I get just as good a service - if not better - at Raising Cane's so I think "isn't even close" is a bit overblown. And their restaurants are always very clean, too. And I prefer their lemonade and iced tea - being able to draw from the sweet and unsweet in the ratio I want is nice.
All that, and better chicken. Not a huge fan of their crinkle fries, so I prefer CFA's waffle fries. But when it comes to the actual chicken, Cane's is an easy choice for me. And it ticks the same service boxes just as well.
But I gotta say, sometimes you just want to order chicken and get a side of eyeroll or stinkeye and an audible 'tsk' or a sigh and a disinterested, dismissive shake of the head along with it.
And Popeye's can really deliver that.
My favorite Popeye's employee move is for the cashier to holler at the fry cooks in the back and talk about me like I can't hear them.
"Hey, yo. This dude here wants an extra breast in his 8 piece. I told him it'll be an extra couple minutes and he doesn't care he says. He says to make sure that you know he wants an 8 piece with an extra breast, not an 8 piece with an extra breast to make it a 9 piece. And he's watching me enter it into the cash register so I don't charge him for a 9th piece. Can you believe that? I know how to count, man."
And even better is when the fry cook replies, but I can't make it out, except for the tone of condescension.
It's part of the experience.
