Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen — Restaurant in Mission Viejo

Sanity Guide to Surviving: Popeyes - Los Alisos

Right now, you are feeling the following emotions: rage, discomfort, disgust, betrayal & hanger (yes, hunger & anger). Don't panic. Take a deep breath; this is just a typical day at Popeyes - Los Alisos.

Step 1: Do NOT order online & expect to: arrive, park your car and enter the establishment to pick up your order. They do things differently at this Popeyes. Instead, you order online, & when you arrive, you wait in the drive-thru line. If it's peak hours, let your seat back, let the windows down and enjoy the breeze; you will be waiting AT LEAST 30 MINUTES. (My wait time was 52 minutes on a Friday at 6pm, only to pull off realizing they didn't give me a fork or BBQ sauce; more on that later.)

Step 2: STAY CALM. This is really important! Your patience is currently being tested. (Chances are, if you're reading this, you didn't know about Step 1...don't worry, you aren't the only one.)

Step 3: Don't Call the store. Although the least they could do is pick up the phone and save customers from some frustration and confusion...they choose to do less and & won't answer the phone, so don't waste your time. If you are really adamant, I would consider calling corporate or see the next step...

Step 4: Leave a Review. With the extra time you will be waiting, this is an excellent time for you to let this establishment know how you feel. It would be best if you didn't have to contain your emotions in a time like this. Don't forget you can leave a review on Google, Facebook & you can even Tweet Popeyes directly on Twitter.

Step 5: When you make it to the Drive-Thru speaker. Be patient. Just like you wouldn't become angry with someone noticeably incompetent, the same approach should be taken in this situation. Let them know you placed an Online Order & they will confirm the order with you, maybe.

Step 6: It's time to eat! Although this can be an exciting moment after this long journey, your job is not done. Curb your enthusiasm for a few moments, and make sure to CHECK YOUR ORDER. This location is notorious for making mistakes & not giving you utensils, napkins, or sauces. (They forgot to provide me with all 3).

Step 7: Do NOT offer suggestions. After they forgot some of my items, I had to knock on the door for 10 minutes. When they finally answered and gave me my BBQ sauce, I told the guy, "You know you are getting a lot of bad reviews because of this." he said, "Yeah, I know, shrugged his shoulders, and said, what can you do?". I said, "a lot, actually. How about making some visible signs around the building and parking lot". He shrugged his shoulders again...SMH. I said, "call corporate and disable taking Online Orders. He said they couldn't". I told him, "at least stop advertising on Door Dash & other Delivery Apps". You guessed it. He said they couldn't. (Can you believe even Door Dash order drivers have to wait in the Drive-Thru!? That order is definitely getting canceled).

I have about 5 more simple suggestions they could ACTUALLY implement, but I will spare you.

Let's Recap... 1.) Do NOT order online or through the App. 2.) Stay Calm 3.) Do NOT call the store. They won't answer. 4.) Leave a review 5.) Be patient. You're being tested. 6.) Check your order! 7.) Do NOT offer suggestions.

Pro Tip: Avoid this location or just hop in the Drive-Thru if you're having...

Avoid this location at ALL COSTS. The hispanic lady in black shirt (I believe was the manager) threatened to call the cops on me for asking what her name was. I have never been treated rudely in my entire life until today.

Our drive thru was messed up and was missing a side. We ordered 2 combos- bean&rice side for the 1st combo and fries for the 2nd combo. At the window, we asked if we can change the fries to bean&rice which they said was okay.

When we were about to eat in the car, we noticed that they didn't change the fries. No big deal, that's what we originally ordered anyway. But when I looked at the receipt, I've noticed that they charged us for extra side-bean and rice for $4.49 and they placed fries for both combos. Again, 2 combos, plus extra charge for extra side so we should have gotten 3 sides but only got 2 so I decided to go in to get the side I laid for but didn't get. The lady in black shirt (maybe the manager??) said "I don't think so. When I asked her why she didn't think so, she just started speaking in Spanish so I just decided to leave. Just when I was turning my back, she laughed so hard and made fun of me so I asked her why she was laughing at me. She said "Because I wanted to and I can laugh anytime I want). I asked for her name but she didn't want to give it to me. I asked Hugo (the one who took the order) what her name was but he said "I don't know her name, I am new here" like, seriously???? You don't know your coworkers name? You think I'm an idiot? Even if you just started today, there is no way you will not know her name. Hugo was the one that messed up my order to begin with. And his rude manager just made it worse.

So she refused to give her name and yelled at me to leave. When I asked for her name one more time, she pulled out her phone and threatened to call the cops on me. Call the cop for what? For trying to get your name because you are rude?

The yelp reviews say it all. I should have read the reviews before even thinking to go there. I will never ever go back to this...

I have been going to Popeyes for probably over 25 years and have been to many locations. So know this when I give the rating. The rating is not just for the wait though The wait here can be very long especially at night. The thing is as far as Popeye's food is cooked this place is only mediocre at best but what makes it worse is some of their crowd control habits and it has some of the worst customer service I have seen at a Popeyes. Also on various occasions they open late and don't seem at all in a hurry to let the customers in for in restaurant ordering. If they can just improve their customer service by at least 50% and make sure they open on time and are ready to serve us during their posted hours that would be much better otherwise the food is fine it is Popeyes.

10/12/21 Update: I have now been coming to this location since they opened. Only because they are the only Popeye's that is local.

This location continues to cook the food only ok, and have continued bad customer service. The employee's in general seem to have low energy, and give off the impression they do not want to be there. They barely acknowledge me, if really at all, are rarely friendly, and do not smile. Most of the employee's act like they would rather be somewhere else and only *deign to help customers. There also continues to be issues with opening ON TIME. This location has never been in any hurry to open on time, and that has not improved. It seems that they are content to just take our money and not ever improve.

This is what they need to do, simple:

1. open ON TIME
2. vastly improve general customer service

I sincerely hope that someday they improve considerably. I continue to only come here because they are the...