Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen — Restaurant in Baton Rouge

We needed a quick bite to eat when on a long road trip. This Popeyes location was close to the highway and from the outside, it looked nice enough (new or at least remodeled building).

The pit stop - restrooms - should have tipped me off to the lack of attention to detail and cleanliness, but with so many places still understaffed after the pandemic, I let it slide. (They did have paper towels, tho, AND there was actually soap. So. You know. A little plus hidden in the minus of the overall look and smell of the restrooms.) I was the second person in “line” (no one behind me) with one person off to the side asking for what I guess was missing items from their order. It was surprisingly slow for the employees to correct. Another (ignored) clue!

The gentleman in front of my ordered but ran to the restroom while they got his drink. Upon his return, I was waiting to order and he jumped back in to grab his beverage. Cool. Maybe them coming back to the corner to hand him his drink would mean they would see I was waiting to order.

Finally, I put my order in. When asked about my 4 sauce choices, I mentioned BBQ sauce and ketchup. (Kids.) I then asked if they had anything sweet. The person behind the register was SO quiet, when he responded with “uh, sweet __,” the second word was a complete mystery. I asked for clarification and said “sweet sauce?” He repeated the answer with the same annunciation and volume, so I just said, “Okay, sure.” (Yes - MY bad. I should have stood there and asked him to repeat himself until I got it, but I am, by default, concerned about taking too much time. I’m working on it.) Oh! Asked before my order could continue: For here or to go? 2 kids and sauces in the car don’t mix, so: here. (This is important later in the story. It’s a story now.)

We sat for 5 minutes before the same worker came out saying “he” (not him - the he was referring to the guy the makes the nugs, I guess) was going to drop nuggets now, so we would have fresh nuggets. Okay, I said. If I knew then… ASK HOW LONG IT WILL TAKE!!! (I would scream to my former me.)

Another 20 minutes. Twenty. I watched 4 different people come and order and walk away with food PLUS 3 different order run outside to those waiting. One dude ordered once, ate what he got, then ordered more just when we got our food. TWENTY MINUTES. At this point, my hope of reaching our hotel by a decent hour was slipping further away like each nugget sizzling below the surface of the (non-trans fat, I’m sure) oil somewhere in the back with “him.”

We FINALLY got our food. When I asked where the ketchup was for the order of fries, the original worker of our tale said, “Oh,” :mumble: “I didn’t see any. I’ll get’chu some.” I looked at my husband and said, “They don’t have ketchup??” “Fries,” he said. “He didn’t bring any fries. He went to go get a small order.” The fries came to our table relatively quickly (especially compared with our first wave of the order) but no ketchup. So, the fries were missing originally, and the ketchup had disappeared.

I would also like to know why you pay an “eat here” tax (as mentioned, here is later in the story) when we were given NOTHING extra - no paper plates, no cutlery, no napkins… in fact, the only difference from a To-Go order is that we didn’t get a bag!

Just a really irritating experience with the only saving grace being that Popeyes has good chicken. (Except one wing - if you can call it that - which was the size of my husband’s thumb!! Come on now. That was a 7.5 piece box.) What are ya gonna do? Is it worth investing the amount of time we would have at a sit-down restaurant (THAT WOULD HAVE HONEY FOR THE BISCUITS, BTW)? Absolutely not.

Extra: Watch your step near the soda fountain! A puddle looking to turn itself into a mini bayou for this little joint seemed to be growing...

Normally I have a great experience at this location but on this day the manager had her hands full. I placed 2 orders online and came in to pick them up. The first was prepared after I arrived and made the aware of the order but the second one I was told I would have to wait for more chicken to cook, my response was that's fine just prepare both orders with the fresh chicken when it comes up. So I sat back and enjoyed the show. I watched the fry cook batter up the chicken and as it was sloppy and dripping drop it in the grease as the manager was asking why it was taking so long. Then the manager made her rounds over by the drive through trying to get the orders filled and there was some confusion around the oven wre something was set for only 4 minutes and would not be cooked all the way. Then she made her way to the front counter where the first order was still sitting next to the prep area. She started questioning the staff "what is this" I offered my help to say that it was my order but I had 2 orders and I had to wait on more spicy chicken for the second one so I asked them to fix both orders with the fresh chicken once it was ready. Well that seamed to be a problem and she stared acting like I just ruined her day. I asked her to calm down and said that it was ok it's just chicken. She remade the first order and shoved it towards me when the chicken came up. So then I asked what about the 2nd order? She started asking her workers what 2nd order is he talking about the staff tried to tell her that I had 2 orders and showed her the order slips. She fixed the 2nd order and I told her that it's ok im patiently waiting and I'm not in a rush. But I did rush out as I felt like this was a toxic environment, I didn't even ask for any cajun sparkle or honey. The second order wasn't even in a bag it was just in the box dripping with grease as she was rushing every employee and didn't give the chicken time to properly drain. When I got home I had chunks of batter on the chicken and a pool of grease in the box. The under side of the chicken was soggy. This entire visit was about 15 minutes, I placed my order when I left the grocery store(about 10 minutes before my arrival) , I had milk and produce in the car. I think this team needs a little help. In total there was about 6 employees behind the counter so I don't think it was a staffing issue, my they were all new hires? The drill Sergeant manager was like little tornado whipping though the store trying to get everything in shape but her furry reached out across the counter to the...

I have since contacted the corporate office to complain about this location. I went to this location with my family while traveling to New Orleans and had to stop in Baton Rouge to stay for the night before heading to New Orleans. We decided to purchase food at this location prior to going to our hotel room. We went into this location at 8:30 p.m. at night however it was about 10:30 when we left this location. The service was not up to par in which the staff ended up not providing receipts to customers that were waiting for food. There was a 45 minute to an hour wait for food. There were several customers coming from the drive through section of the store in which they did not receive food or receipts. In my observation of this particular location, I observed the night manager becoming more agitated with a customer in regards to purchasing food in which he did not receive food nor a receipt. It took an additional 30 minutes before he was able to get food at this particular location. One of the store clerks was new because you can tell she was trying to help when needed however there was another store clerk that destroyed all the receipts that was left on the register and did not give any customers receipts when coming into the store after making purchases. I decided not to contact the general manager by text message or phone and decided to submit a complaint formally through the corporate office online through the website. I have yet to receive a response about this...