Jollibee Regina Opened Today & A Fan Waited In Line For 19 Hours
One of the biggest restaurant chains taking over the lives of Canadians is none other than Jollibee, a Filipino spot serving up chicken, burgers, and sweet-tasting spaghetti. Most recently, Jollibee Regina's opening has been attracting a ton of attention.
On Sunday, December 22, Jollibee opened its first-ever Saskatchewan location in the city of Regina. As with other Canadian location openings, there's been a lot of hype in the city surrounding the new spot, resulting in unimaginably long lineups.
One Regina resident, 14-year old Jason Marx was so excited to try Jollibee that he lined up at noon on Saturday, December 21, to await the big opening — that's 19 hours ahead of the official opening.
"I’ve known about Jollibee for a while but with it not being in Canada, it was hard for me to try it. Then, when I was in Winnipeg, I heard Jollibee had opened there and tried the chicken, spaghetti and pie."
"I wanted to be the first customer in line to experience Jollibee again in Regina and try more of the menu,” Marx said.
When the restaurant opened at 7 a.m. on Sunday, December 22 morning, the 14-year old had been waiting in line for a total of 19 hours to get his hands on their signature Jolly Crispy Chicken.
The tent outside the restaurant was also filled to capacity when it opened this morning, with more than 100 customers packed inside singing holiday tunes while waiting for their turn to get some food.
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Jollibee provided heated tents to everyone who came to line up for the store opening so they wouldn't freeze while they waited.
As an added bonus, Jollibee is also giving those who braved the lineup today a chance to win free chicken for a year with a fun Instagram competition.
The "One Year of Joy" prize rewards the winner with a six-piece bucket of Jolly Crispy Chicken every month for a year.
"I had to go to petsmart today and I think every Filipino in Regina is at Jollibee," one person joked on Twitter this afternoon.
Jollibee Regina is the restaurant's ninth location in Canada so far — they also opened a fourth location in Ontario on December 20.
"We knew Saskatchewan had to be next on our list as this province has a strong Filipino community and continues to grow," said Maribeth Dela Cruz, President of Jollibee Foods Corporation for North America in a news release from the company.
Recent Jollibee openings in Alberta had a similar response with dozens of fans waiting overnight to be among the first inside the new location.
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