Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen — Restaurant in Nanaimo

I USED TO LOVE POPEYES.

Coming from Toronto, Ontario Popeyes fried chicken was always my favorite place. I found it to be comforting food during down time, rainy season. Moving to the Island I was sad that we didn't have Popeyes and I patiently waited and here we are....DISAPPOINT AFTER DISAPPOINTMENT. The first week when it opened it was the BEST AND FRESH!! the customer service was on top of the line, I was so happy to taste home again after so long. However; this is the 4th time since Feb 2022 that my order has been messed up, not fresh, and way to salty. I am sorry to say that when I am paying for 12 PIECE NUGGET COMBO AND EXTRA FRIES I expect that to have that, when asking for SPICY DELTA always getting mild, when paying EXTRA for Sweet Heat, Ranch sauce I expect it to have it. I come home nothing that I paid for or ordered is correct. I understand the high volume and employees may be feeling overwhelmed. I went at 8PM yesterday when the entire store only had myself and another person ahead of me, how do you mess up an order when its NOT BUSY?? The prices of things have already gone up and paying anything extra and not getting it has been so sad and disappointing. My tenders and nuggets were stilled meat, and WAY TOO SALLTY it almost seemed someone dashed EXTRA salt.

One rule I had as a kid when working IN POPEYES at the age of 16 was when someone is paying for there order, look at the order again to ensure you put everything in the bag. Please do not disappoint someone who has minimum options for food in Nanaimo, or for someone who had a bad DAY, or just feeling down and wants a good meal. Overall STOP MESSING UP THE ORDER PLEASE and mark up your customer level to what it was when it first opened.

I am now no longer going to Popeyes, I will patiently wait for another place to open.

SAD...

Just had my first and last experience at Popeyes. I stood beside my husband while he ordered the popcorn shrimp platter with 2 mac & cheese for sides, one chicken sandwich, and one deluxe spicy chicken sandwich. I paid and told my husband the order number while he waited. He had to grab our drink straw from a box of communal, unwrapped straws (EW). I walked over to look for a clean seat, but there wasn’t even one single clean table, so I had to clean one myself. He gets the order, which was put in as a to go order (no big deal), but there’s an extra regular sandwich and mine was not spicy. Again, not a big deal, but we look at our receipt and we were charged for the third sandwich. My husband goes back to let them know of the issue, and the manager on duty decided to argue with him about ordering the extra sandwich telling him that he did order it (she didn’t even take our order) and to bring it back if he wants a refund - which okay, we didn’t order it, but it had been opened to check for the spicy sandwich. She proceeded to try to charge him for spicy mayo to add to my sandwich when it’s clearly on the receipt ordered as spicy. I walked up to the manager and explained at this point our food is cold and I would like to return it all for fresh as the argument took a while. She completely ignored me and turned away! I walked back to our table to find no forks for our mac & cheese in the to go bag (one would think a to go bag would have forks), so I went back to the front to get one, and they were hidden behind the mobile order sign. While I was there I saw our returned chicken sandwich put under the heater (DOUBLE EW). At the very end we ate unsatisfactory, cold food, and witnessed multiple...

Ordered a 3 piece platter. It comes with 2 sides, a buttermilk biscuit and a drink. Had mix of spicy and regular recipe chicken.

This place has been crazy busy since opening a few days ago. Lines up out of the door. And somehow they haven't run out of chicken and when I went the line moved fast.

The service was mostly outstanding however I had to request my cup for the drink, the pop was mostly flat and they missed my buttermilk biscuit, but given how busy they are and newly opened I am not at all surprised there are hiccups.

The regular chicken was flaky and crunchy and moist. I enjoyed it very much. The spicy chicken I didn't enjoy as much. For me the heat was more of a hot heat rather than a flavourful heat but it was still decent and some people will like it a lot. I don't find the chicken any less oily than kfc.

The cajun fries are good and aren't overpowered by spice. Don't know that I'd want to eat many of them though. The gravy was okay. It had some kind of little chunks throughout, I thought maybe cheese or something I'm not sure if that is normal, could be a thickener.

I was surprised by how much I liked the mashed potatoes with the gravy.

Heated up a piece of chicken cold in the microwave for a short burst and the crunch held up.

Overall I like their regular chicken very much which is largely why the 3 stars, and the service was very fast and good considering how many people they have had waiting...