People in North Texas are curious about Jollibee in Plano. Like, really curious: This new fast-food restaurant from the Philippines might be the buzziest new drive-thru in D-FW since In-N-Out opened here in 2011.
Many have said on social media that they waited more than two hours in their cars to get Jollibee’s famous fried chicken, called Chickenjoy, and a plate of fast-food spaghetti.
On opening day, waits were four hours for some. One couple even got in line at 2:30 a.m.
The company reports that it served about 2,000 people on opening day.
The fast-food restaurant — the first one in Dallas-Fort Worth — has seen such interest since its opening on Aug. 20 that its drive-thru line spills out onto Preston Road in West Plano. At peak times, the line has stretched over the bridge to the President George Bush Turnpike (PGBT) to the south.
What’s the fuss? The restaurant has been called “the McDonald’s of the Philippines” and was highly anticipated, even during the coronavirus pandemic when many existing restaurants were struggling to reach customers.
Jollibee hasn’t opened its dining room yet and is selling food via call-ahead orders and drive-thru only.
The drive-thru lane looks like the security checkpoint at Chicago O’Hare on a holiday weekend. Or maybe it looks like the line for a roller coaster, back when we still did that. Trade the people for cars, though: Idling vehicles sit in a maze that winds through the neighboring Calloway’s Nursery parking lot. The drive-thru line switches back four times before customers reach the menu board.
A Jollibee staffer stands in the parking lot 10 cars back from the menu board, taking orders remotely a la Chick-fil-A.
During the lunch hour this week, the line has stretched to 50 cars or more. Jollibee reports that it can serve about 500 cars each day.
Jenny Moots, store manager at Calloway’s Nursery next door, is choosing to see the high volumes of traffic as a good thing.
“We’re hoping it generates more business to our store,” she says. “That building had been vacant for years.” (It was formerly a Pollo Tropical.)
Moots says the traffic is “kind of a pain right now, but we’re hoping it benefits us in the long term.”
Even before Jollibee opened, Moots says Jollibee staffers were out in the parking lot, practicing for how to handle the onslaught of cars.
David Tilley, public information officer for the Plano Police Department, says the traffic has not caused any vehicular crashes to date.
The congestion is complicated by a $4.6 million construction project managed by TxDOT to expand Preston Road and widen two bridges. The project started in early March 2020 and will take 12 months to complete, says Clay Lipscomb, City of Plano engineering manager.
And, well, did the city take into account that a wildly busy fried chicken place was going to bring thousands of cars to the area this summer?
The construction plan came first. By a long shot: “This particular project has been in the process of design/construction since 2012,” Lipscomb says in an email.
“I don’t believe there was any knowledge of the new chicken joint coming on-line throughout any of that process, especially one that would attract as much traffic and attention.”
For tips on how to get through the line, check out these suggestions:
Updated on Aug. 28, 2020 with statistics from Jollibee.
