Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen — Restaurant in Toronto

My wife and I had a deeply unpleasant and shocking experience at this Popeyes location (Yonge & St. Clair) today. Upon entering, my wife noticed food crumbs and visible ants crawling in the seating area. When I politely asked if someone could please clean the table, the female owner (Bushra) dismissed it by saying, “एक ही तो है, इसके लिए मसला मचा रखा है।,” in Hindi (when translated, “There’s only one ant, and they’ve created such a fuss about it."), even though there were clearly 10 or more visible in the tile grooves.

We were told that cleaning is not her job and that they’ve “hired someone” (an Indian worker) for that, who would clean later. This was followed by rudeness, blame-shifting, and a complete lack of professionalism. Her husband (Iqbal) initially acknowledged the situation and even apologized, offering us extra chicken if we placed an order. But the moment I took a photo of the food Dinesafe Inspection certificate (dated July 31, 2024), both of them turned hostile.

They began yelling, verbally abusing us, and threatening to call the police (which they never did). The woman started recording my wife on her phone and told us she was “refusing to serve us” — even though we hadn’t even placed an order. This came across as an attempt to intimidate and manipulate the narrative.

What made the whole thing worse was the underlying sense of community-based power play. As Indian customers, we felt targeted and disrespected, as if the owners—who are South Asian themselves—were particularly offended by younger people from the same community asking them to maintain hygiene. It seemed like they wouldn’t have responded the same way had a non-Indian customer raised the same concern.

I have video evidence of the altercation, including the threats, yelling, and refusal to take accountability. This is a major concern not only from a customer service standpoint but also from a food safety and sanitation perspective.

If this is how they treat cleanliness in the public area, one can only imagine the standards behind the counter. I will be reporting this incident to Toronto Public Health and Popeyes Corporate as well.

Extremely disappointing behavior, unhygienic conditions, and an absolutely unprofessional attitude....

Bought this chicken sandwich today and found mold on the pickle, (photo added), showed it to the staff and they refused and said it was mayonnaise. Does anyone think it looks like mayonnaise? The manager, Jasmine, and one of her male colleague were extremely rude and said - ''write a complaint, we don't care''

An update for “James A. Bush”:

First of all, if you really were there, you would hear that we EXPLICITLY stated multiple times that we are here NOT for a refund, or as you said a “free meal”. Now, if you are really are an honest person, please say you did not hear that ?

Second, if you look at that pickle, you want to say that it seriously looks like a mayo to you ? I do not understand how it is not infuriating you as a “regular customer” that you are obviously being served with a spoiled/mold food.

An update for the owner:

If you read the review carefully, or ask the manager, it was never mentioned that it tasted bad, do no replace our words with yours. And yes, we did notice that there’s mold on a pickle when we almost finished the sandwich because the pickle fell from the sandwich onto the wrapping paper, so we were able to see it.

Honestly, it is ridiculous that the only thing concerning you is not that you sold mold food to a customer but that your customer almost ate it all. I think it says a lot about your attitude to customers. As well as hundreds of other bad reviews about this place, including cleanness and behaviour of staff, no wonder your rating is really low in comparison to other locations,...

Edit: Very curious reply by the management. I know almost exact who wrote the response (hint, it's the manager who continuously fails to open on time, raises his voice at customers and pretends to not know about the restaurants partnership promotions).

It is abundantly clear to me the existence of choice, hence why I refuse to patronize your poorly managed restaurant. I also make sure to tell any colleagues interested in fried chicken to just go elsewhere.

Any comment on the mischarging of taxes or will you play ignorant to that too? I think the government would love to hear about it, don't you think?

Your poor management and behaviour is literally losing you business, but what do I know?

".....good luck"

Original review follows:

Multiple bad experiences with this location leads me to the conclusion of not returning.

On more than one occasion this location is not ready for opening time resulting in long waits when they eventually do open. The manager is witnessed having raised their voice at customers just waiting for orders, scolding them for waiting by the counter.

Consistently staff feign ignorance to promotions and even attempt to gaslight customers (claiming the Maple Leafs Promo is over despite the season being ongoing and the promotion active in the TML app). Perhaps the most egregious is the fact that they overcharge on tax for orders under $4 (which I believe the government might look down on should they get a complaint?).

Management is overall...