Jollibee Recreates A Couple's First Date. Who Says Romance Is Dead?

Who doesn't love the Jollibee? It's a smiling bee with a chef's hat, and the restaurants it represents serve some of the most joyful fried chicken and sweet spaghetti your money can buy. Apparently, it's also a successful date night spot. Well, at least for one couple from Chandler, Arizona, who not only had their first date at the Filipino fast food chain, but also got engaged there.

When Brandon, a nurse, and Ellyza, a teacher, had their first date, they told the world in a promo video produced by Jollibee, Brandon had never been to a Jollibee before. They laughed while Ellyza explained that she paid for the first date, saying, "I ordered a lot, because I wanted..." and Brandon chimes in, "I wanted to try everything!"

"I've been trying to make up for it ever since," he said, "so I bring her here to Jollibee often."

A year after that first meeting, Brandon proposed to Ellyza in that exact same Jollibee. (It also happens to be the only location in Arizona.) Then, in the midst of their wedding preparations, he wrote to Jollibee to share the role the chain had played in their romance. Some romantic in the corporate office decided to help Brandon recreate that first date as a special surprise.

The pandemic made it difficult for the couple to have normal dates, so one night Brandon suggested to Ellyza that they dress up and go through the Jollibee drive-thru and eat in the nearby Walmart parking lot. This is how a lot of dates are going these days. Pandemics are so romantic!

But instead, they went inside, where the restaurant had stayed open after-hours, and amped up the ambience with a string quartet (masks on, of course), a single table for the couple, and rose petals strewn across the floor. Who knew the 'bee was such a romantic?