the trek and decide when I get there which I go to. I'd rather eat in at Torchy's Taco's. not so much because they have a bar, they sell overpriced and weak drinks .. just feel they way they make them doesn't lend well to being packaged for carry out vs. in store.