Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen — Restaurant in Ottawa

Sunday April 17 around 9pm. My family and I decided to have dinner at this location after attending mass. We came in with high hopes about a nice family dinner but the spicy chicken legs served were still red or pink on the inside. I came up to the counter to show these to them. I was told by a guy in a blue shirt (not a uniform the staff wears) that all the spicy chicken come out like that because of the spices and that he would replace it with the regular chicken if I'm ok with it (i'm ok with it better than those pink meat). I'm sorry but I have never in my life heard about pink chicken. We've had ordered spicy chicken at Montreal road before and it wasn't red or pink in the inside. So if it is because of the spices, shouldn't they tell their costumers about it? I am concerned that my family may now be exposed to some bacterias that thrives in uncooked meat like Salmonella.

Aside from the fact that the chicken was undercooked, customer service is VERY poor AND I HAVE READ THE REVIEWS MADE MONTHS BEFORE ABOUT THE TERRIBLE SERVICE THIS LOCATION AFFORDED THE CUSTOMERS. LOOKS TO ME NOTHING HAS BEEN DONE AND THEY PROBABLY DON'T CARE AS LONG AS THEIR CHICKEN SELL. Staff in this location needs to be taught how to manage and treat their customers better for repeat service. . WE waited 5 min.... then 10 min... after 20 minutes of waiting and customers after us have come and gone, we decided to go up to them and ask how much longer it was going to take only to be told again that the spicy chickens come out pink AND THAT NOBODY TOLD THEM THAT THEY WERE TO BE REPLACED. My two daughters were explaining to the staff that the manager (guy with blue shirt) said he would replace it with the regular kind. My daughter was still explaining when one of their co-worker shoved a box of chicken in front of my daughter and said "Here, 5 piece chicken, right?" My daughters were so stunned and flustered that they didn't know what else to say. We accepted the chicken but left for home knowing that our night which we expected to be a nice family gathering was completely ruined.

On the way out, we met the guy in the blue shirt and told him what happened, he again told us that the chicken come out pink and apologize in behalf of the staff. I hope he would not just apologize for the staff but actually do something about it.

I apreciate the manager's efforts in trying to replace the chicken... but man.. the service his staff gives stinks!.. I'M SO FRUSTRATED. And why is there not a zero rating? That is what i am...

Horrendous place. Terrible, terrible service.

It's shocking to me that anyone can invest good money into opening a restaurant like this, and then throw it all away by running it so poorly (and quite obviously into the ground).

There are very few seats (even though there would be room for many more), and about half of those are occupied by staff (on break? not even sure) typing away on their phones. The place was dirty and messy (garbage left everywhere).

The place had maybe a little more than a dozen customers, but there was no place left to sit.

I counted TWENTY staff behind the counter and in the kitchen. Most were just standing around with no obvious sense of urgency. They were actually bumping into each other, there were so many of them. A few were standing in small groups, chatting away. It took about 6-7 minutes for them to even take my order, and I had to put up my hand to remind them I was there before the next customer - they have no line system whatsoever. The fountain drink machine was broken, so they gave me a room temperature Diet Coke in a can. After I had paid, they told me this. Nice.

I noticed that there was AT LEAST 100 pieces of chicken already sitting under the heat lamp, and yet very little food was making it out. The guys who ordered before me were waiting for more than 15 minutes, since that's the amount of time I waited and they still hadn't been served. After 15 mins I asked if my order was coming, and they told me 5 more mins. A few minutes later, they finally call my number, only to tell me that they forgot to thaw the Mild Tenders (what I ordered), so did I want the Spicy ones instead? WHAT?? After 20 minutes of wait??? NOW you realize you didn't thaw them? And WHY do you have over 100 pieces of chicken just dying there? Are you actually going to serve that to anybody? I watched it sit there for over 20 minutes - never being touched. Such a waste of food!

I expect that this place will be closed within months. I've never seen a location so amateurishly run. I wouldn't be surprised if Popeye's Canada pulled these bozos' franchise 0 I'll certainly be sending a copy of this...

It wasn't too busy (approximately four to six patrons in the entire restaurant at the time) but the wait was very long in my opinion. Over 15-17 minutes to get two hot chicken sandwiches and two orders of chicken tenders.

UPDATE October 2021

I've been back several times and it's still incredibly slow service. This is not fast food by any stretch. However, there is no other better tasting chicken sandwich or chicken tenders anywhere that I know of. So if I have to wait a little longer, I will. It's just that good!!! Popeye's is the best chicken game in town. Please tell me if there is something better! Four stars instead of five for the time spent waiting.

UPDATE JUNE 2022 I just find that there is no real sense of urgency to get the food out to the customer in a fast food manner that I'm accustomed to at other restaurant chains. Know what I mean? First world problems for sure. However, the chicken baskets seem to be always full but there's always a lack of staff to get it boxed and presented. A simple order of 5 chicken tenders is about 10 to 15 minute wait. Am I just impatient? Don't get me wrong the food is still amazing and tasty. Still worth the wait. I think I would eat there more often if I could shave off 10 - 15 minutes of just waiting around waiting for three or five chicken tenders. To be fair the chicken is always flavorful, super hot and juicy. Which is why I keep on going back. The time of visit was around 11:45 a.m. I had to ask for the sauce which they didn't put in the bag. Not the first time I had to do this either. Always have to check the contents of the bag before I leave. Giving me trust issues. Going to shave off one more star for this review. Seriously five star deliciousness but the lackadaisical, slow service is all easily remedied. Have a...