It's been a couple of months that the franchise has been opened. Food is still great but service could be a little bit better on the weekends. During the weekends they don't cook many chicken and you would have to wait for 30-1 hour for your food again. There's nothing wrong with making too much now that the drive through is open as well. The wait is still pretty long if anyone is wondering. read more

Shits nasty food came cold then forgot rhe.cheese then tried to give the same sandwich back with cheese thrown on it and it was even colder, they give you food that's obviously been left out, either get new management or better cooks read more

My 11 year old son heard about Jolibee and was really excited for it to come to Illinois. Especially since it was 10 minutes from our home. So avoiding the crowds the first week it was open, we went on a Sunday evening. Still a long line, but tolerable. My review has nothing to do with that, because Jolibee did the best they could given the interest. Likewise, although the restaurant is a mess, they should be forgiven for that, because they are moving people as best they can. But when it comes down to it, Jolibee is overpriced and the flavor is nothing to write home about. I didn't have any of the Filipino dishes, just the ChickenJoy which they claim is their specialty. It's was just OK, worse than any of the other big chains in town (KFC or Popeye's, even Church's) and much worse than Chicagoland favorites like Harold's, Evanston Chicken Shack, and Uncle Remus's. So you can get better chicken with much less wait. But what pushed me from a 2 star to a 1 star is that they only have dark meat and they charge too much for it. $9.50 for six pieces of dark meat. You can go to Jewel or Mariano's and get a whole chicken for that. And they don't communicate that they only have dark meat on their menu or anywhere else. Save your money and time. read more

Where to start? The first day they opened, we had the day off work and decided to make the 1 1/2 hour drive there from the south suburbs. It actually took us 2 hours to get there thanks to downtown traffic, 20 minutes to park, only to find out the wait was 4 1/2 hours long! We turned right back around and went home, thanks to rain and everything else a total of 5 1/2 hours of our lives and we were starving by the time we got home. So, waiting a couple of months, we went there today and neither of us were impressed! If we had waited 4 1/2 hours to eat this, we would have been quite upset! My wife misses the food, I liked it a lot when I went to the Philippines, which makes this even worse! -The place: Huge, nice, clean. Nice looking building for sure! -The wait: Almost a full hour (with a false buzzer ring, they almost gave us the wrong tray). You would think after being open for a couple months they would be quicker by now? It also seemed some people got their food quicker than others, yet no explanation for that. -The service: Pleasant, good experience there (even taking into account their mistakes). Way above average for a fast food place. Yet....some of the workers do not seem too swift and a lot of them seem to be standing around doing nothing. An over-packed fast food place with idle workers lurking around? -The prices: I see a lot of people are saying it is about $10.00 a person? We got a 3 piece and 2 piece meal, 2 Halo Halo ($4.99 each!), and 2 Mango pies and it came out to $31.00 + $1.12 for the stupid gravy! The prices to me are just as much if not more than other chicken places. I know they have more than chicken, but this is basically glorified street food. It should be less! -The food: First off, they got our order wrong. My wife asked for spicy Chicken Joy but received regular instead. She did not feel like waiting to have them correct it. The girl behind the counter did tell her, "I am sorry, m'am." I can only imagine how long we would have waited for the right chicken. They also stiff you on the gravy for the chicken, free and given automatically in the Philippines but here they charge you $1.00 and my wife had to wait in line just to get some! Gravy, of which you throw out half... The chicken was 3 pieces, spicy. Imagine Popeye's chicken, overloaded with their Cajun Sparkle sprinkles but 5 times more greasy! Edible, not bad, but I would take Popeye's or KFC any day over this. Definitely spicy but it's mediocre, greasy chicken with too much sprinkles, you taste that more than the chicken. It is way too spicy to enjoy because it is overloaded. But without the spices, it would have been blah. The white rice (was hoping for flavored rice or Spanish rice, no such luck) is kind of hard to mess up. It tasted like white rice...no flavor added. The issue is in the Philippines, they wrap the rice so it does not stick to the box. Here, they just throw it in with the chicken. Mashed potatoes are pretty good, but a step or two behind KFC. The Halo Halo was okay, I remember it being superior in the Philippines. We got mango pies, have not ate them yet but heard good things. If a side treat is the best thing there, there is a serious problem. My wife ate at Jollibee a lot in the Philippines and even worked there for a while. She is very disappointed and seems even more let down than me. She said "never again, but at least I know now." I kind of feel bad for her and I was also looking forward to eating there myself. But both of us felt we wasted 4 hours (driving, waiting, eating). We could have eaten at so many places, paid less, and enjoyed more day than wasting half a working day eating mediocre food. The people: Generally nice with some rude people, like anywhere else. A few people were taking up tables and not even eating (and tables are scarce). A Filipino lady and her husband, American man, were sitting by us and talking with us. They both seemed to feel the exact same way we did, and I heard the man say, "This stuff is a grease pit! It is worse than McDonalds". They ordered after us and got their food first. In conclusion: Not worth the drive or hassle for us, as Skokie is a good hour and a half drive with good traffic and can easily double in bad. Two mistakes (wrong order initially offered, then they messed up the type of chicken my wife ordered) after waiting nearly a full hour, which made it not even worth correcting. We could have got Popeye's or KFC and ate better, and only driven 5 minutes from the house. If I were to sum it up in a few words: Not worth it and the prices are not cheap. My wife agrees too. With tolls, food costs, and gasoline, we could have eaten at a decent, non-fast food restaurant! One big let down and after it is all said and done, after seeing how large the crowd is and waiting so long to get your food, "That's it?" I really wanted to like this place! Have to try a different Jollibee. read more

I live only few mins away from jollibee and all I can say is...you don't go there for the food. You go there for nostalgia and memories of the Philippines. Then you go there for Filipino community and to support the people bringing the culture and life here in the mid west! If you go here for food well don't have such high expectations unless your taste palette is only use to jollibee food because well you grew up on it. I am not biased and want to give them my full support by giving them an honest review. They are slowly getting more efficient in serving their customers and have lots of stuff on the menu for you to try. But sometimes the people in line or in the restaurant can be rude customers and lack common senses and are doing their own thing without respect to staff and the other customers there. It is worth the wait for the first time because you waited so long for such food and as long as you are happy then it's worth it. I was in the first 300 when it first opened, so I know a thing about patience and will support jollibee but will only go when the line is super short or non existent. They are a clean establishment and have kind hard working staff to give us a great dining experience. But its initial phase is just a bit messy but will calm down eventually. If you love the food, then take the trip there. But if you just want to try then wait a bit before you go venture the long lines and wait times. Be open minded about the food that it's not about the taste but about the Filipino people and culture coming together to be prideful of a classic they can truly call their own. read more

See all

Heard this place was good. So I gave it try. Order a bucket spicy and non spicy wing. Also order mash potato and white rice and sundae and mango pie. It is an OK foods. read more

Didn't live up to the hype -- if I had waited in line for any more than 5 minutes, I would've been mad. I ordered a two piece Chicken Joy which came with gravy and rice. The size of the box was enormous -- you probably could've fit 5 more pieces into it. I waited about 10 minutes for the food so I filled out the online survey that was on my receipt and got a free mango peach pie. BONUS! Anyway, the food comes out and the chicken is barely warm. The rice was typical and the gravy was scalding hot...so I wound up dipping my chicken into the gravy and the temperatures were balanced. The chicken tasted like unseasoned Popeye's..... it was super crispy, but super bland. My mom made better chicken and this Jolibee experience brought back happy memories of eating great fried chicken from my mom....so I guess that was a plus. I finished my meal, and now onto the Peach Mango Pie --- remember when McDonald's used to fry their pies??? They were amazing.... and so was this.... also brought back memories of my dad bringing home McDonald's pies for dessert.... anyway, the pie was peachy and mango-y and super amazing. It was deep fried crunchy and the filling burned the inside of my mouth to the point where I couldn't taste anything....but it was good. I wouldn't drive up here for this nor would I stand in line for more than 5 minutes for this.... the only good thing that happened was that it brought back some pretty cool childhood memories of better food. read more

Somehow came when the line was short (around 10 am on a Monday). Got to the inside line within 20 minutes of waiting outside. The interior is nicely decorated and has ample seating. The ube shake and mango pie I ordered were as delicious as I remembered. Service was prompt and courteous. Will visit again when/if the line is short! read more

It's not bad if you long for Hawaiian, Polynesian, American style food. Fried chicken, spaghetti, spam, and hotdogs are offered.

The grand opening was amazing. The Filipino community came together to celebrate a Philippine national icon. The lines were long but the food and camaraderie made up for it. This new Jollibee helps home sick Filipino's feel like they are back at home again. The food is great. read more

Jollibee - Fast Food Near Me - Skokie, Illinois

The best fast food ever! Nothing beats Jollibee! The best chicken I've ever tasted! Popeyes and KFC will go down! You rock Jollibee!

Updated Review since 07/31/2016 Finally! I get to eat some food from this talk of the town Fil fast food rest... to go lang po coz I was working so my gf and her family went their way there for lunch. When they tried their luck on a lunchtime on a weekday the line grew shorter ( a tip for those who do not want to wait for 2-3 hours to get some crispylicious chicken) this week, so they only waited for 30 mins to get in the restaurant. HOWEVER, waiting for the ordered food was another story. They waited for 45 minutes she said and when the sundae and halo2x) were given to them, it was all liquidy and so obvious that it had stood in some part of their counter for the other orders so they could serve it to them together - in short, nawalan ng totoong essence ng food. Next, the family spaghetti was good - not the best because -- it was lacking in sauce. There were more noodles than the sauce. So she went to the manager and asked for more sauce( it was an anemice Jollibee spaghetti, so disappointing because we were really excited for it) but the manager told her ( just mix it all in maybe you will find more sauce- omg!! She didnt want more drama so she let it pass) ... The palabok wasnt that great either for that price ($14.+) the noodles were really droopy and didn't taste the way Jollibee's palabok should taste ( below average compared to SF's branch) ... peach mango pies were AWESOME!! Bucket of chicken was expensive ( broaster chicken in Algonquin was better and cheaper) and although chicken was good yet it will only taste good when eaten right after ordering, it didn't taste good a day after.. Burger was good but expensive because it was just so small - you can finish it after 3-4 bites).. All in all - delivery of food sucked, they can improve their customer service to be more friendly/ jolly ( like mr. bee- like some branches in the Philippines), warm, helpful, organized and attentive to their customers' needs ( you're a restaurant, it should be a pleasant experience to the diner no matter how big the crowd is).. taste of food good... lower down your prices or have some promos or coupons... Well, i'll attempt again to dine in this time so I'll keep updating my reviews... all in all 3 stars ... chicken was 4 stars !!!! i wonder why the mascot is a bee when the place is known for its crispylicious chicken read more

BY far worst restaurant ever Save your time in the long lines. The food is completely disgusting.

Good chicken and mashed potatoes and gravy. Friendly and courteous service. Reasonable prices. Generous food portions. Extremely clean dining area and rest room. What's not to like? read more

Jollibee - Fast Food Near Me - Skokie, Illinois

Someone who ordered after me got their food way before I did, but then when I get my food the fries were cold. Plus the food is kind of low par here. As my first time I felt like I could've got more nutrients from a McDonald's cheeseburger. read more

Jollibee closes at 10 pm not 11:00 pm as stated in their website. They should change that so not to confuse people. When it says it's closing 11 it should close at 11pm. Get your time right people!!! read more

All I can say is that you shouldn't go without buying yourself buko pandan shake they didn't entirely taste like the jollibee in the philippines but it was good though read more

Have driven past this place many times and decided to try it today. Places my order in the drive thru-very simple crispy chicken sandwich (nothing healthy here-they don't offer grilled option). When I finally got up to the window they told me they didn't have any sandwiches and it would be about 15 minutes to make one. Seriously?? I opted for a spicy fried chicken sandwich instead because I couldn't wait that long (nor should I have to) and it was so gross!! The color of the breading looked reddish and tasted bad. The sandwich was flavorless and the garlic aioli just added to the greasy mess of a sandwich. Very disappointed. Was hoping for a healthy grilled chicken sandwich in a timely manner and Jollibee missed the mark! read more

Had the Palabok Fiesta rice noodles with sauce two micro shrimp and a few pieces pork for $6. Nothing to write home about

Waiting time for an order,even a small order is just plain out ridiculous! More then 15 mins ! That alone should keep me away from this place period. read more

The food is definitely not fast but once you get a mouthful of chicken joy- it's easy to overlook! When we first entered the line we were told that the wait for our order would be 20 mins but we actually ended up waiting an hour. I tried the Big Yum, I'd give it a 3/5 for a fast food burger & our sides with the bucket of chicken were rice & mash potatoes. I suggest not bothering with the mash potatoes. In my opinion this is the best fried chicken because it's not overly seasoned, it's juicy, & after eating 3 healthy sized pieces- I don't feel grossly full. read more

Wow, that's some spicy chicken. It's got a quick tint of sweetness to it. So quick I can't fathom what it is. But this is some great chicken. FYI. If you think Popeyes is super spicy. Don't order the spicy here. It has got a kick to it. read more

The only reason I am taking away a star is due to the longest wait ever for fast food! Other than that the experience here was awesome! The staff was friendly and super quick at taking our orders. To say it was busy is an understatement but I can see why! The crispy chicken and the gravy were delish! The fiesta noodles were flavorful and the spaghetti with the meat and sausage was sweet yet savory. We will def be back and hope that the line isn't wrapping around the building again. read more

Not worth the wait. Batter suspiciously tastes like Brown's chicken. Nothing special. Palabok was terrible -- tasteless and laden with salt. Noodles stuck together. Never again. read more

Arrived there by 11:00 am. When they open, Noticed the long lines already, finding a parking spot is challenging, luckily found one behind their designated parking lot, then walk on the sidewalk. Waited about 1 hour before we got inside and order, well worth the wait.! Order Buckets of chicken joy to take home, halo-halo, peach mango pie, spaghetti and Palabok. Everything is so yummy, can't compare the chicken anywhere else. Not greasy, not salty, gravy came with it, not salty either. The best.! Staff are friendly and very efficient. Make sure to double check your order twice before u leave the cashier, or have to wait again for very long lines. I would have given them 5* , the problem is the parking, maybe once it slows down a bit, it'll be better. read more

Had take out chicken here twice The fried chicken is fantastic, among the best I've had. The mashed potatoes were good, the gravy though is a tad boring to me. Have to try some of the other dishes to formulate a more thorough review though. It definitely warrants some more visits though. read more

I don't really understand the draw of this place. Maybe it's just nostalgic for Filipinos here in the Chicago area. However, I was born and raised in Chicago, so I don't have those same feelings. My rating is strictly on the food. When this place first opened, I remember seeing the long lines out the door with people waiting over an hour. I had never even heard of Jollibee until my mom informed me that it was a restaurant from the Philippines. Once the hype died down, we finally did the drive thru one cold snowy day. Their "famous" chicken was just meh... definitely not anything special to wait in line for. It tasted like your everyday fried chicken that you can make at home. The pancit palabok was decent, but missing the smoked fish flavor I'm used to and pricy for the portion size. Another time, we tried the langonisa, but it was super fatty. The one saving grace is the peach mango pie. Everything else is just ok and not worth the money you'll spend. If you're craving Filipino food, go to Isla on Lawrence instead. read more

A huge waste of time. When ordering I was told the chicken would be 15-20 minutes so I ordered spaghetti, palabok, and burger steak to try out different things. It took 25 minutes to get my carry out order and they screwed it up. I could give it another go simply to try the chicken but why bother when there are countless actual restaurants around Skokie/Evanston that serve better food for a cheaper price. read more

Food has always been good. But the mainans big concern is the wait time for the food to be served. Been to jollibee in vegas, hawaii, California but we always get FAST service there. Jollibee in touhy and seafood city are soooooo slow. I really don't know why. For sure they all have the same system. read more

Came here last night at around 7. Waited in line to get in about 30 minutes and then waited another 30 minutes for the food. So in and out the door in about 1.5 hours. The chicken joy was really good, crispy skin and moist on the inside. The gravy complemented it nicely. They give you a lot of gravy. You don't need that much! Also got mashed potatoes, corn, fries and rice. The bucket of chicken comes with 6 pieces. It was all dark meat though which kind of sucks. The problem is it's really disorganized in there. Only two cashiers? Really? A guy at the door writes your order, people don't leave tables and stay for hours. A few tables were eating while we were in line and when we left they were still there eating...really?! Also the bathrooms are filthy. I get women sometimes hover over the seat but to miss it completely and leave your mess on the seat and floor? Cmon people. I threw toilet seat covers on the floor so I wouldn't slip on the urine. Disgusting. Staff should be checking this more often...parking lot is full, circle around a few times... read more

See all

Closed before time listed as another reviewer stated don't say that you are open when you are not. Came the next day and they were out of several items and we had to settle for what was available ...in short it wasn't very good dont believe the hype. read more

This place is sooo good, this is great on weekends for me because even though I'm not Filipino I still love this place!!!!! They serve slow but that's okay because when it comes out it's worth it and delicious!!!! read more

I waited 25 minutes for a 3 piece chicken tender that was barely hot when I finally got it. The gravy was gross and they do not carry chicken wings. Only legs, thighs, and tenders. The fries were bland and unsalted. This establishment will not get any more of my money that's for sure. read more

Get the bucket of Chickenjoy. You're welcome! The Pancit palabok is bomb. The spaghetti is bomb. I would skip the burgers and burger steaks--nothing outstanding about them! Their buko pandan and ube drinks aren't as great as Joy Yee's. Their halo halo is ehhh--it's doesn't taste as fresh and cold as I could make it at home. The nostalgia brought me here. I'd only go back for the chicken, spaghetti, and palabok! Haven't had their breakfast items because they weren't being offered yet. Not all menu items were available yet! Come on Jollibee! If you are going to make a grand opening, have everything ready! People are standing in line to try your food and not everything is being offered? Sad face... read more

this place is getting worse. We ordered the hamburger with rice, chicken with rice, they ended didnt have rice, just the hamburger in box. The worst part was we have Diahrra in the morning, not only me, but my friends also, and we didnt eat anything else after there read more

Me and my mom went yesterday. The manager/ cashier greeted us in a very friendly matter but there were some mistakes with the previous orders that we got ours pretty late. If I think of fastfood, i would think food is served fast but that was not the case. Though i do love their jolly hotdog and spaghetti. I just wish they were careful with taking orders. read more

Should not be in fast food category as they have slowest service. Just ordered thru drive thru now, was told it will take 5min for a bucket of chicken, vs 20min for 3 bucket, so opted for 1 bucket but still waited to go thru the drive thru person for about 10min, and when my turn came the I was told to wait for 16 minutes. So I said forget it ,left the drive thru and went inside the store. While waiting for the cashier ,(no one was in the cashier) I noticed a bucket sitting on the back, and was given to a dine in customer. Do you think that was my order? I think so !!! Smh read more

Having just 2 cashiers keeps the lines long. While you see more workers just waiting for orders to come out.

This place is interesting. It's the number one Filipino fast food restaurant in Asia. So I can see why some people might give it five stars but for me it's only going to get four stars because it is just a little strange to me. The chicken is probably the best quality chicken in the fast food business but in terms of the spicing I prefer Popeyes. It is sort of funny that when you order Fried Chicken they give you these little buckets of gravy along with it. They have this rice side dish that is pretty bland. All of the food is of high quality. The place is decorated super brightly and it's very cheery inside. I actually heard the employees giggling and laughing with each other inside the kitchen and that made me happy to hear. In fact the cashier everybody seemed to be pretty happy in this place. The staff seem to be primarily of Filipino or Asian descent and they ranged in age from Young to what seems like senior citizens and that was pretty cool too. The service was super fast. They have these mango peach pies that remind me of the Old McDonalds pies when they used to fry them. Actually McDonald's made a big mistake when they stop frying them because they were better back then. Even though the pies are called mango peach I primarily only could detect the flavor of peach. In any case the pie is very good. In general the place is pretty spacious inside and very comfortable to sit down and have a meal. So when you take into consideration the level of comfort the price is pretty good. If you order the large orders of chicken they come in an old style bucket like the ones that Kentucky Fried Chicken used to give. There were a lot of other things on the menu that we didn't try. I tend to believe that the Asian dishes are probably better than the American dishes. They actually do have hamburgers. I would visit this place again. read more

NEVER AGAIN!.I waited couple of months till all the hype is down before I made my trip. The service is really slow . The food portion is really small and have to wait 45 minutes for our order to come . As I said never again, the food is not even worth it. read more