Any student of math teacher Mr. Gangler can tell you what the Filipino food chain Jollibees is: for others, simply a place to get food from the endless options of Southern California– for Mr. Gangler’s students, however, it is a chance at extra credit. A self-proclaimed fast food connoisseur, Mr. Gangler expressed his love of Jollibees at the beginning of the second semester and it became shrouded in curiosity as most of his classes had never heard of it. And so it began: if a student drove to the nearest Jollibees and tried a menu item as well as stopping to snap a photo with the mascot’s statue for proof, they would get an undisclosed amount of extra credit.

Several girls flocked to Jollibees in order to get that extra credit, myself included. However, this day did not go as planned. My sister, Charlotte Jordan ’23, and I were exhausted from another week of challenging classes and the overcast day told us that the world matched our mood, but the Jollibees in West Covina beckoned with rising hope. I typed in my preferred destination, and Waze told me where to go, so I took the wheel and let the app guide me; however our destination was not what I bargained for.

As I made some of the final turns in my route, nothing looked to be correct. I was surrounded by warehouses and shipping trucks with crows staring at me, and as I made my last turn, I approached a massive building that certainly had the Jollibees logo on it, though it was not what I thought it would be: a sketchy warehouse in the middle of West Covina, which actually turned out to be the headquarters of California. At the time, I just thought it was a giant sketchy building in a sea of sketchy industrial warehouses, so I peeled out of there faster than you could say palabok fiesta and went to the nearest installment with admittedly less hope for the future than originally stated.

After some more tentative driving, I eventually made my way to the coveted Jollibees drive-thru and spotted my salvation: the Jollibees mascot statue. My sister and I decided we would start with ordering food, test a couple bites, and then snap a couple photos.

Once we got our food, we parked for the moment of truth: is this food as delicious as Mr. Gangler continuously proclaims? With my own fried chicken sandwich and a side of fries in my lap, I watched Charlotte try her own cheeseburger. “Eh. It’s alright,” she admitted while lifting a fry to take the cheeseburger’s place. I could tell that that singular fry changed her perception of Jollibees, and it as it should.

The fries were fantastic, and definitely worth the drive and weird warehouse encounter. Adrianna Arroyo ’23 also went Jollibees and had a similar experience, saying, “I was disappointed because Jollibees didn’t have Diet Coke but the fries were really good.” Now, the burning question: Was my chicken sandwich fantastic? Yes, yes it was. I consider myself a daredevil of trying chicken sandwiches from fast food chains, and this sandwich impressed me. It stood out as unique from every other sandwich I’ve tried, and in a good way! Both my sister and myself marveled at the blend of flavors, the softness of the bun, the whole package. I would say it was worth it.

We snapped some shots of us with the statue, and made our way home, impressed and no longer hungry. Would I have gone if I knew that the extra credit would only be a singular half point? Probably not. I still went though, and I’m glad I had the experience of trying something new (albeit a menu item I have had at several other fast food chains). I will definitely return to Jollibees, and next time, I vow to order something other than a burger, chicken sandwich, or fried chicken– but I refuse to stay away from the fries.