Jollibee in America

I’ve finally got the chance to eat at Jollibee here in America. I tried their franchise at Great Mall Milpitas. Jollibee was established in the US on 1998 with their 1st restaurant located at Daly City – the city of Pinoys (I tell you a lot of Filipinos are living in this area). It catered to the Filipinos and Filipino American families in the area, and Jollibee brought them a familiar feeling of home with the langhap-sarap taste that they remember and have continued to love. The menu are the same and the serving though is slightly larger. I observed that the place was so busy and patronized mainly by Filipinos/Filipino Americans. I only saw a couple of non-Filipino customers. Filipino kids who I think grew up already in the US were also brought into the restaurant and parents acquaint them to the Jollibee brand. Most of the employees too were Filipinos.

As my observation with Filipino food prices here in the US, the food are a little bit overpriced. I ordered the 2 piece chicken with mashed potato on the side which cost $3.49. They don’t have single piece chicken meal. The chicken meals are all under USD6.00. The spaghetti and palabok-only meals are around USD5.45. I think they’re somewhat overpriced when their portions are a little bit larger like 1/4 larger than the Filipino serving size. They also have desserts: Halo-halo is around 3.50, Peach mango pie is 1.50, and milkshakes are 2.50. A bowl of sotanghon is 3.50 (I hope that’s a big bowl!). I think KFC is way cheaper. However the burgers are cheaper than MCDonald’s or Burger King or Wendy’s. The most expensive burger meal is about 5.50USD.

My verdict for the chickenjoy is it didn’t successfully imitated the chickenjoy back in the Philippines. The crunchy skin is not flaky crunchy and it’s not big enough, then the taste is not similar. The chicken meat though is juicier and more tender. The chicken size is the same as back in the Philippines. The gravy is more delicious though. One can have the choice of any sides for the chicken but I chose mashed potatoes which was not as delicious as KFC’s. The rice however is not the usual  small semi-square rice serving. It’s a big full cup of compacted rice (in Filipino we describe it as construction worker rice serving).

In conclusion, Jollibee was able to maintain its brand and taste but to a more discerning customer, I am still left wanting that original Jollibee taste.