Popeye's Chicken Sandwich

Oye said
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.

Awhile back I stopped at a Popeye's somewhere around maybe Slidell on the way home to MS and ordered my usual tenders etc with Sweet Heat sauce. I got my food and sat down at the table and realized I didn't get my sauce after all. So I went back up to the counter. There was a pretty big line and I couldn't really push my way to the front, so I had to wait probably 5 more minutes or so for some sauce. No big deal, it happens everywhere.

When I got to the front, I asked the man at the counter, who appeared to be the manager, if I could get some Sweet Heat sauce for my tenders because I didn't get any. He replied with "I already gave you two!"

I said, "No sir, I actually didn't get any with my order." He says, "No, I'm sure I gave you two! If you want it, you can pay for it."

I replied "Sir, I just ordered 5 minutes ago and haven't eaten any of my food. It's still sitting on the table over there with my family, and I would like the sauce that I ordered."

"Fine, here, but if you come up here asking for any more sauce you're gonna pay for it!"

...that was just one of many awful Popeye's customer service experiences I've had.

But the chicken is too damn good.