Popeyes - in Ottawa [General]

2015 Nov 1
Hey guys?

Anybody try the new popeyes in the east end? Thoughts?

2015 Nov 1
No, but their facebook is very amusing.
I check it daily for the comments.
People are waiting up to 2 hours in line and most people are getting the wrong orders.
They are very disorganized.

I'm curious about the chicken,but there is 2 places in Ottawa south that have really good fried chicken-so I usually get stuff there.

If they actually open the walkley rd location I will try it.
But Shawarma House has fried chicken from Mom's Fried Chicken.
-it is made w fresh chicken and good.

2015 Nov 5
Not yet an hour wait for fried chicken seem excessive I can wait till I'm state side. It is amusing we have been so deprived of good southern fried chicken that no entrepreneurs have actually ventured out and opened an affordable southern fried chicken joint in town.

2015 Nov 6
Well, Super Duper pizza is very good for fried chicken- they were sold out last weekend even.
So, could not get any as they get their chicken delivered monday and told me they had to wait for their supplier to open (I tried to order on a Sat night, late enough).

I am not sure how popeye's will do, maybe it is the novelty- but their service sucks (at least from facebook posts) and a couple of people I know who got food there all has wrong orders.

2015 Nov 6
I wonder how Popeye's will fair against Crispy's on Woodroffe ?

www.zomato.com


2015 Nov 9
Fried chicken from Super Duper Pizza- the 4pc has 2 breasts, 1 drumstick and 1 wing.
The chicken breast pieces have a lot of white meat on them and are really good.
It is not really "southern" spiced but very good still.

The breading was crispy and the chicken was still too hot to eat, as it is pressure fried.

*Crispy's looks really good.
From their menu, it says they have boneless thigh and breast? That is an interesting idea.
Do they have chicken strips/chicken tenders here?
I will have to go to Nepean soon to check this out,but I still have 2pc chicken and a ton of fries in my fridge to finish.

-my food from Super Duper Pizza was so hot, it melted part of the container my food was in!

2015 Nov 9
I gave it a try. The wait was about 25-30 minutes, on a Tuesday night around 6. I went on two Fridays previously, and decided to eat somewhere else both times because the drive-through was insane and a people were waiting to get in outside the restaurant.

The spicy fried chicken is awesome. KFC can't hold a candle to it, and I was expecting it to be greasier than it was. The chicken alone convinced me to pay them second visit in the future, when the hype and lines die down.

The chicken fingers were good, but the fired chicken is where it's at.

The poutine wasn't good.

The fries are very respectable.

The coleslaw is awful.

As for the service, the staff was very polite and respectful. As for the order itself, they forgot one of the biscuits in my order, and I got an additional side of fries I hadn't ordered. There were no sauces offered for the chicken fingers.

A friend told me to get a side of gravy on the side next time, to dip the fries in. Apparently, their gravy is as delicious as their fried chicken.

2015 Nov 11
I didn't want to like it but I did. I got 3 pieces of spicy chicken thighs and a small mashed potatoes with gravy. The chicken was moist and the skin crunchy. Just a back end cayenne kick which was good. The mashed potatoes look horrible all flattened in a styrofoam container but I really liked them and the gravy is rocking. The wait was about 20 minutes but it wasn't that crowded. It all came down to one very confused expediter who held up the orders (they had a lot of staff and a lot of food waiting to be parcelled out). I will go back for some shrimp but I will consider Popeye's as a rare fast food treat and not to be eaten regularly.

2015 Nov 16
I have been there 3 times so far since it is near my neighbourhood. But I also walked away 3 times when the lines looked insane.

I have had Popeye's in New Orleans, FL, GA and Houston airport a bunch of other places and really like their spicy chicken offerings and far prefer it to KFC. Their biscuit and sausage gravy is not too shabby for breakfast but I think only in the US.

During main dining hours the lines are pretty bad.. The same franchisee is suppose to open Walkley and some other locations in Ottawa. Unfortunately most of the staff are new still and the expediator is either confused and some people got other people's meal or going strictly by number with boxes sitting on the counter for 5-10 mins getting cool due to people not hearing their numbers called or being distracted from other requests. So make sure you check your order before leaving the counter.

Summary of food I tried at Montreal Rd:
1. Spicy Fried chicken is tops in my books.
2. Mashed potatoes and gravy was very good but loaded with salt.
3. Butterfly shrimp is hit or miss. 1st time I had the Spicy and Garlic shrimp special had issues getting it due to problems with menu items but an experienced leader from the kitchen was able to sell it to me after 3 people saying they cannot. That time it was good since shrimp was plump and well cooked at golden brown. 2nd time waiting 25 mins to order and 20 mins on top to get food which is excessive for 12+ people in front of me. Half the shrimps was a darker brown and either overcooked or stayed under lamp too long and were kind of chewy.
4. Tried the red beans and rice and not as good as what it was in the US. Not enough liquid in the beans so kind of dry but the beans were a tad undercooked in spots
5. Biscuits are good.

I think this being very close, I might have it once a week or once every 2 weeks for take out but I would not do more due to the likely high fat and high salt contents of the food.. No nutritional information provided on their website.

2015 Nov 17
In case anyone is interested, here is the nutritional information.

popeyeschicken.ca

2015 Nov 17
Where?

Found it on google. Ouch!!! Sodium overload.

2015 Nov 17
the popeyeschicken.ca/menu/nutrition is in the link above...

Yup huge sodium and fat overload, but the spicy chicken is lower in sodium than their regular lol. I was going to go for some today but going to wait a few more days after seeing the nutritional info.

2015 Nov 30
I'm curious as to whether or not they use the same fryers for the seafood as they do for chicken... For allergy reasons. I may call and ask in case we decide we decide to go although shellfish isn't listed as an allergen on the chicken so I'm hoping that means they are separate!!!


2015 Dec 1
Unfortunately you are not going to get through. The number listed is a Rogers cell without voicemail set up. The franchisee is not very interested in customer feedback lol.

If you go and ask in person, ask to speak to a supervisor or Gregory (in a tan shirt if he is there). I think the guys in the tan shirts are the kitchen leaders but some of the staff are still green are clearly not with it.

I ordered the shrimp special twice and first time had to jump through hoops to order it and is was sorted our by Gregory who seemed very experienced. 2nd time shrimp was not as good as first time and somewhat overcooked and chewy and more darker brown than before. Asked Gregory afterwards who checked their shrimp in the back counter and said those there are done to their normal 3 mins but it looked more golden brown than those I had.

2015 Dec 1
Hi,
here is a picture of the Walkley rd store.
They are not done construction yet it seems....

2015 Dec 1
yeah tha marketing person on facebook keep saying soon but no date lol

2015 Dec 1
I went there today hoping to try their spicy garlic shrimp (it was recommended). I was told that it was a November special and no longer available. Ok. I went with their regular butterfly shrimp dinner with mash and gravy. I am not even sure why I am putting the effort into writing this because it was not good. Just not good.

2015 Dec 4
Tree Pug,

I found their spicy garlic shrimp (aka butterfly shrimp with a little extra heat and a sauce which the montreal rd store do not carry) a bit of a hit or miss.

I think of 2 possibilities:
* butterfly shrimps still have their tails on and I am pretty sure I spotted some popcorn shrimp (brown shrunken pieces of ***) in my plate. Some new staff probably cannot tell the 2 apart yet.
* 1st time I had the spicy garlic shrimp without the sauce and it was good but due to their issues doing the special, I think the team leader in a tan shirt did the order including the food. 2nd time I found it much darker brown and a bit chewy so I think it was either overcooked or under the heat lamp too long. I checked with the person from the first time after I finished and he was in front for something else. He checked their shrimp and it was a nice golden brown where he said it was properly cooked at only 3 mins. I found the shrimp too much of a hit and miss whereas the chicken is always good.

2015 Dec 7
The people saying that it is high in salt- you do need some salt in your diet. Just not tons.
I actually fainted once during the summer and fell right on my face on the sidewalk.
It was a hot day, but was also told I should have more salt.

But I guess only you or your doctor and a blood test should tell you what you should and should not eat.

2015 Dec 7
I think I'll get the Popeyes Chicken Livers for my salt (sodium) requirement.

Not only will I get 160% of my daily recommended sodium intake ... But I'll get 193% of my daily saturated fat + trans fat limit.

Health Canada:
healthycanadians.gc.ca


2015 Dec 7
Average person need 2000-2500 mg of salt. Low salt diet is about 1500 as recommeded by doctors. Most Canadian have 1.5x or more of their recommeded salt intake.

2015 Dec 11
Popeyes Walkley Rd is now open.
No lineup at all less than 5 minute wait.

Had chicken tenders, they were fine.

But Fing pissed off the whole area smells like cooking grease.
Go to the park, go ice skating...smell cooking oil and grease. Go for a nice walk...smell cooking grease.
Wait for the bus.....still smell awful cooking oil.

I've lived here for 10 years and no other restaurant has made it smell bad yet.
If you do not live here, then maybe you don't give a FCK smelling cooking oil when you open your windows at home.

Shawarma house fries stuff and it never smelled there. I live close to the lebanese bakery and it has never smelled.
Even with the huge Italian resto, it never smelled either.