Popeyes chicken sandwich brings Louisiana to Chennai

Popeyes brings its trademark Louisiana-style chicken to the land of chicken 65 with its first outlet in Chennai’s Phoenix MarketCity. The brand is popular for its spicy Cajun seasoning and chicken with a “shatter crunch” breading. 

Cajun cuisine was developed in Louisiana by exiled Acadians in the 18th Century, influenced by a mix of West African, French, Spanish and Acadian cooking techniques. Typically, this flavour is a result of chilli, onion, garlic, celery, and a melange of herbs. Popeyes was founded in 1972 in New Orleans, USA and has 3,900 restaurants in over 30 countries. It made its Indian debut in Bengaluru last year. 

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Chef Amit Arora, general manager of New Product Development, Popeyes India says, “We source all these ingredients locally. We get our chillies from Telangana and even celery can be grown here now. We ensure the chicken is fresh and antibiotics-free. It is marinated for over 12 hours, then breaded and fried.”

Their signature chicken sandwich comes with a piece of Cajun-spiced boneless chicken, Cajun mayonnaise and gherkins between brioche buns. The chicken packs a punch with its bold flavours, complimented by the creamy mayonnaise and tangy gherkins. There is a chicken wrap and rice bowl as well.

There are two vegetarian sandwiches, a wrap and a rice bowl. The classic vegetable burger comes with lettuce, onions, tomatoes and a vegetable patty with plain mayonnaise. The Cajun vegetable burger has the same patty with jalapenos, onion rings and Cajun mayonnaise.

For the sides, there is a bone-in Popeyes signature chicken, Cajun chicken popcorn, Cajun chicken tenders, onion rings, Cajun fries along with grilled chicken and sweet chiili wings that give a much-needed relief from all things Cajun. Desserts are in the pipeline.

This Quick Service restaurant is brought to India by Jubilant FoodWorks Limited (JFL), a leading food services player. Sameer Khetrapal, CEO and managing director of JFL says that Chennai can expect more branches soon.

Popeyes, Phoenix Marketcity, Velachery Main Road.