Sep 23, 2025 - Food and Drink

We tried Jollibee's "premium fast food" and we're not convinced

Red tray with fast food including fries, mashed potatoes with gravy, spaghetti, mac and cheese, Aloha chicken sandwich, dessert pie, fried chicken pieces with spicy labels, biscuit, and yellow drink. — Is your mouth watering yet? Photo: Meira Gebel/Axios

Filipino fast-food chain Jollibee opened its first Oregon outpost earlier this year to much local fanfare and extra-long drive-thru lines.

Zoom in: Known for their bone-in fried chicken and sweet-and-sour spaghetti with hot dogs, we drove out to Hillsboro's Tanasbourne Village to see if Jollibee lives up to the hype so you don't have to.

The menu: Fried chicken every which way you can imagine, featured in spicy, sandwich, bucket or tender form. There's also burgers, palabok plates and a variety of sides, like mashed potatoes and gravy, mac 'n' cheese and fries.

We ordered a bit of everything.

Best bites: The Aloha chicken sandwich had the tang of honey mustard and barbecue sauce with a healthy slice of pineapple for citrusy sweetness.

The spicy ChickenJoy drumsticks had the beloved crunch they're known for, and when dipped in gravy the heat mellowed out and gave way to peppery richness.
The peach-mango pie was perfectly subtle in its sweetness. Meanwhile, we could find no fault in the mac 'n' cheese (and never can).

The verdict: Worth a stop if you're in the area. But is it drive-to-Hillsboro good, considering Portland's wealth of fried chicken spots? We didn't think so.

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We tried Jollibee's "premium fast food" and we're not convinced

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