Popeyes will be offering its famous 'Louisiana chicken' to fans across the UK as it reveals a host of new restaurant openings. The American fried chicken chain has already proved a hit with fast food fans recently, with crowds lining up in Derby from 10.30pm the night before they opened their restaurant there, and hungry customers in Oxford queuing round the block from 5am on the day the city's first Popeyes opened there.
The chicken company, which was formed in New Orleans in 1972, has revealed Cambridge, Croydon and Reading will be the next locations to experience its famous Louisiana chicken in early 2023. Sites in Rotherham, Cardiff and Glasgow are also planned for next year.
The Popeyes menu boasts a range of classic and spicy chicken burgers in brioche buns, Louisiana chicken on the bone, which has been marinated in herbs and spices for 12 hours, buttermilk chicken tenders and hot wings. Sides include mac and cheese, Cajun seasoned fries, mash and Cajun gravy and the original biscuit, with or without Cajun gravy.
As well as the usual range of soft drinks and coffees, they also offer hand spun milkshakes in flavours like Oreo, strawberry, caramel, chocolate and Lotus Biscoff, and an array of sundaes for dessert.
The record-breaking Oxford opening day in September saw hungry customers forming a queue around the block from 5am - and people arriving at the restaurant to join it straight from their nights out. Popeyes UK’s first foray into the Midlands in Birmingham in October saw similar success levels, with its Nottingham opening breaking the records that Oxford previously set and, over in Derby, customers queuing from 10.30pm the night before launch.
Tom Crowley, CEO at Popeyes UK, said: “There is a pattern emerging now at all our openings with people queuing through the night to be the first in line on opening day. It’s fantastic to see how well we are being received right across the UK.
"As well as the new high street restaurants and delivery kitchens, we’re also very excited to announce that in 2023, we’ll be opening a raft of drive-thru locations, with the first likely to be in Rotherham at Parkgate Shopping Park. Consumer demand has been high for a drive-thru ever since we landed in the UK, so it feels like a real milestone for us.
“We’ve carefully planned our site acquisition strategy in line with where we’re seeing most demand from our customers, and it’s great to see it coming to life. We’re working at pace currently on opening our Liverpool, Brighton and Leicester branches before the end of the year – but we always have one eye on the future and are looking forward to continuing sharing our expansion plans.”
Overall, Popeyes UK is expected to open 20 restaurants in 2023, which brings the total number of UK restaurants to 31 by the end of 2023. The chain now boasts over 3,700 restaurants globally, with the site in Stratford being the highest-performing.
