Popeyes chicken sandwich returns with a bite in Las Vegas
Popeyes brought back its Internet-breaking chicken sandwich on Sunday, and this time, the stores were prepared for the madness that ensued.
The fast-food chain had previously debuted the sandwich on Aug. 12, in an affront to its longtime competitor, Chick-fil-A. Las Vegans debated which chicken chain had mastered the sandwich.
After about two weeks, Popeyes ran out of the sandwich, “pinky swearing” that the fan favorite would be back for good before long. Sure enough, it came back a little over a month later, and the demand remained high at the 20 stores across the Las Vegas Valley.
Popeyes announced the return on Twitter, making it clear that the sandwich would return on a Sunday. Many on social media saw this as a dig at Chick-fil-A, which is closed on Sundays.
When a Las Vegas Review-Journal reporter got sandwiches at 5 p.m. at Popeyes at Bonanza Road and Rancho Drive, the line was about 10 cars deep and the wait was about 20 minutes. Carlos, the employee working the drive-thru, said the lines hadn’t calmed down all day.
The small dining area inside the restaurant was flooded with about 20 people standing in line.
The restaurant hadn’t run out of sandwiches in the seven hours it had been open, but it was limiting orders to five sandwiches per car “due to high demand.”
Turns out people really do love that chicken from Popeyes.
Contact Alexis Egeland at aegeland@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0335. Follow @alexis_egeland on Twitter.