Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen — Restaurant in Richmond

Surprisingly, I gave this fast food fried chicken restaurant more stars than most other restaurants. Why? Because their fried chicken and gravy were darn good, but I only had it twice from this location, so I can not comment on their food consistency. Their fried chicken batter was thicker in some places, which resulted in some uncooked flour. But that does not take away from their crispy and flavourful batter. The batter was well seasoned, and the chicken was cooked quite well, except the wings were a bit dry. The thighs and drumsticks were plump and juicy. A bite of that crispy skin and juicy meat altogether made my mouth happy. Their biscuit, need I say more?? They are famous for them, but this time, they were dryer than my grandma's skin. Luckily for their gravy, soaking the biscuit in it made it acceptable. Because of that, I did not have enough gravy for my chicken. Their Cajun fries had some flavour and were NAICEEEE but only some were crispy and some were just limp... like my grandpa's ... wooden walking stick after he left it outside in the rain for too long. Why did I give them 4 stars for service?? Although they did not have spicy chicken when I got there 15 mins before closing, they let me stay there and ate my food 27 mins passed their closing time. Of course, I wasn't the only one there but they did not pressure us to leave. The atmosphere was not the best, and the environment was dirty. I guess they didn't have enough staffs to clean up the dining area and the washroom. Otherwise, service would have...

I was shopping at IKEA and wanting to drop by Popeyes to try their fried chicken because it was just near by or on my way home.

I found they had online coupons, so I picked the one “$12.99 for 5 pieces of bone in chicken, 2 biscuits and 2 sides”. It was a great deal.

I thought people would dine in now but only one table was having customer dining inside. The rest of customers including myself also ordered takeout. The line up was not extremely long but at least it was moving fairly quickly.

The server at the counter was very polite. He greeted me and asked for my order. I quickly showed him the online coupon and specified I wanted mild chicken instead of spicy one. It only took a short period of time to wait for my food. I grabbed the takeout and left. There was a lot of customers waiting outside. I was glad that I went a bit earlier.

The mash potato tasted great. I loved the sauce or gravy. The fries were very crispy and I liked the seasoning on them. However, the chicken was a bit dry and it was not hot. It was like room temperature. The flavour was fine. I would still prefer LA Chicken or win win chicken in terms of meat and quality. The biscuits were a bit plain. I had to add some jam to go with them.

Overall everything was alright. If the chicken could be more juicy or moist, that would be great. And I hope I didn’t have to wait in line...

Updated: 2024 June: It appears HQ has tightened up their food preparation procedures here, but unfortunately, the chicken was way too salty. It was consistently salty though.

The slaw was average but too sweet for our liking. The biscuits were hard and not moist like how they used to be at Kentucky Fried Chicken (you know what I mean if you're from the US or old enough to remember).

The batter on the onion rings was too light and a bit greasy. The soda machine didn't have much fizz to it.

Everything seemed fresh during our visit, which is why I rated the food higher than I otherwise would have. However, it just wasn't to our liking. We prefer Church's and MB.

The indoor seating area gets pretty noisy, and sometimes there's loitering outside. Service from staff was great.

Unfortunately, we won't be coming back.

Previous review from 2023: We have been here periodically since Popeye's opened at this location.

I agree much of the criticism is very valid. Quality et al can be hit or miss (YMMV).

The other day we were here and the chicken was fried perfectly. However, the seasoning was very inconsistent. Some pieces of chicken were exceptionally salty while others not salty enough, and only a few pieces were just "right". I think It's time to implement strict(er) quality controls. I'll shall be contacting Popeyes headoffice to provide...