Is Popeye's THAT Good ???

Couple Robbed At Gunpoint For Chicken Robbers Point Gun, Demand Box Of Chicken JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The search is on for a team of crooks who robbed an Arlington couple at gunpoint for their takeout Popeye's chicken.

According to police, a young mother was leaving her shift after closing the Popeye's restaurant in Arlington on Atlantic Boulevard when she noticed she was being followed home.

http://www.news4jax.com/news/19133276/detail.html

Well the red beans and rice is pretty darned good.

They used to be, but not anymore - now they give you mostly rice and the spicy flavor is all but gone.

It depends on the location, like any chain. If the manager and workers are good, Popeye's can be glorious. Or it can be a disaster. All depends. I've had both kinds.

mbrookes


It depends on the location, like any chain. If the manager and workers are good, Popeye's can be glorious. Or it can be a disaster. All depends. I've had both kinds.

I agree - we used to frequent the one located in the Eastgate area of greater Cincinnati - I have been there about 6 or 7 times - it was generally very good but the last time we went there the green beans (which I love) were either spoiled or not prepared at all like they should be - they were plain awful - as were their red beans and rice - and the employees and manager were kind of worthless.

Yes, I moved this to the FF Forum to put it where it belongs!

Popeyes is (IMHO) the best of the FF Chicken Places. we like their Spicy Chicken and they have enough coupons and sales to keep the price well below the Colonel and Lee's. The Beans and Rice are ok, but for me thside to order is the mashed potato and gravy. I love the gravy...full of green pepper ahd sausage bits.
  We seldom get a 'Bad Box' at our So Indiana stores (2 of them) but it does happen.

mbrookes


It depends on the location, like any chain. If the manager and workers are good, Popeye's can be glorious. Or it can be a disaster. All depends. I've had both kinds.

I completely agree.  Although I will say that for the chicken, it has been consistently better than any other fast-food chicken place that I've been to.  The sides seems to me to be the deciding factor as to which locations are good, bad, or ugly.

I will agree on that but I got to liking the green beans and red beans and rice so much I just took the chicken for granted.

OK, ok it is that good but I shouldn't have pulled a gun!

 I agree with mayor al - the gravy on their mashed potatoes sets them apart from the rest of the ff chicken sides --the red beans & rice is so so and the slaw is that same old mayonaissy stuff you get at most places  (a word of caution, it wasn't from Popeye's, but our office ordered out from another place and the slaw had little bubbles swimming around in it - I was the only one that didn't eat it and the only one that didn't get sick - so watch your bubbles in the slaw you're eating).  The biscuits are good - but every other ff place has good ones too - if they haven't been out of the oven for a long time.

Popeye's chicken is really good -  and from the multitude of fried chicken places we can order from in our area Popeye's is always the #1 choice.

baileysoriginal


 I agree with mayor al - the gravy on their mashed potatoes sets them apart from the rest of the ff chicken sides --the red beans & rice is so so and the slaw is that same old mayonaissy stuff you get at most places  (a word of caution, it wasn't from Popeye's, but our office ordered out from another place and the slaw had little bubbles swimming around in it - I was the only one that didn't eat it and the only one that didn't get sick - so watch your bubbles in the slaw you're eating).  The biscuits are good - but every other ff place has good ones too - if they haven't been out of the oven for a long time.

Popeye's chicken is really good -  and from the multitude of fried chicken places we can order from in our area Popeye's is always the #1 choice.

CAN I GET AN AMEN??????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Russ

popeye's chicken is pretty damn good here in western washington. other than church's chicken, and if you're lucky enough to venture into the 'hood in seattle for ezell's fried chicken without getting shot in the process, that's about all that there is for decent fried chicken in this state................
 
 i could care less about any fast-food joint's sides, because they all suck....... kfc leads the pack but even popeye's sides suck, suck, suck......................................... ezell's sides rock, but it's risky getting there.....

When they do the sides the way are supposed to some are great.

The problem is they have been screwing them up ofttimes.

So badly they have turned me off.

I wonder if the "Ezell's" chain in Washington has any connection to the well-know Catfish and Chicken restaurant in Columbus, GA ? It sounds like they are worlds apart! The GA place is a rambling country-shed sort of restaurant...has NO drive-thru!

mayor al


I wonder if the "Ezell's" chain in Washington has any connection to the well-know Catfish and Chicken restaurant in Columbus, GA ? It sounds like they are worlds apart! The GA place is a rambling country-shed sort of restaurant...has NO drive-thru!

Doesn't look lie it is: http://www.ezellschicken.com/locations.html

They are in the second generation of trying to open outposts ... in the 90's they tried before and failed ... I'm sure it is still worth the unpleasant trip to the original.

I always loved to eat at Popeye's when we lived in Texas, and was excited when they finally opened a location in Topeka a couple of years ago.  The chicken and sides were as good as I had remembered them to be.

BUT...  I went to Popeye's last friday to pick up chicken on the way home from work to have for dinner while we watched the Chiets game on TV, and it was a horror show.  The restaurant was filthy, with three bags of trash stacked next to the door, and staffed by 3 teens  with no manager/supervisor in sight.

 When I ordered a 8 piece spicy, the girl said it would be about 12 minutes for spicy, and I said OK and paid.  30 minutes later, I left the restaurant with my chicken. If my wife hadn't specifically asked for Popeye's, I would have gotten my money back and left.

Never going there again.

Popeye's customers in Ontario are also complaining about the recent toned-down spicyness of its chicken and some of its side dishes:

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/609566

Around here, Church's Chicken is better.

Out of the chain chicken places, this is by far the best. I love the spicy chicken, and the gravy they put on the mash potatos. I haven't had any bad meals from them yet, but I would agree with some of the post above that quality kind of depends on the manager.

I am hooked on their onion rings. With coupons in the mail I can get a small order for $.99 and you can get up to 4 orders w/one coupon. Also the coupons have a buy one dinner get one free.

The rings are nice and crispy and w/just enough spice.

    

baileysoriginal
 

..... watch your bubbles in the slaw you're eating......

i think Mrs MFL sometimes has bubbles after eating any slaw.

There was one on 42nd street in NY City back in the 80's/early 90's and it was so good I used to go once a week for lunch.

On the other hand there's one right here in Scotch Plains and it's awful. Only went once and that was enough.

Read this topic, called my wife, she picked up some for us on her way home, Chicken and rice both darn good, have never been disappointed with them!

Popeyes and Churches were the same company until 2004. FYI

They installed the new Coca-Cola Freestyle machines, with 100 drink choices, in some restaurants in the Atlanta area.  The nearest one to me was at a Popeye's, so I had my first meal here in ages and ages.  It was okay at best, and not at all spicy, but it was worth it for the novelty of a Fanta Lime and an Orange Coca-Cola.

oopsme


Popeyes and Churches were the same company until 2004. FYI

Actually, Popeye's started (under a different name for a very short time) in 1972, and didn't merge with Church's till 1989.

I agree that Popeyes is the best FF chicken out there....I have had bad experiences though at times....bad service no chicken, chicken that had been sitting around.....

I also agree that the Onion Rings are excellent for a FF chain. Although if you order them you will have to wait, every Popeyes I've ever been to cooks them to order.....which is a good thing!

In a News Story sidebar on AOL recently they were describing 'secret menus' at various FF stands. Things like the 'Animal Style' In-n-Out Burgers and various variations in White Castle Burgers.

  One item I hadn't heard of before was the 'Naked Chicken' at some Popeyes. Apparently you can ask (order ahead) for your chicken to be pressure fried without the batter/breading. Since they marinate the poultry for at least 12 hours in the pepper spices before breading it prior to cooking, this makes the chicken 'spicey' without the heavy coating. I have asked about this at the two Popeyes stands on our side of Louisville that I visit now and then, and neither offers this 'secret option', although the Manager of one had heard that some stores were doing it. I offered to be a taste-tester if she ever wanted to experiment with an order or two.
  So far no reaction for Popeyes!

I didn't think Popeyes pressured fried their chicken........I've only ever seen plain old deep fryers.

I wonder if some locations pressure fry and others do not.....I'd like to try some spicy pressure fried Popeyes!

I'll be one to say that their hushpuppies are pretty darned good....especially when they're the only ones around for 100 miles radius. If I ever get a hankering for some deep-fried corn I head over to my local Popeye's (oops, I actually meant Long John Silver's, they've got the hushpuppies, not sure how I got those confused).

Popeye's is certainly one of my top fast food choices though. They've got a new Crawfish Tackle Box (deep-fried crawfish, Cajun fries and biscuit for $5) that's calling my name.

I heard this morning that the one Popeye's here in Topeka has closed. Last time I was there, it was a filthy unorganized craphole, so I'm not surprised.

We've started going to Church's instead for spicy chicken - it's closer and you don't have to wait for half an hour for you order in a dining room filled with trash bags.

I find that Popeyes have a LOT of variation from place to place. When it's clean, the chicken is good, and the rotating specials tend to be better. But, even with the half dozen or so Popeye's in my area (most or all owned by the same guy), there's one dingy one where it appears that "mop" is a forbidden word, several bright and clean ones, and a couple where they seem clean up once a day whether it needs it or not.

I stick to the well-cleaned ones, and wonder why the owner has such a variety of standards.

Bart

bartl


I find that Popeyes have a LOT of variation from place to place. When it's clean, the chicken is good, and the rotating specials tend to be better. But, even with the half dozen or so Popeye's in my area (most or all owned by the same guy), there's one dingy one where it appears that "mop" is a forbidden word, several bright and clean ones, and a couple where they seem clean up once a day whether it needs it or not.

I stick to the well-cleaned ones, and wonder why the owner has such a variety of standards.

Bart

Probably,like so many,the guy is a totally absentee owner who lives in Vegas or Miami or out of the country and could not care about anything but the daily receipts being pumped into an off shore account-------------day to day left to individual managers or "mis-managers" Popeyes near me in Neptune is excellent always clean,chix good and hot and fresh and biscuits really good-----don't bother with sides just go for the goodies!
 
Russ
 

I have 2 Popeye's near me that are like night and day. One is smoothly run, nice staff, good food and always clean. The other has the surliest staff you could ever meet and is a dump. The dump one closed a year ago. How can a company run like that?

Kland
  What you describe is probably a franchise situation (or two). In one the franchise owner is doing as he/she should...Running a business to make a profit and satisfy the customer with a quality product. At the other the 'owner' may indeed be elsewhere...an absentee owner is inviting problems in his/her business. It may be that the two stands have the same owner with that person in attendance at the 'good' store while allowing the second store to languish without leadership.

I have mentioned several times on RF that I like visiting Culvers stands...the food is above average for FF and our local stand has a franchise owner who really cares about his business and it's role in the community. On the other hand there is a Culvers in Louisville that I would not enter for any reason. It is run by an absentee owner who hires folks who just don't care about the business.  That's too bad, because I think the bads hurt the image of the 'chain' more than the 'goods' help it.

Had Popeyes, KFC, and Churches just to name a few....Nope.  Chicken is not worth robbing for regardless!  Interesting and desperate story. 

Honestly, I still like KFC better..... I will get flamed here in NC for those of you in the area.  There is a Bojangles Chicken on every other corner here....http://www.bojangles.com/

The problem is that there was only the one Popeye's here - the other ones are an hour's drive away in KC.  We were excited when the Topeka location opened, since we used ot eat at Popeye's when we lived in Houston. I had never tried Church's until my wife wanted chicked recently, and was pleasantly surprised by their spicy chicken.

there are very few popeye's here in washington state, the closest one to me is in renton (5 miles away) the other one is in south tacoma (35 miles away)......
 
 however, both are spotless and serve excellent food. i imagine that will change if more stores open up, but for now it's my favorite fast-food chicken. i'm also a big fan of the shrimp po' boy :)
 
 there is a church's chicken in federal way (25 miles away) that is also pretty good, i think popeyes is still better but both kick kfc to the curb any day............ kfc around here has become extremely salty and flavorless recently.... and where do they get those tiny chickens? i swear they're using cornish game hens now...:(

Let's just say that I wished I had a Popeye's that was geographically convenient.

Love it.

I have one 3 miles away. Maybe I should give them a try.

Capt Jack-    We had a Popeyes at the Main St Exit on the 15 in Hesperia. It was built into a large Texaco (at the time) Gas Station and Convenience store. They had a LOT of coupons out in all the throwaways (Penneysaver) In fact, I was searching for Popeyes coupons in a Penneysaver one day when I tripped across a Personal Ad that is now taped to my computer. It was Janet's ad that lead to us meeting....and the rest is history !

marzsit


kfc around here has become extremely salty and flavorless recently....

 
We have a Popeye's that is very conveniently located for us, and my wife brought home some the other month.  It tasted like they had a salt-bomb explode in the kitchen.  I am not one to endlessly moan about salty restaurant food, like some around here.  But this was ridiculous.  Even the BISCUITS were salty.
 

 

I drive past the Popeyes and go to Lee's Famous Recipe.  They split the difference between Popeyes Mild and Hot just right for me.  And I love their potato wedges, not overly cooked like KFCs, obviously cut fresh and put in the chicken batter.

In the late 70's Popeye's was great.  Large pieces of chicken with seasoning both beneath the skin and outside.  The sides were also great, but as I remember, limited to dirty rice, fries and bisquits.  The chicken was always fresh, hot & crispy.  As the chain grew the product suffered.  Now, as often as not, I get chicken that has been sitting under a heat lamp for hours, small pieces, and very little spice. The dirty rice is gummy, and almost tasteless.  I guess as the chain expanded the taste may have "evolved" to meet the tastes of people outside of the south, but I don't know.  I've even asked and waited for fresh out of the fryer chicken and have not been wowed.

As a Louisiana born and bred Cajun and having eaten great Popeye's chicken in NO and around our state, it seems that Popeye's has given up quality for quantity.

cy

NC Cheesehead


Had Popeyes, KFC, and Churches just to name a few....Nope.  Chicken is not worth robbing for regardless!  Interesting and desperate story. 

Honestly, I still like KFC better..... I will get flamed here in NC for those of you in the area.  There is a Bojangles Chicken on every other corner here....http://www.bojangles.com/

I like Popeyes more than KFC.   KFC gets there chicken from farms that treat the chickens terrible, you should see the videos on PETA.com.
Anyways, on to a lighter note, Bojangles is pretty good too.  We have them here in the DC area and the BUFFALO BITES are the ISH. Mmm

what's the ISH?

bill voss


what's the ISH?

GFS

bill voss


what's the ISH?

   Johannesburg.

The ISH is another way of saying The SH*T.

Lovely

IntelligentT82


The ISH is another way of saying The SH*T.

Golly gee! I've always thought PETA was the way to say that.

wheregreggeats.com


Couple Robbed At Gunpoint For Chicken Robbers Point Gun, Demand Box Of Chicken JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The search is on for a team of crooks who robbed an Arlington couple at gunpoint for their takeout Popeye's chicken.

According to police, a young mother was leaving her shift after closing the Popeye's restaurant in Arlington on Atlantic Boulevard when she noticed she was being followed home.

http://www.news4jax.com/news/19133276/detail.html

Yes it is! By far my favorite place to eat. I would kill for that chicken, and those biscuits leave every other chain in the dust. I would drive 100 miles on a quarter tank of gas and smack my mamma iuf she tried to keep to herself how good that chicken is lol!

Popeyes is so good I am not going back to them.......
Service was awful, the batter soaked up too much grease.
The tables where dirty, staff was out front smoking and talking on cell phones on what we thought was their break after we went in they came in waited on us, all the customers were unhappy you could hear the chatter at the tables but no-one complained.........

Tacoma Washington Kentucky Fried Chicken, all you can get here is hot & spicy I asked for extra crunchy like the good ole days and I was told it goes by what zip code I am in when I order...
 

I was turned off the last time I visited Popeyes, even though I really like the flavors.
 
The wait for already prepared food was way too long with only one person ahead of me.
 
THEN...  I watched them squeeze the red beans and rice out of a huge plastic bag into their cooking pot.  YUCK.
 
Some things should be hidden from the public.

Our local Popeyes does a good job on their spicy fried chicken. Nothing fancy at all. We don't try to compare it to the better restaurant fried chicken...Huber's for example, but it stands above the other FF chicken stands in this area. I usually devour several of the handier pieces while making the pick-up and home delivery of a large takeout box !
 
   I used to enjoy El Pollo Loco's citrus dipped grilled chicken when we lived 'Out West'. The only weakness to their Chicken
was that now and then when they were busy, we would get some pieces that were "Medium Rare" as in pink in the middle. But when it was done correctly their chicken was quite tasty.

We have several Popeye's around Knoxville.  They just recently opened one in Maryville, TN, just a few miles from my residence.  I was going to stop by when they first opened but the crowd was enormous with cars lined up a block or more and I went inside, folks were lined up forever.  I left.
 
I enjoy their spicy chicken and their dirty rice and biscuits and I occasionaly go there.
 
I agree with Al that Hubers which is not far from Al's residence was very good.
 
Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

Michael Hoffman

IntelligentT82


The ISH is another way of saying The SH*T.

Golly gee! I've always thought PETA was the way to say that.

 

mayor al


Our local Popeyes does a good job on their spicy fried chicken. Nothing fancy at all. We don't try to compare it to the better restaurant fried chicken...Huber's for example, but it stands above the other FF chicken stands in this area. I usually devour several of the handier pieces while making the pick-up and home delivery of a large takeout box !

  I used to enjoy El Pollo Loco's citrus dipped grilled chicken when we lived 'Out West'. The only weakness to their Chicken
was that now and then when they were busy, we would get some pieces that were "Medium Rare" as in pink in the middle. But when it was done correctly their chicken was quite tasty.

Ditto on El Pollo Loco Al, wish one was nearby!

GeoNit


Popeye's customers in Ontario are also complaining about the recent toned-down spicyness of its chicken and some of its side dishes:

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/609566

Boy, are they right.
 
Once upon a time (the early 1980's) Popeye's not only had some real "heat" in their chicken, they also served up a good measure of "heat" in their red beans & rice and onion rings.
 
As that was their primary "product differentiation" I am shocked that they have gone bland!  Truly, they have thrown the baby out with the bath-water.