Popeyes Louisiana Chicken — Restaurant in London

It was the first weekend of July 2023 and the June heatwave was continuing into July and a weekend visit to the South West London suburb of Richmond was a welcome break from the crazy City life. On arriving by train from the most outdated major train station at Clapham Junction at lunchtime me and my partner were both ready for some overdue food.

At which point we spotted a newly opened (on the 4th May 2023) Popeyes Chicken outlet, we promptly headed inside and placed our order on the electronic terminal at 13:56. The order consisted of two, 5 x Hot Wings and a 3-piece Signature Louisiana Chicken Classic along with a Strawberry milkshake and a fruit shoot juice.

Ten minutes later at 14:06 it was clear that the initially small group of customers was growing and the indicator board showing food being prepared and food waiting to be collected was decidedly one sided with nothing waiting to be collected and very few orders going out. As another five minutes drifted by at 14:11 the rumblings of discontent were clearly spreading through the now 20-30 seated and standing waiting customers.

It was clear that for some reason a level of panic was setting into the staff at the outlet and instructions were given by the Manager to close the store to anymore incoming customers! I had noticed a fire engine outside the store and some level of commotion, but continued waiting patiently for my now well overdue food.

At 14:19 I walked past the large waiting crowd at the counter and asked the Manager what was causing the delay and was mortified when he explained that the delay was due to a fire at a nearby McDonalds. Which was causing a surge of customers that they were struggling to service, I informed him that as the Manager it was his duty to inform his customers what was causing the delay and apologise on behalf of Popeyes, which he ignored.

At this point I turned to the large group of waiting Popeyes customers and informed them of what was causing the delay and apologised on behalf of Popeyes, receiving a round of applause from the waiting crowd, as clearly this young team were overwhelmed and sinking fast at a time when they should have been capitalising on their good fortune with the closure of their nearest large fast-food competitor.

I then walked out of the store to observe the fire in the McDonalds, which appeared to have been quickly bought under control by the London Fire Brigade, with no external sign of smoke or fire. On my return into the store at 14:24 our food was just arriving at the table and it had taken 28 minutes from placing the order to get our food!

Now if you have kept up until this point you would probably be thinking it could not get any worse, unfortunately it did as the order was incorrect with missing items and wrong items on the order. The order was missing 5 of the Hot Wings and instead of receiving a 3-piece Signature Louisiana Chicken Classic, we received 3 Tenders Classic and a very watery milkshake which had stood on the counter with a large group of other drinks for some significant time.

The Manager thanked me for speaking to the restless crowd when I returned to the counter to complain about my incorrect order, but never offered any compensation to me nor any other customer (that I am aware of) for the significant inconvenience. No food tastes good after a 30-minute wait and this was no different with the Hot wings very dry and a watery milkshake not a great first...

Coming from the States, I was thrilled to see that Popeyes was opening just around the block from where I live as I used to frequent Popeyes back in the day and let me tell you... It's as though I was transported home!

I got the spicy chicken sandwich which was a beautifully crispy and juicy chicken filet sandwiches in a brioche bun with special sauce and pickles.

The taste was exactly how I remember it from back home! Juicy, delicious, and hit the spot!

I also tried the mashed potatoes which while a very small portion, complimented the chicken perfectly!

They also have soda machines (the coke remix ones where you can create your own version of the coca cola drinks ) which offer unlimited refills which is almost unheard of in London.

The inside was clean and fresh with plenty of seating.

The service is very friendly and the staff seem well trained which is nice as well.

The one gripe I had is that I came at 10.58 am which is two minutes until lunch and they told me I must wait to order which probably has something to do with their POS system so not a knock on them personally but it would have been nice to be able and it came across as petty to those who aren't familiarized with F and B operations.

Popeyes is a great addition to the high street (although I do miss the family owned tapas joint that they replaced due to an issue with the landlord) and I will be coming back for more...

Went in on the 18th October, while it was pouring down with rain and Made a generous order, for takeaway.

Waited until my order was displayed as finished on screen. However, the staff never actually brought it to the counter.

I then asked if it was actually finished and of course, no, it wasn't actually done after all!

From what I could tell, my order was only marked as done just to 'solve' their internal metrics, leaving me - lost and confused.

Anyway, I told the staff I had noticed this cheeky behaviour and wasn't very impressed. They were apologetic and then grabbed the rest of my order so I could finally leave.

Of course, the problems didn't end there. I got home and of next fail: their overpriced chicken burger was missing!

Should I have checked the order myself? Sure, but whatever, lesson learned for next time.

Anyway, fast forward to today. I finally travelled back to the branch, receipt in hand, to explain my issue and hopefully fix everything.

My expectation going in? A refund and a little something extra. After all, I did just travel half an hour back for no good reason.

The solution they offered? No empathy, no refund, I could only take another chicken burger and then move on.

I thought American customer service was supposed to be good.

Louisiana... you can keep your chicken.

Boss man does it...