Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen — Restaurant in Honolulu

I've only been to Popeyes about 2 years ago and really loved their chicken. I have a problem with the way it is being cooked because when I order the same order over and over it is not ever the same. Sometimes it's cooked just right and delicious and sometimes it's way too crispy or not as advertised. If I wanted a crispy chicken sandwich I would order their Crispy chicken sandwich. They have different types of chicken sandwiches so they should be mad the way it is ordered. The first few times I went to Popeyes I ordered the chicken tenders with their special sauce and it was so thick I couldn't believe it. But lately it has gotten more batter than chicken why? Are they trying to cut down on their cost or roll the customer off? Also sometimes it's also cooked so crispy and it's always the end of the pieces which is the batter that I have to cut off and to me that's just waste and the prices aren't that cheap. I also tried their newer sandwich, sorry can't remember the name but it has a smooth texture over the patty of chicken and it was big and very tasty so as of now this is my favorite sandwich. The parking in the Kalihi Street Popeyes is awesome and big and also has 2 lanes open daily until a couple of hours before closing when they're the busiest which is a good thing because lots of people use the drive through. One problem with the whole drive thru experience most people don't know the hours of when they close down one lane down to 2 lanes and then when both drive thru lanes get closed down. And then people will try to enter the dining area after it is closed and I find myself sitting outside that the dining area is closed and would have to go through the drive thru. I really really think either on a poll or by the entrance Popeyes should put up a lighted sign on the hours for the dining inn hours as well as for the different hours for the drive thru because it is very confusing. I see people get out of their car and wait to go into the dining room and turn around upset and watch them then go through the drive thru order sign. But during lunch and dinner the drive thru is very busy and blocks a lot of the nice parking lot area even though during those hours they have the 2 lane drive thru. I love whoever takes care of the grass area around the store as it is nicely maintained on a regular basis. But inside the dining area upsets me the most! Every time I go to eat I have to clean whatever table is available as well as the seats. They need to hire someone who takes care of the eating area because there aren't enough employees to maintain the eating area. The floors have chicken mes all over the floors more under the tables and I feel like I don't want to eat inside because of this. Service at the counter is great and fast taking long lines of customers as well as call in orders and maybe they also need to have more people behind the counters. We already have to make our own drinks so they don't do that unless it's one of their special ordered drinks. So the problems are very visible to me and I am sure to others also. Please don't skimp on your chicken tenders it used to be a favorite to a lot of us and now I don't go as often because of this and it's not very cheap. The side orders are small like all of these types of chicken places. I don't get it because it never matches with any order of chicken you buy even when buying the larger sizes for a bucket of chicken. The larger sizes for the sides would be comparable with the smaller boxes size orders. I guess they all make more money doing it like this so that we have to pay for more extra sides for a boxed meal. I would have to order double if the large sides for the buckets because it's just not enough for a family meal to be complete if you just got what comes with the boxed or family bucket sizes. The bathroom is actually larger than most places like this and is more kept up with than other areas of the dining area but still could be cleaner. I do hope they make some better changes because I haven't gone back for awhile now because no changes...

I wrote an honest review on Yelp which was filtered completely out. Here it is. No thanks to the untrustworthy Yelp.

Former Y. Honolulu, HI

1 friend

99 reviews

1.0 star rating

10/1/2014 • Updated review I visited this restaurant after visiting the Kapahulu restaurant not too long ago in hopes that things have changed. I was hoping that their food quality would have improved as the Kapahulu location had a good showing (see my review of that location). The difference is like night and day. Whereas the chicken was juicy and crispy at Kapahulu, the chicken here was not as good. In fact, I believe that the chicken was previously frozen. As a person that cooks at home I know from experience the texture of previously frozen chicken. Previously frozen chicken is more dense and tend towards stringy. And Popeyes in Dillingham's chicken was not tender or juicy. It really has all the signs of previously frozen chicken. And that is a major problem to me as Popeyes advertises their product as being "fresh" and not frozen. See the commercial where the famous lady, Deidrie Henry, touts that they don't serve frozen food. Another issue is the price of their food. A three piece meal costs $8.49 while a two piece meal costs $6.49 with no drink. The drink costs $1.99 by the way. That is one of the most expensive fast food soda sized at medium in most other fast food restaurants. A large sized soda at McDonalds can be had at $1. The chicken thigh was a little bigger than what I have received in the past but this time that frozen chicken texture was very apparent. The drum came in at approximately four inches as can be seen in the photo I took There was little meat to be had on this. This, combined with the apparent fact that they use frozen chicken is a very big minus and that is why I rate this restaurant a one star. The side which I ordered were the mashed potato which was dense and seemed like it was a reheat. It was not very good. You get a small bag of fries if you choose that side. The fries were okay. But McDonalds fries are better and probably costs less. See the photos I have uploaded to this page for reference. On this visit I used a coupon to get the free two-piece meal which came out to $10.97 after purchasing the three piece meal combo and the soda for the two piece meal. You are required to purchase the soda for the two piece meal in order to use the coupon. If you would like to try Popeyes chicken the way it is meant to be, go to the Kapahulu location. The Dillingham location serves substandard Popeyes chicken which is probably the result of cost cutting. Otherwise, you may as well purchase a box of Banquet fried chicken and bake that at home. At least you'll save some money on all...

With just a sole KFC on the entire island of Maui, I have no idea why this chain hasn't opened up yet on the Valley Isle to give us variety. Because of that oddity, my gang and I took some home for dinner before heading to the airport. For the record, my first Popeyes experience was in the DFW airport years ago and was very positive.

ATMOSPHERE: This location looks new or maybe was remodeled. The drive thru was busy on this particular Monday afternoon so we headed inside to order. The place was cool and clean with a good amount of seats.

FOOD: 4 Piece Dinner I had a simple request. 2 legs and 2 thighs, mild, with mashed potatoes as my side. What did I receive? 2 spicy breasts, 1 mild leg, 1 spicy thigh and coleslaw. I got my side dish corrected as I peeked inside my box to find the error. The gal let me keep the coleslaw which was nice. It wasn't until I got home and started eating that I realized I received the spicy recipe in the wrong chicken parts. Annoyed, I couldn't do anything about it so I soldiered on. If you don't already know, Popeye's serves only extra crispy chicken (think KFC's overly breaded version). Taste wise, it's just salty with no other seasonings. The mashed potatoes with gravy was good but also had a little kick to it. The biscuit was tasty even without butter. Coleslaw? Not a fan of it in general.

SERVICE: The inside line moved fairly quickly even with a busy drive thru. The staff were friendly. The cashier sort of did her job as I saw "mild" and "mashed potatoes" on the receipt but no mention of specific chicken pieces. The packer didn't do her job either as she gave me spicy chicken instead of mild. Sigh...

TIP: The mashed potatoes with gravy almost didn't get past TSA at the airport due to the gravy but the staff we had were cool and passed it.

OVERALL: Be sure to double check your order, visually and with a taste test if possible. I still prefer the taste of KFC over Popeyes, but it'd still be nice to have another...